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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 9 Hansard (29 August) . . Page.. 2813 ..

MR DE DOMENICO (continuing):

ACTION is leading the industry in its work on access to the public transport network for the disabled and disadvantaged members of our community. ACTION's easy access buses are the first to provide front door access for wheelchair and other mobility impaired passengers. Work has also been undertaken in conjunction with the local Disability Advisory Committee on improvements to timetable information and bus interchange design. Bus timetables are now available on the Internet.

I would like to talk about the Transport Reform Advisory Committee. In August 1995, I established the Transport Reform Advisory Committee to assist the Government in making well-informed decisions on transport. I set the committee the task of considering the critical elements that will lead to the development of an efficient transport system for Canberra and the priorities for changes to the management of that system. The committee has met five times since August 1995. The committee's work is now clearly linked to that of the metropolitan Canberra growth strategy review, and the committee will operate within the context of that broader strategic planning framework.

Parking is a subject which makes some members of the community angry, others happy. Late in 1995, the Australian Bureau of Statistics carried out a survey for the Government on travel to work and educational institutions. The survey provided information on why people use public transport and the characteristics of car drivers. As similar surveys had been carried out in other capital cities, it was possible to identify the particular features of Canberra's transport system that favour or discourage public transport use. My department's analysis of the data indicated that Canberra's lack of congestion and plentiful supply of parking makes travel by private motor car even more preferred in Canberra than in other capital cities. Indeed, even though parking fees affect a higher proportion of commuters in Canberra than in Perth, 9 per cent of Perth commuters travel by public transport compared with Canberra's 7 per cent.

The survey results support the view that there is little to be gained from a severe regime of measures aimed at reducing the number of car trips to the city and other town centres while there is relatively little congestion and an oversupply of parking. Recent changes to parking fees have been designed to better utilise empty government car parks and reduce the level of overspill parking in suburbs surrounding the city. Parking fee increases have exerted minimal influence on bus patronage in a city designed and funded for a transport system based on private car travel.

Parking management will continue to be seen as an important element of the transport strategy and the achievement of a more sustainable transport pattern. However, the transport objective will be balanced with other goals, primarily the efficient use of land, the fostering of economic activity, the protection of residential amenity, and the generation of an adequate revenue base. The Government's more detailed response to this issue will depend in part on the outcomes of the metropolitan growth strategy review on how parking and other transport issues in the ACT should be addressed.

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