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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 6 Hansard (23 May) . . Page.. 1574 ..

MR SMYTH (continuing):

There was a substantial gap between the old shelters and the buses, and people got wet when they crossed from the shelters to the buses With the sloping roof of the new shelters, buses can get closer to the shelters. The gap through which passengers travel exposed to the elements is smaller. The angled roof was chosen so that any heat build-up inside the shelters dissipated quickly. The heat was given a direction in which to travel so that there is not a build-up of heat inside the shelters.

I can go on. Great care was taken in the design, particularly in regard to security. There is mesh at the back and you can see through it. If you can see through it, of course it also allows the wind in, but at the same time it does allow visual access, and the security of the passengers is improved. Unfortunately, many public facilities and installations are the target of vandalism. The new shelters are built from materials that are vandal proof, and we hope that they will prove successful in that regard.

A lot of effort has gone into this. We have listened to some of the criticisms that have been made. We will experiment with some of the tinting so that it is quite apparent that there is a shadow, and if you want to sit in a shadow hopefully that shadow will be there. The new shelters are cooler. They are more visible and are therefore more secure. They provide more protection from the rain when you move from the bus to the shelter or from the shelter to the bus. The tactile tiling in the interchange is also user friendly for the visually impaired.

Overall, there has been a tremendous improvement in the look of the interchange. The new shelters are not like the old bomb shelters, which were made of case-hardened concrete, which you could not see into and which were dark at night. The new ones are much better for personal security and looking after patrons.

MR WOOD: I ask a supplementary question. Mr Smyth went into great detail to tell me how much care had been taken to make sure the design was unsuitable for some people. Is it the case then that it is unsuitable for all people?

MR SMYTH: We will hear from the Treasurer in a few minutes about our approach to building up the infrastructure that makes Canberra a great place to live. We will hear from our Treasurer about building up the social capital, the things that we value about living here in Canberra. By contrast, all those opposite do is tell you what they cannot do or what they do not understand. It is impossible to design a bus shelter that meets all needs at all times. I would be interested to know how much Mr Wood, as a former minister responsible for ACTION, would spend on bus shelters.

It would be very interesting to find out how much those opposite would spend and where they would get the money from. They are the people who left a $344 million deficit. We have put an enormous amount of money into refurbishing Civic. We want to make Civic a vital, enjoyable place by improving the public transport system and refurbishing the bus interchange. I have received lots of positive comment about the look of the interchange and how much more friendly it is. We have had some criticism of the shelters and the way they function, and we will look at that. But in the main they do function well.

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