Page 151 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 15 February 2006
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for an equivalent bus based system. Despite these high costs, the study has identified significant net economic benefit to the future community of Canberra from a corridor transit system with a benefit to cost ratio of 3.28:1 … (light rail) and 4.22:1 (busway).
those are the figures of the feasibility study that the government commissioned for the short term—
Although a bus based inter-town corridor transit system would be approximately 25% cheaper to construct than the equivalent light rail system, it would have significantly higher annual operating costs and energy usage, and the longer term durability of the vehicles would be generally lower, leading to higher replacement costs in future years …
A critical factor in comparing the future attractiveness of alternative bus and light rail systems to the travelling public in Canberra is the improved ride quality which occurs with light rail. Light rail vehicles are also more inherently suitable for carriage of larger objects such as bicycles, which is an important consideration for many potential users of public transport in Canberra.
Additionally, the highly visible investment in rail track signifies a degree of permanency for the future system which will lead to land value capture benefits for numerous government owned sites in the vicinity of rail stations where increased levels of development would occur.
A light rail system would generally provide the type of spark necessary to improve the image of public transport in Canberra …
So the findings in the government’s own report are compelling. It may cost more in the outlay, but it will pay for itself.
It is a lot of money. This is where I think the federal government comes in. The federal government’s sustainable cities report says that there was a lot of support out there for light rail and for rail of other kinds, so I am going to propose that the ACT government and the federal government get together and, as a centennial project for the ACT, work on a light rail system that connects those offices and institutions in the parliamentary triangle with the rest of Canberra. I am not sure whether the airport would come in on this as well. What is needed is a body that is going to drive this project. I think that the ACT government, with its commitment to sustainability and the need to do something about meeting greenhouse gas reduction targets, is the right one to lead this project. I am very confident that we will hear some more about that in the near future.
MRS DUNNE (Ginninderra) (4.22): I thank Mr Seselja for bringing this important matter to us today because we have been able to witness the confusion of the transport minister, who has failed his own tests, who has failed to bring forward a busway project for the ACT. The death knell that rung out for the busway over the holiday period should have caused a sigh of relief for the people of the ACT for a variety of reasons: firstly, because of the cost and, secondly, because it was the wrong policy at the wrong time.
Mr Corbell made a valiant effort to justify his position. How do we have a motion about the Belconnen busway without mentioning the Belconnen busway? I have to compliment
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