Page 2453 - Week 06 - Thursday, 24 June 2010
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The government expects that ACTION will play a pivotal role in the implementation of Transport for Canberra and commenced this process by providing $1 million in 2009-10 to deliver a trial of a new high-frequency, limited-stop, rapid bus service called Redex. Redex travels between Gungahlin Marketplace and Kingston railway station every 15 minutes from 7 am to 7 pm, Monday to Friday. The evaluation of the Redex trial demonstrated it was an undisputed success. It was very well received by the community and encouraged greater patronage on the trunk route that it serviced.
I am pleased to acknowledge, in relation to Redex, that it is a service that was certainly initiated or facilitated as a result of very direct interest by the ACT Greens, as expressed through the parliamentary agreement, in relation to more responsive treatment, and I do acknowledge today the active and productive involvement of the ACT Greens in seeking to work cooperatively with the government in relation to public transport and actually doing it in a constructive and productive way. And the Greens can—
Mr Smyth: It really hurts to say that, doesn’t it, Jon?
MR STANHOPE: It does not hurt to say it at all. I say it actually to contrast it with the speech that we have just listened to from Mrs Dunne but to also graciously acknowledge that the Greens have engaged very constructively with the government on—with some, they have not—this particular issue, public transport. The government continues to work constructively with the Greens as an expression of the commitment that we jointly have, genuinely, to seek to improve public transport in the territory.
As I was saying, the evaluation of the Redex trial demonstrated it was an undisputed success. It was very well received by the community and encouraged greater patronage on the trunk route that it services Due to the success of that trial, the government intends to adopt it as part of the permanent network and extend it to Fyshwick, as of the beginning of network 10, with the implementation of a new network designed to begin the process of adopting the frequent network concept outlined in the public transport strategy which forms part of Transport for Canberra.
A recent benchmarking study conducted by Indec Consulting highlighted the costs associated with delivering ACTION’s high quality service and that they can be attributed to the high expectations of the Canberra community. ACTION employs over 800 staff, a large proportion of which are drivers and workshop employees. The Indec report demonstrated that ACTION staff are well paid comparatively and that they are employed under favourable conditions.
The report also highlighted that meeting the community’s expectations of environmental efficiency comes at a cost, as does the high presentation of buses. The report also indicated that bus services in the ACT operate over a longer span of hours than those in other jurisdictions and that patron comfort is foremost, with the provision of a high proportion of climate-controlled buses in comparison to other jurisdictions.
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