Page 3743 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 28 October 2015

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timetable and fare system. In the longer term, the agency will forecast and meet the needs of a growing city, providing a strong transport system that will keep Canberra sustainable and modern but, most importantly, maintain the liveability that Canberrans love about this place.

For Canberrans, a single public transport agency supporting a single public transport system will allow us to move around our city with bus routes and timetables connecting to light rail; to more easily plan our journeys with single source timetable information; allow for a consistently positive experience across transport forms—bus and light rail—with clear branding and a single ticketing system; and, of course, provide a single contact point to address any issues.

Transport Canberra will also have responsibility for other public transport services such as special needs transport for school children and on-demand community services transport. The new agency will work closely with other directorates on broader transport land planning, policy development and transport regulation.

It will be undertaking a comprehensive survey of the Canberra community on public transport, which will enable us to shape the priorities of the new agency and to develop a basis for benchmarking its performance. With light rail coming, now is the time to ensure that we have the systems in place to align our bus and rail networks. Light rail, working closely with a strong bus network, is certainly best way to enhance the liveability of our city and to ensure that we do not go down the path of cities like Sydney.

MADAM SPEAKER: A supplementary question, Dr Bourke.

DR BOURKE: Chief Minister, can you explain transport Canberra’s role in reallocating the additional 1.2 million kilometres of bus travel to improve services across the whole of Canberra?

MR BARR: The introduction of light rail will be to the benefit of everyone in our city, not just those who live and work along the initial light rail corridor. The first stage of the network frees up around 1.2 million kilometres of bus travel every year. It makes sense, of course, to reallocate these kilometres to provide more buses on more routes, to the benefit of the broader travelling public.

Transport Canberra will work with the community to get these freed-up buses onto routes where they are needed most and it will be responsible for the design of future bus networks and planning. This will improve services right across Canberra, as well as quickly transporting people into the light rail corridor.

In cooperation with the successful light rail tenderer, transport Canberra will also be responsible for assessing how the bus network can best integrate with the light rail service. This means, in practical terms, being able to step off a suburban bus and straight onto a light rail service, to quickly move between town centres, saving people time and hassle.

MADAM SPEAKER: Supplementary question, Ms Porter.


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