Page 2454 - Week 06 - Thursday, 24 June 2010
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However, it is the community that evaluates whether or not a service is high quality, and the community does have views on that. In a community satisfaction survey—and this contradicts entirely everything that Mrs Dunne said just now—in relation to ACTION, when asked about overall satisfaction with the bus service, 80 per cent of respondents indicated, and consistently indicated, that they were satisfied with the service.
While the community has a high expectation which is usually met, there is of course still work to do to improve efficiency, and certainly there is still an awful lot of work to be done to improve patronage. But the surveys of the work and the independent surveys such as the Indec one clearly demonstrate that ACTION is a high quality and well-respected bus service. To assist in delivering the most effective bus service, the 2010-11 budget provides for bus priority measures planned and provided along the key transport corridors, Belconnen to city, Gungahlin to city and on Canberra Avenue along the eastern transport corridor.
Public transport services will also benefit through the implementation of network 10 changes which will incorporate the successful Redex pilot into the core network and extend it to Fyshwick and improve connections and commence services through the Belconnen town centre transport facilities now under construction.
A bus service is, of course, only as good as the infrastructure that supports it, and that is why the ACT government will invest in building key segments of the Belconnen to city transitway, including a priority lane between Clunies Ross Street and Marcus Clarke Street; bus priority and improved facilities for buses, passengers, pedestrians and cyclists on Barry Drive near the ANU, the busiest bus route in Canberra, as well as bus priority measures on College Street and Haydon Drive.
Further, a study will be undertaken to determine the alignment of the central section of the transitway. These facilities will complement the bus lane currently being constructed along Belconnen Way, ensuring fast and efficient travel between Belconnen and the city. There is also investment to improve bus facilities in the city, including the construction of a bus layover facility, installation of bus stops, shelters and signage, pedestrian crossings and footpath improvement, and facilities for bus drivers.
New bus stations will be constructed at the Gungahlin town centre and the Erindale shopping centre. A feasibility study for a station in Barton will be undertaken. Twenty-five large shelters with bike racks will be installed at major stops along high-frequency routes. A network of park-and-ride and secure, weatherproof bike-and-ride facilities will be constructed at locations, including Erindale, Exhibition Park in Canberra, Belconnen, Gungahlin and Fyshwick. These facilities will assist people to use public transport more and to reduce transport emissions and congestion.
To achieve the goals of the sustainable transport plan, the bus service cannot operate in isolation. Transport for Canberra links together four strategies which will detail how we move around Canberra and the region. These are all aspects of an integrated transport system—parking, public transport, cycling and walking, and supporting transport infrastructure—and need to be considered together to create a truly sustainable and efficient transport system for Canberra.
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