Page 5148 - Week 14 - Wednesday, 18 November 2009
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discussed for quite some time and is why we have consistently stated we need to start investigating the need for more bus priority measures in the ACT. The problems experienced, particularly along Northbourne Avenue, are going to have to be addressed in the not-too-distant future, as has been identified by Mr Walker.
These rapid routes such as Redex are generally quicker, as has been demonstrated in the first few days of the Redex service, but it is with the introduction of other measures that these services will be even more enhanced. The issue is that we have to start building routes like Redex into our public transport network; otherwise we will never improve from what we have. We will continue along with more of the same and people will not be encouraged to travel on buses. Those are simply the facts. What these networks also allow for, as has been done in Brisbane, is a change of technology, if that becomes feasible in the future. Other countries have also adopted this approach.
Paragraphs (7) and (8) of Mr Coe’s motion talk about the lack of park and ride facilities at the Gungahlin town centre. In the 2009-10 budget the ACT government included funding for a feasibility study for a park and ride facility at Mitchell. It is our understanding that the intention of the Mitchell facility is to service Gungahlin and the wider area and that this is something which is being considered in the overall plans for the transport network, including connecting services to more rapid and direct routes such as Redex. I would suggest that this work should be fast-tracked.
I note that in the transport work done by the government a bus interchange has been identified for Gungahlin. This is something that the Greens have called for. Planning for this interchange would have to include consideration of a park and ride facility, as has occurred with other interchanges. Furthermore, if the information gathered from the Redex trial indicates that the service will benefit from a park and ride facility at Gungahlin that is something we would obviously support. However, unlike the Liberal Party, the ACT Greens shall not judge the efficiency of the service on the third day of its operation.
In regard to criticising indirect suburban services, this is a paragraph that makes me wonder whether the Liberal Party and Mr Coe have read the strategic plan at all. If they had, they would know of the need for a coverage network to provide basic mobility for our community to access essential services. If Mr Coe and the Liberal Party have a problem with the occasional circuitous routes these buses have to take, we would happily leave it up to them to explain to the elderly, the disabled and the young how we will maintain these services without lengthy travel times. This is the politics of cheap shots and adds nothing to the conversation this city needs to have about the future of our transport systems.
Regardless of which bus service we are talking about, they have to start from somewhere, wait for people at bus stops and then finish somewhere. The issue of buses sitting idle at some stage is, unfortunately, something we cannot do much about, unless we are going to have buses no longer stopping at stops, which I would think defeats the entire purpose of commuter travel. I must say that I find subparagraph 14(a) quite bizarre, given that the very purpose of this service is to provide more direct route services from Gungahlin to the city. We would suggest that Mr Coe re-examine what he seeks to get out of this motion criticising Redex.
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