Page 3744 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 28 October 2015
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MS PORTER: Chief Minister, what improvements in convenience and reliability can Canberrans expect as a result of the creation of a single transport agency?
MR BARR: There is no doubt that when using public transport commuters want to be able to get around our city easily and as quickly as possible. That is why transport Canberra’s focus will be on the traveller and will place a very high priority on the practical issues that public transport users value. A single ticket to be used across all modes of public transport will keep the system convenient and easy to navigate.
There is a range of technological improvements that will help keep the system reliable and predictable. Modern transport agencies, of course, require sophisticated capabilities to improve services and efficiency. In 2010 ACTION introduced the MyWay system that allows users to see when their bus is going to arrive. My Way also provides real-time data that has allowed the government to make improvements to the bus network over the past three years.
As Minister Rattenbury has pointed out on more than one occasion, an important measure of reliability is, indeed, on-time running. The latest data has shown that on-time running is improving and has reached 79 per cent. This is a relatively good outcome but, of course, we can do better, and transport Canberra will be structured to readily adopt new capabilities to ensure that we do better.
MADAM SPEAKER: A supplementary question, Ms Fitzharris.
MS FITZHARRIS: Chief Minister, what efficiencies does the government believe can be achieved through the creation of a single transport agency?
MR BARR: It is, of course, important that ACTION operates efficiently and within its budget to ensure that it delivers the best possible services for Canberrans, and that is why we have undertaken an expenditure review of ACTION over the past financial year. A key finding was that the number of Canberrans taking public transport has declined in the period 2011 to 2014, despite an increase in public transport expenditure. This is clearly not a sustainable outcome.
The review also recommended structural changes to deliver long-lasting improvements, and that is what the government is doing by creating transport Canberra. We have already commenced a range of improvements to ACTION in the back-of-house areas, planning and their IT capacity. We are looking at how we can adjust workshop hours to get buses back on the road as quickly as possible.
MADAM SPEAKER: Order, members, there is too much conversation.
MR BARR: Through transport Canberra we will work with our employees and unions on the 2017 enterprise agreement that will be focused on delivering a customer-focused, efficient and reliable public transport.
The review, I acknowledge, did recommend that we consider the privatisation of ACTION but the government has made it very clear that we will be keeping ACTION
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