Page 898 - Week 03 - Thursday, 10 March 2005
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Aikman Drive extension, which opened in February this year, and $3 million for the Cohen Street extension, which is currently being designed.
Of course, the other bus interchange that attracts much criticism is Woden. This bus interchange will also undergo a major upgrade. In the Woden town centre, the interchange will be redesigned and integrated with new retail and commercial development. The concept design is due for completion this month and a preliminary assessment will be released before the end of this financial year. Completion of the new integrated bus lounge is expected by 2008.
In terms of bus system improvements, along with these infrastructure improvements we have to focus on improving the service delivery of ACTION further, and ACTION is committed to doing this. ACTION has already introduced a number of improvements to the public transport system: the successful Labor initiative the One Fare Anywhere strategy, the new Xpresso services that were introduced in September last year and new and improved bus services into expanding areas of Canberra. On top of this there is a $23.3 million commitment to new airconditioned, low-floor, accessible buses and the pilot of the dial-a-bus service in Weston Creek, which began on 31 January 2005.
As a result of the Stanhope government’s commitment in the 2004 budget, ACTION introduced new express services across Canberra at a cost of $1.3 million for peak-hour, express-route travel directly for the adult full-paying passenger. The Xpresso services commenced in September last year and these provide ACTION customers with reduced travel time, services that are more direct to work, multiple departures on each route and a wider choice of services from the outer areas of Canberra. Patronage on these services has been extremely successful, with full capacity on services. This demonstrates the demand for such services and the importance to continue to provide these to Canberrans.
For example, Xpresso 705 travels directly between the Belconnen and Tuggeranong town centres. This means that you can now catch a bus from one side of Canberra to the other without having to go through the city or Woden interchanges and it takes only 27 minutes. There are four morning and afternoon times in each direction to choose from. Xpresso services 701, 702 and 703 depart from various Belconnen suburbs, bypassing the Belconnen bus interchange, and they head straight for the city, Russell, Parkes and Barton. Xpresso 788 services Gordon, Banks, Conder to Barton, Parkes, Russell and the city route, and travels directly along the Monaro Highway. Xpresso 85 services the Lanyon Marketplace, Banks and Conder direct to the city and Xpresso 87 services the Lanyon Marketplace, Gordon to the city.
These are all examples of how we are trying to emphasise public transport, providing services which are more direct, more timely and, importantly, focused on the commuter peak time. Public transport for the Canberran adult worker is now a viable option. Instead of driving to and from work in peak hour and paying for car parking, for as little as $4.20 a day Canberrans can instead use the Xpresso services. As a result of these services, in February this year, for the first time in ACTION’s history, ACTION passed a milestone of 20,000 adult passenger boardings in one day. This equates to an average 6½ per cent increase in adult passengers on ACTION over the same days last year—a 6½ per cent increase in patronage, a significant increase.
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