Page 1191 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 6 April 2016
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
I want to examine the actual claim made by Mr Coe in this motion. He says that buses are the most effective and efficient way to serve all Canberrans by public transport. I want to put on the record, as I have done many times before, that buses are absolutely critical to Canberra’s transport system, and we should be prioritising them, along with other forms of sustainable transport. You can look at our parliamentary agreement and see bus initiatives front and centre, including the commitment to millions of additional dollars to go to the bus network.
But is it right to say that buses alone are the most effective and efficient way to serve all Canberrans by public transport? I do not believe that that is true. The most effective and efficient way is to use the mix of transport technologies that are appropriate to our specific needs. This is an integrated transport system. For Canberra, the most effective and efficient system will utilise light rail on our key high capacity transport corridors and buses to complete the network and feed patronage into these corridors.
The Liberal Party’s is an unnecessarily narrow view. They have painted themselves into a corner because of their political campaigning and now must refuse to acknowledge the benefits light rail will have as part of Canberra’s transport network. Because the Liberals categorically refuse to look at a particular transport technology, light rail, their own transport plans cannot solve Canberra’s most pressing growth and congestion hotspots, like Northbourne Avenue. This corridor needs light rail’s efficiency, capacity and ability to stimulate urban revitalisation.
Even if we accepted that the buses were the best solution right now for the short term, what would the Liberals do on transport in the future? Canberra is growing. Congestion is growing. Density is growing. And our need to get more and more people using public transport is growing. Are the Liberals saying that for now, for the next 10 years, for the next 50 years, Canberra is only suited to buses and we must not have light rail? That is simply an unpalatable position. It is ridiculous. It is short-sighted and it sells this city out in a way that no people seeking to be government in this town should be doing.
In Canberra’s key corridors, growing and higher density places like Gungahlin to the city, light rail is a supremely efficient and beneficial public transport technology. It can move people much more efficiently than buses. It is more attractive to passengers than buses. It is less polluting than buses. It uses less space than buses. It also catalyses urban renewal more effectively than buses.
I want to use this opportunity to make some initial comments on the Liberal Party’s bus plan, which it released just last week. It takes the approach of embedding frequent rapid routes in the network—a good idea and something I support; something that Mr Coe did not support, but he does now, so that is good. Some of those rapid routes are appropriate for light rail, however. A smart approach would be to be technology neutral and, if some of the corridors are appropriate for light rail, to propose that.
Interesting to note is that with this rapid network model there is a significant amount of interchanging required. Astute members will note that the Liberal Party frequently
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video