Page 3452 - Week 09 - Thursday, 21 August 2008
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per cent increase in concessional boardings; a 352.7 per cent increase in free boardings, as a result of the introduction of the bike and ride and gold pass programs; and a 1.6 per cent increase in school boardings.
Compared to the 12 months prior to the introduction of the new network, average weekday boardings increased by 4.5 per cent, excluding school and public holidays. The 4.5 per cent increase in total boardings was made up of a 7.3 per cent increase in adult boardings; a 0.6 per cent decrease in concessional boardings as a result of the introduction of the gold pass program, reducing the number of concessions; a 198.2 per cent increase in free boardings, a result of the introduction of bike and ride and gold pass programs; and a 3.1 per cent increase in school travel.
The ACT government is committed to building a better service for the Canberra community. That is the reason behind the introduction of network 08, which, as I said, was introduced on 2 June following a comprehensive review of ACTION’s services.
ACTION has received over 2,500 pieces of feedback from customers regarding the new bus network. All feedback is being considered by ACTION’s scheduling and customer service teams, and travel solutions/options are being provided to customers.
In response to feedback, ACTION has introduced a number of immediate changes. Some examples that members may be interested in include the following. Route 25/225 has now been redirected to service Mirinjani residents at Weston Creek. A new school service has been provided for students residing in the Gungahlin area. There are two earlier bus services for Giralang and Kaleen residents. There is an additional morning service, route 60, from Tuggeranong to the city and there is an additional afternoon service, route 51, from the city via Gungahlin Marketplace to Belconnen.
ACTION will continue to assess requests for changes to specific route services and, where possible, will introduce those at the beginning of the next or following school terms.
It is pretty obvious that people in Canberra who had a rough time with network 06 are now embracing network 08. We are seeing a significant shift out of the car and onto public transport. This is an absolute credit to the officers and drivers of the ACTION bus network.
MR SPEAKER: A supplementary question, Mr Gentleman.
MR GENTLEMAN: Minister, what has been the nature of the commuting public’s response to the introduction of ACTION’s network 08?
MR HARGREAVES: I thank Mr Gentleman, again, for his longstanding interest in this subject. We have received a most positive response to the network. For the interest of members, let me read some of the feedback received. This is one example:
Dear ACTION, I discovered today that there was a new bus service for Radford College taking Nicholls and Ngunnawal residents directly to their suburbs. This is very welcome news indeed and caters perfectly for this community. It is the
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