Page 4591 - Week 12 - Thursday, 15 October 2009
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Our sustainable transport goal articulated in the sustainable transport plan is to increase the percentage of people walking, cycling and taking public transport to work from 13 per cent in 2001 to 20 per cent in 2011, and to 30 per cent in 2026. This requires 16 per cent of work trips by public transport, seven per cent by cycling and seven percent by walking in 2026. Data from the ABS indicates we are well on the way to achieving these targets, but there is still a way to go.
In July this year, the government brought together over 100 representatives of community and business groups at a transport roundtable chaired by Dr Maxine Cooper. This was a very successful event which sought ideas and input on the transport issues for Canberra and the region that are of most concern for the future. At the roundtable, the Chief Minister announced that the government is developing the sustainable transport action plan 2010-26. The sustainable transport action plan will be a detailed document setting out how the government will implement the sustainable transport plan in the short to medium term, from 2010 to 2016. The input from the roundtable will be reflected in the action plan as it is developed over the coming months.
The sustainable transport action plan will link together four strategies which detail how we move around Canberra and the region. These four aspects of the integrated transport system—parking, public transport, cycling and walking, and transport infrastructure—require detailed planning and strategic policy thinking. The four strategies will be prepared alongside the overarching sustainable transport action plan.
These strategies will address a number of the specific recommendations made by the committee’s report. In particular, the public transport strategy being developed will address issues raised by the committee, including the opportunities to expand and make better use of park and ride and bike and ride transport options, strategic public transport planning which will increase use of public transport, and strategic decisions around the frequency and speed of public transport services.
A substantial amount of work has already been done on the draft strategic public transport network plan by transport experts McCormick Rankin Cagney, and there have recently been public consultations on this which will inform the government’s decisions about the shape of the ACT public transport strategy. Other issues raised by the committee will also be addressed in the development of the sustainable transport action plan, such as opportunities for travel smart programs, which assist the community to understand their sustainable transport options and better utilise them.
In many respects, the issues and concerns which have been highlighted in the committee’s report reflect work that has been underway for some time, or is now in development, to identify the way forward for the ACT transport system. I am very confident that the sustainable transport action plan will provide that strategic way forward and, in doing so, answer many of the issues that the committee has legitimately raised. I move:
That the Assembly takes note of the paper.
Debate (on motion by Ms Bresnan) adjourned to the next sitting.
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