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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 5 (Hansard) 16 May) . . Page.. 1370 ..

MR DE DOMENICO: I thank Ms Tucker for her question and also for the notice she gave me of it. Ms Tucker, I am advised by ACTION that ACTION regularly achieves an operating level of 99.5 per cent across the board of scheduled services over a normal month of operating. Interchange records show that more than 99.9 per cent of services that operate run to schedule. While it is undesirable, quite obviously, that any services be cancelled, no public transport system can guarantee 100 per cent of scheduled services operating. Unforeseen circumstances such as accidents, breakdowns and unplanned operator absence due to sickness can cause cancellations, even with comprehensive backup systems in operation. ACTION operates a priority system designed to inconvenience a minimum number of passengers and aims to ensure that failures are not concentrated in any one area or any one service. School services, of course, are given priority, and ACTION operates 100 per cent of school services.

I am aware, Ms Tucker, that the service you are referring to is the 7.50 am from Watson. Is that the one you are referring to?

Ms Tucker: It was 382.

MR DE DOMENICO: From where to where?

Ms Tucker: From Watson to the city, but I think it starts from further along. I am not quite sure where it starts, but I pick it up at the Watson shops.

MR DE DOMENICO: You pick it up at the Watson shops at 10 to eight in the morning. I will try to find out why the 10 to eight from the Watson shops was late this morning and get back to you and let you know why.

MS TUCKER: I ask a supplementary question. It is really not particularly that I was not able to get here on time. This is a question about public transport and your continued apparent commitment to it. You have told me that the operating level is 99.5 per cent. I want to know how many buses have not turned up. You might be interested to know how many passengers you are consistently losing. You have taken $12m out of the budget. If this is the consequence of that and you are losing passengers, how can you say that you have a commitment to public transport when people are dropping out, saying that they have to buy second cars because they cannot rely on public transport?

MR SPEAKER: This is no longer a supplementary question; it is a statement.

MS TUCKER: My question is: How can you justify a commitment to public transport when you are losing passengers so often?

MR DE DOMENICO: I thank Ms Tucker for her supplementary statement. Ms Tucker, when 99.5 per cent of scheduled services over a normal month of operations are coming in on time, I think you can say that there is a commitment to public transport and that it is being run properly. Ms Tucker, when ACTION is operating 100 per cent of school services, I think you can say that it is operating a quite good service.

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