Page 179 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 8 December 2004
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faster and more direct services. I can very happily report to members, Mr Speaker, that since the espresso services were introduced we have seen a 5 per cent increase in adult patronage on those routes.
The Stanhope government is committed to an accessible, sustainable and high-quality passenger transport system through our fleet replacement program for ACTION. This is a critical component in assisting ACTION to meet the patronage targets identified in the government’s plan. In its first term, the government committed $23.4 million to the purchase of 62 new accessible buses for ACTION’s fleet. Through the introduction of these new buses, ACTION’s accessible fleet will more than double. This means we will meet the Disability Discrimination Act accessibility targets of 25 per cent of the ACTION fleet by 2007.
Further, ACTION will also have an important role to play in the Stanhope government’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Although we have introduced a long-term program to convert the ACTION bus fleet to compressed natural gas fuel, we will continue to investigate alternatives while the replacement program is implemented. As such, ACTION will be trialling alternative fuels such as biodiesel in the ACTION fleet.
The government will also be implementing a new real-time information system. This will be piloted next year, giving customers up-to-date information on when their bus will arrive. This information will be displayed not only at bus stops but in shopping centres and at selected places within entertainment and educational facilities. The information provision has been one of the major factors influencing the perception of bus reliability and it has led to increased usage in other cities where it has been introduced. We anticipate the same here in the ACT.
In addition, the government will be trialling a demand responsive transport system. This will provide an innovative, flexible public transport service for Canberrans. We have been trialling this model in Weston Creek since 2003 through ACTION. This model is based on an outbound area service from the Woden interchange, with a fixed route return. ACTION began the trial as a precursor to its implementation in suitable areas across the network. Planning is well advanced to implement new area/evening services in Belconnen, Tuggeranong and Gungahlin from March next year and these services are to be further enhanced by a telephone booking system for return direction travel.
The government is committed to improving public transport services, including establishing bus lounges for Belconnen and Woden and the development of the Belconnen to Civic busway as the first in a network of high-speed, mass-person transit corridors.
Unlike other major cities, Mr Speaker, a work journey in Canberra by car can be four times quicker than a bus, and parking is readily available and relatively cheap. As Canberra grows, we will see increasing road congestion and reduced car parking in major centres. We need to start right now to provide infrastructure to cope with the future transport demand. If public transport is to be successful it must be competitive in journey time; it must be reliable, frequent and reasonably priced.
High-speed transit corridors such as the Belconnen and Gungahlin to city busways will not only be faster over the equivalent route for the road journey but will be perceived as
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