Page 2202 - Week 06 - Friday, 27 June 2008
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ACTION buses. We have seen quite recently the implementation of the new bus network. Implementation of the new bus network is, of course, always a time of great trepidation for the section of the Canberra community that relies on buses for mobility. The changes made in 2006, for example, caused significant distress in the community, especially, unfortunately, for our older citizens. The current network seems to have caused less pain and seems to be working relatively well, although there are still some services that have been sacrificed or lost.
I was pleased that the minister and ACTION responded to the concerns of Curtin residents and spared the express route between that suburb and Civic. This was an example of community action ensuring that a good result was achieved. I think I received representations from 132 people in relation to that service, and I know that they were pleased that their concerns were heard. I recognise that ACTION fulfils a vital role for our community. It is a costly burden on the ACT government. However, I am unsure how it would be possible to run it profitably. I recognise that we are losing more than a million dollars a week through ACTION, but it is obviously a viable service to the eight to 10 per cent of people in this territory who use it. I was heartened to hear the acting minister the other day talk about it eclipsing 25,000 passengers.
Obviously, this is still a very car-oriented city. It is a city that was designed when fuel prices were not even a consideration. It was designed by a native of Chicago, a city where freeways and such things were already becoming a fact of life at that stage. I think it is going to be very difficult to achieve an outcome where the overwhelming majority of people use public transport. There are issues of population size that work against getting a high level of patronage of public transport.
Although buses are used by a relatively small percentage of the community, they are a vital service for many, including, as I have already mentioned, elderly people, not to mention our young people and children—my own use them on a daily basis. It is vital that, as people get older, they remain active in the community. It is undeniable that buses play an important role in this regard.
The only other point I wanted to make was to express my disappointment at the apparent refusal of the government to immediately begin work to expand the GDE. I appreciate that the road has only just been completed; however, it is already clear that the GDE is rapidly approaching the point where it will not meet the needs of Gungahlin residents, if, indeed, it currently does already. Certainly, in the peak periods it is most unsatisfactory.
I believe that the government needs to immediately begin the preliminary work to expand the road, and it is not really good enough to say that studies are needed to determine what expansion is needed. By the time we wait for the studies and then for preliminary work to be undertaken and then for actual construction, years will have passed and the problems will have got worse. Mr Seselja, I think, said last night that people were starting to tear back down into Northbourne Avenue. I wish him well on that one.
As I said to Mr Gill at a meeting the other night at Hackett or somewhere, it is probably the worst synchronised road I have ever travelled on. I have been in far
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