Page 43 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 11 February 2020
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
Transport Canberra—network 19
MR MILLIGAN: My question is to the Minister for Transport. I refer to a petition tabled on 14 August 2018 calling for the return of bus route 54 from Crace to Belconnen. Why have you waited so long to reinstate bus route 54?
MR STEEL: I thank the member for his question. Of course, there is a rapid service that currently exists between Gungahlin and Belconnen, but we did listen to the community, including retirement villages in the Crace area, that wanted to be able to access the Belconnen town centre until Gungahlin town centre expands to provide extra services in the future to the community. We know that Belconnen mall is an important destination, and we have listened to that feedback.
We will be making changes to the bus network that will start in term 2. As I explained in answer to an earlier question, we were very deliberate about that. We wanted to make sure that we started it in term 2 rather than in term 1, because of the issues that that would cause, particularly for school communities. Those changes will be made.
We touched base with Gungahlin Community Council after the operation of the network last year. We will be going out there to meet them through Transport Canberra very soon, to talk through the changes that have been made in responding to some of the issues that they have raised with the introduction of the network. The government has been listening, and we will be making those changes.
We are making further extensions, not only through Crace but through other suburbs in Gungahlin, through to Belconnen, which will provide better connections for suburbs in Belconnen as well.
MR MILLIGAN: Minister, will you admit that taking away bus route 54 was wrong in the first instance?
MR STEEL: We undertook to implement 10 rapid services through network 19. We thought that the rapid service that existed—the black rapid, as it is known—has been successful and will continue to remain an important service. We have heard from the community that they want to see those local route bus services connected through, and we will be making those changes in term 2, responding to that community feedback.
MR COE: Minister, will you apologise to the 529 residents who signed the petition and whom you seriously disadvantaged for more than a year before reinstating route 54?
MR STEEL: I thank the member for his question. We will continue to make changes to the public transport network based on feedback that we receive from the community, but also looking at the data on how the public transport network was being used. When you make changes to a public transport network as substantial as those that were made as part of network 19 in April 2019, you do have to look at the data to see how the network is being used. We certainly acknowledge that we need to make changes. We have listened to community feedback in that regard. The
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video