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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 6 Hansard (17 June) . . Page.. 1668 ..

MRS CARNELL (continuing):

This Government is very pleased that those opposite support this report. If they do not, they have given the wrong impression today. Certainly, Mr Whitecross is not interjecting now, so I assume categorically that we have 100 per cent support for implementation of this very important report that will improve ACTION bus services.

MS HORODNY (4.17): Mr Speaker, on page 12 this report says:

All Australian Governments (including the ACT Government) have determined that, on environmental grounds, it is essential to increase the modal share of public transport; not to decrease the modal share.

It is amazing to me that, after consistently cutting this service for 21/2 years, this Government has now called in a consultant, probably at great expense, to tell them what they would have known if they had listened to the public and listened to members in this Assembly. We have been consistently telling you that if you keep degrading the bus service - - -

Mrs Carnell: You support it?

MS HORODNY: I will have a look at it, Mrs Carnell. I cannot speed read; so I have not read it in five minutes, I am afraid. I will look at it very carefully, I assure you. I have been waiting to receive a copy of this report.

Mrs Carnell: How can you speak on it if you have not read it?

MS HORODNY: I am speaking about public transport in the ACT.

Mrs Carnell: No; you are speaking about this report.

MS HORODNY: I am speaking about public transport. This is a review of ACTION. What I have been saying consistently and we have been saying consistently for 21/2 years is that you are not going to increase the modal share of public transport in the ACT if you keep decreasing services. People have to be able to rely on a bus service. One of the points made in the first couple of pages is that people can no longer rely on this service. It has been downgraded to such an extent that I have heard from many constituents that they have been forced to buy second cars for their families because the bus service is no longer reliable. If you have an unreliable bus service, it is a downhill spiral from there on.

What you need to do, Mrs Carnell, is to put in place a broad integrated public transport strategy for the ACT with clear goals and clear timelines to look at how you can increase the patronage on our bus service - - -

Mrs Carnell: That is what this is.

MS HORODNY: I will have a look at it with great interest. You need to increase the patronage. You need to look very closely at what sort of targets you are going to set, what sort of marketing you are going to direct at those figures, and over what period of time. Once again, with the bus service we have had ad hoc decisions with no context

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