By next year, for instance, the previous state plan committed the government to increasing the share of all journeys to work by public transport to 28 per cent. Train trips fell by 19 per cent during the morning peak last Friday, compared with the same period a week earlier. Credit:Fiona Morris But the government has not published its progress on this score since 2013, when the public transport share was at 23.4 per cent. And now the target has been scrapped. The former NSW 2021 plan was released by Barry O'Farrell in 2012, with the comment that the government expected "the community to hold it accountable for achieving the commitments in this plan". But under Mr O'Farrell and Mr Baird and their transport ministers, the government never got round to working out what some of those commitments were.

The former plan, for example, said the government would reduce the difference between scheduled and actual public transport travel times. But transport authorities never established how that aim should be measured or reported. They similarly never reported on a goal to "improve peak-hour travel speeds on 100 major roads". A spokesman for Mr Baird said the Premier wanted to "narrow the government's focus to ensure our priorities are achieved". "Having 30 priorities rather than the 321 targets is about increasing efficiency and is recognition that to get results, you need a narrow focus – what gets measured, gets done," the spokesman said.

"This was the experience of Tony Blair in the UK – who had just 10 priorities – and what we are now emulating here in NSW." In relation to transport, Mr Baird's new priorities are not particularly detailed. They include building the infrastructure projects the government has committed to, such as WestConnex, NorthConnex and new Sydney Metro rail line, and ensuring on-time running for public transport. NSW Greens transport spokeswoman Mehreen Faruqi said many of the big infrastructure projects did not have publicly released business cases, cost-benefit analyses or alternatives. "More problematic than simply 'moving the finish line' is that the whole focus has changed to the output of major projects regardless of their ability to solve congestion and improve public transport," Dr Faruqi said. A spokesman for Transport for NSW said rail and ferry services were meeting punctuality and reliability targets, and patronage was climbing on trains and light rail.

The spokesman said performance indicators were enforced through service contracts with rail, bus, and ferry operators, and "performance data across the public transport network is published on a regular basis online".