Page 2815 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 13 August 2019
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seeking revisions to the network and for services to be reinstated as soon as possible. These are real Canberrans with real concerns.
On top of our petitions tabled earlier this year, there have been over 13,000 pieces of consultation calling for revisions or alterations to the network. This government has delivered very little in response to that. This also highlights, as mentioned in the estimates report, the need for the government to improve reporting mechanisms within Transport Canberra to better capture the complaints and feedback of Canberrans about our public transport network so that these complaints may be not only addressed but responded to. Our schoolchildren have had their dedicated school bus services cut. We have a bus network that only shows up some of the time on weekends and elderly people are left stranded at bus stops or with their local bus stops taken away.
In terms of new spending that we have seen in this budget, we welcome the funding for new technology and upgrades to our ticketing system. As cities around the world adopt smarter approaches to ticketing, it is important that Canberra keeps up. The flexibus system is also getting additional funding, which is important. But, as Ms Lawder has also spoken about, and as we heard extensively in estimates hearings, the service still leaves a lot to be desired for older Canberrans.
Under the new network, suburban routes have been taken away from a lot of people across the city. Walking distances to bus stops have increased significantly. This means that a lot of elderly and disabled Canberrans have lost access to the network. The flexibus is an alternative for these people but the booking process remains clunky and difficult for many to access.
Investment in upgrading our bus fleet is also important, another area receiving funding in this budget. However, with the old orange buses being recommissioned to meet the requirements of the network, as Ms Le Couteur has also mentioned, it is not clear what of this is going to be increased capacity. We also know that much of the fleet is still not disability compliant, so this investment really could have come sooner.
Another initiative that could have come sooner is the Mitchell light rail stop, which of course local businesses and the Canberra Liberals have been calling for for a long time. The problems with the new bus network could not be more obviously seen than in the south, where residents have been totally left behind by the government. We have heard from so many constituents from the south side who rely on the network as their only way to get around the city, who have lost services and who now feel isolated.
The minister’s comments last sitting week regarding the cancellation of weekend services is about on par with the disdainful view that this government has of Canberrans. We are months into the new network. We continue to see hundreds of services cancelled each weekend and the minister unwilling to give commuters more than 90 minutes notice of these cancellations. Even then, it is only through the NXTBUS app.
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