Page 2132 - Week 06 - Thursday, 7 May 2009
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expanded Greens team in the Assembly, we expect to make a substantial difference to the directions of government. We understand, however, that change that is needed will take some time. This budget makes it clear to me where some of the change of direction is needed.
The Greens welcome the initiative in this budget to trial a bus rapid transit service. It will show Canberra commuters how public transport can be fast and convenient. And we need to help more commuters out of cars if we are to make Canberra a more liveable city. Combined with the updated ticketing system also planned for this year, ACTION will really have something efficient and attractive to offer people, particularly at busy peak times. We hope to see the government deliver on this new ticketing system as it will also deliver the accurate data needed to know when people are getting on and off buses.
But as we all know, it is not just about peak-hour buses; it is about providing an accessible service to people who are otherwise isolated or marginalised in our community. While we have community transport of various sorts across Canberra, taxi subsidies and so on, none of them are really linked together. We have not yet found anything in the budget papers which points to coordination and improvement of these services.
Similarly, there is a wheelchair accessible taxi service which is, in essence, too often appalling for the people who use it. People who rely on this service really do suffer when they have to wait for hours to catch a taxi to attend appointments or simply to go on social outings. There are many Canberra people who use this service who would appreciate a sign that the government was prepared to act. But this budget has not addressed this issue.
The desire to deliver on concrete infrastructure does seem to get in the way of delivering on human services. That is poor economic thinking, as a return on income and employment is often better with investment in important services such as transport. It is also about building the kind of community we want. There are many roads in the ACT that could do with improvement but none of them are in as appalling a state as our WAT network. On top of that, the budget ignores the fact that we have a cab service that is often inconsistent in delivering an adequate service and bus systems that run on separate tickets.
In this budget, investment in roads far exceeds that for public transport. If the government is determined to put hundreds of millions of dollars into roads, those road works need to support a better transport system. We need transit lanes to be incorporated into road duplication, bus priority lanes at key intersections, park-and-ride facilities built as a matter of priority and transport planning across the territory, which includes roads to provide for light rail.
One million dollars for buses is a small investment when you compare it to the more than $200 million on new road projects. That is why we need this kind of commitment to an integrated regional approach to transport to permeate down to the heart of the ACT government and why we need to get pressure from outside as well as inside the Assembly. Fortunately, that is one thing which is happening.
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