World-best studies claim that any transport service that has greater than 20 minutes between services can not optimise usage. Customers will choose other options if public transport is indirect, too slow, or infrequent. Reliability is very important, hence the need to have drivers on standby in case there is a problem on the network.

Once a person decides that the transport is unreliable and invests their personal vehicle, public transport options are difficult to take up again. In recent years the government has not been too prepared to invest in the effective outcomes for efficient public transport in the Newcastle area. I believe all the removal of the rail line and claims that this was a good decision for public transport in Newcastle are a total failure.

An investment in a car is often made because public transport is unsuitable in many ways. Many other cities do transport a lot better than it is done in Newcastle. I am reminded that Ken Henry did a study on the way to introduce congestion taxes to manage the number of cars into cities. Without good, robust, well planned, reliable, and frequent service that will deliver people to their desired destinations, only those without capacity to take up an alternative will utilise public transport. Any city with congestion taxes and poor public transport will need strong attractions to not become Ghost City; so future planning is vitally important or the city of Newcastle will see further declines.

JOHN Hunter Hospital staff need to be thanked, from the emergency department to Wards G1 and G2. The care could not be better anywhere in the world. I have great faith in the public health system.

I have always had great faith in the public health system, and from the Wallsend ambulance team to the John Hunter Hospital's Dr Finn and staff in emergency through to the wards, this was borne out. Sadly, my husband recently spent his last four days there and received such professional care and kindness that could not have been bettered anywhere in the world.

All the staff involved deserve great credit for that, and the family would like to publicly thank them, and wish them well.

WHAT a surprise to see a picture of the $11 million skate park project ('Builders earn skate park, No. 1 contracts', Newcastle Herald 30/7). The council has awarded this contract to Melbourne-based Lloyd group. This is just plain crazy. Does the council not stop to think of what has happened over the past few weeks to Stockton beach and what major problems the residents are having at Wamberal due to severe weather and tide behaviour?

If any of the council members had tried to walk along the existing walkway in the last couple of weeks and witness the effect the storm had on this area, they surely would not support this project as it is doomed to be affected by these weather patterns. The existing skate park was covered in sand, as was the existing walkway, so why would they approve for this project to proceed?

Community feedback back in 2018 told the council it did not support a skate bowl extending out onto the beach. It appears the council has taken no notice of this as I believe the picture of the project clearly shows the skate bowl and kiosk extending out over the existing beach area. The lord mayor is quoted saying this will transform a long-dormant part of the Newcastle coastline, but this area was certainly not dormant over the past couple of weeks.

THANK you and congratulations to Lake Macquarie City Council for taking on the rehabilitation of the old quarry site on Oakdale Road including planting 35,000 trees ('Old quarry site set to be transformed', Herald 31/7). This area has for too long been an eyesore, a degraded Mecca for illegal dumping, but it could be so much better.

Surrounding bush land includes old growth forest replete with hollows essential native animal habitat. The area is centrally located and readily accessible by the Fernleigh Track with parking available.

Please consider allocating a part of this land for a green cemetery. Many of us who try to limit our environmental impact would like the option of being laid to rest under a native tree with a modest financial cost to our families. It would also, I believe, encourage more respect for the land.

RACES of humans no longer exist, so I think Jan Schramm is talking about differences in cultural traditions amongst the other homo sapiens she has encountered through life. All of us are born with the ability to sing, innovate, speak many languages, create art works and even smash plates. It's just that some do it better than others or are addressing a traditional obligation.

There's no exclusive gene for any of these things. However, races would have existed amongst us if, for example, the Neanderthal and Denisovan species had survived to the present day. We know they existed during homo sapien history because we all carry a small percentage of their DNA (and there's only one way that got there).They were human species but they were not us.

We can never be certain of their intellectual ability but evidence points to it being inferior to ours. So how would we have existed with them? Would we have enslaved them, or put them in zoos? Judging by the way, we treat others today due to a false belief in the existence of races I suspect they would not fare well.

HAVE you seen the Menulog ad? It's totally racist in my view. It features exclusively people of colour, with a token white guy lampooned as being locked out of the party. Not racist, you say? Okay let's do it this way; make it exclusively white people in the party and the token person of colour the fool locked out of the party.

How is it possible that this ad is allowed on Australian TV? If version two was screened we would have protests in the streets. For the record, I have no issues with people of any colour.

THE crew of the Unison Jasper being underpaid, and exploited, what's new? ('Crew crisis', Newcastle Herald 1/8). This mind of behaviour was always going to occur as soon as these Flag of Convenience ships were allowed to operate in Australian waters.

I WRITE in support of John Reay (Letters 31/7) who asks if someone can stand up for safety. The voice of disabled people does not receive adequate hearing at any level of government. The City of Newcastle, the state government and the federal government need to take speedy action to meet their needs. I assure Mr Reay that many of us in the community are ready to stand up for disabled people. I have sent my copy of his letter to the Lord Mayor of Newcastle.

I BELIEVE NSW should go into Stage Three lockdown. This will ram the message home. Authorities need to ramp up compliance checks. To beat this virus, we have to get ahead of it. All the whingers need to shut up. Most of us are tough enough to take it.

HOW to turn Australia into a third world country: strike fear and panic into its citizens, close everything down, send unemployment through the roof, get people to use their lifelong savings just to survive, hand out money to anyone with their hand out and finally suppress everything to an unrecoverable abomination.

Ms Cesnik, you are not an "ordinary" person. You are an Australian, entitled to fairness. That is the Aussie way (House of pain, Herald, 1/8).

RAY Peck (Letters, 1/8) you are barking up the wrong tree. Please tell me when I ever mentioned nuclear power in any of my letters. Better to read letters properly before you make accusations. You are beginning to sound as confused as Joe Biden.

WITH a pub on every other corner in a lot of Newcastle, it seems stupid to replace our maritime museum with a place for people to get addled ('Hope's dream', Herald 23/7). The museum had a great venue on the harbour. I believe it's just another instance of the liquor trade owing our politicians.

REGARDING =the Newcastle maritime museum; why not use the old bowlo site at King Edward Park? An Ideal spot overlooking the ocean, a derelict site. Why not?

PETER Lewis' message in a bottle (Opinion, 1/8) brings to mind The Police hit and the words "Just a cast away, an island lost at sea, oh/Another lonely day, no one here but me, oh/More loneliness than any man could bear/Rescue me before I fall into despair".

A COURAGEOUS decision by Daniel Andrews ('Victoria lockdown will help NSW: Berejiklian', Herald 4/8), who must realise he will pay the price at the next state election for putting lives ahead of money.