Page 3711 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 21 November 2006
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addition of route 58 during the day. Currently there are no weekend bus services passing through Harrison. New route 58 will provide 16 services each way on Saturday and 11 each way on Sunday. The Flexibus evening services will be replaced with a timetabled fixed-route service. Evening and weekend services will be hourly on fixed routes. The evening intertown services will be at a 15-minute frequency, currently 20 minutes. Interpeak services during the week will be on a memory hourly timetable.
The mobility parking scheme is another initiative to assist aged citizens in Canberra. A permit allows the use of special mobility spaces, or wide bays, which are close to shops and offices to allow people with mobility disabilities to park close to their destination. These spaces are larger than normal to provide extra room around the vehicle for wheelchair and walking aide access. The ACT government is committed to providing adequate wide bays for MPS permit holders in areas under its control. There are currently about 15,000 MPS permits on issue to ACT residents. This compares to an ACT population of approximately 325,000 and some 250,000 vehicles on the ACT register.
The government makes running a car more accessible for older citizens by offering concessions on registration and licence fees. If Canberrans hold the ACT seniors card and no other concessions they are entitled to a 10 per cent concession on the registration fee of one eligible vehicle. Pensioners with a PCC card receive a 100 per cent concession on the registration fee of one eligible vehicle and all holders of the repatriation health card, commonly referred to as the gold card, issued by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, are entitled to a 100 per cent concession on the registration fee of one vehicle. The ACT currently provides a 100 per cent concession on drivers licence fees to Centrelink pension concession holders and Department of Veterans’ Affairs gold card holders. The 100 per cent concession applies to the renewal, replacement or issue of a provisional or full drivers licence.
The ACT has existing awareness programs for older drivers. An Older Drivers Handbook is sent out with licence renewals at age 70. A Retiring from Driving booklet is sent out with licence renewals at age 75. These documents have been developed in conjunction with the ACT Council on the Ageing, COTA. Funding has been provided by the NRMA-ACT Road Safety Trust for the older persons road safety needs analysis project being undertaken by COTA. This study will provide more relevant and recent data to assist with ACT policy development in relation to older persons and their transport needs.
To cater for those who prefer to walk or ride, we have an annual program covering the provision of new footpaths and cycle paths to ensure people have better access. We also spend about $4 million per annum to maintain the existing footpath and cycle path network. One major role of this program is to reduce trip hazards.
A key component of any refurbishment work undertaken by the ACT government is the auditing of existing access conditions and subsequent inclusions of current disability and access standards in the design documentation. To this end, the design team includes an access consultant to check on all design and construction as part of the refurbishment process. This applies to all of our local and group shopping centre refurbishments and to development of urban open space.
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