Page 2943 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 20 September 2006
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We will have new services to Harrison. Currently there are 10 weekday services passing through Harrison in each direction, from the city and Gungahlin Marketplace. This will increase to 22 services in each direction, with the addition of route 58 during the day. Currently there are no weekend bus services passing through Harrison. New route 58 will provide 16 services each way on Saturday and 11 each way on Sunday.
There will be a return to route evening services, which will replace Flexibus. This will mean there is no need to ring to book a bus from the suburbs and more surety for passengers waiting at the stop.
There will be a new route 55 from Gungahlin Marketplace via Harrison, connecting in the city with route 300 at 6.32 am to Woden and Tuggeranong. The request was for a service from Gungahlin to arrive at Woden before 7 o’clock in the morning, and we are trying to satisfy that. There will be an additional route 15 from Theodore to Tuggeranong interchange at 5.54 am. All pm routes 85 and 87 will be with articulated buses to increase capacity. We will be having additional school services from Gungahlin to Copland college and an additional school service from Dunlop to Fraser primary.
These additional services are just that—additional services. Any suggestion that there will be a lessening of the service does not take these particular initiatives into account. I express my appreciation to the staff of ACTION for the work that they have put in in developing these new services.
MS MacDONALD: Mr Speaker, I ask a supplementary question. Minister, with regard to ACTION services, what implications were there for the travelling public stemming from the lack of ACTION services this morning?
MR HARGREAVES: Mr Speaker, it was with extreme disappointment and dismay that the government found out at 7.30 pm last night that the services were going to be withdrawn from 6 am to 8.30 am this morning and that the only routes that would be conducted would be those, after the request from the government, for special needs children. There was, we believe, no need for such a lightning action. All it would serve to do would be to disadvantage further the most disadvantaged in our community.
We know, for example, that there were 10,000 school kids expecting to be picked up by buses that did not arrive. Many of those children were trying to get to school for their year 11 exam but there was not sufficient notice for us to let them know. The last two occasions on which a stop-work action was taken the government supported the stop-work meetings and was able to give sufficient advice to enable the travelling public to make alternative arrangements. Furthermore, the school bus runs were not affected.
Mr Speaker, 25,000 commuters thought buses were going to turn up. Indeed, we were contacted by a lady from Yass who, as was their habit and practice, was dropped off at Belconnen interchange by her husband because that is the quickest way for her to get into Civic. However, this morning she had no way of contacting her husband to say that she was stranded at the intersection. One fellow who was in some distress rang in to talk-back radio and said that he was attempting to get to his doctor to have a medication script reissued. He indicated—
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