Page 3540 - Week 08 - Thursday, 18 August 2011
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infrastructure is in place as our city continues to grow. Our government is committed to delivering these projects in a timely fashion. Finally, this government is committed to making sure that we see the commonwealth government itself make an important contribution to these projects.
Let me just turn to a couple of other issues. Road infrastructure is important for the movement of people and goods around the city, but it must be viewed within the context of the overall transport task. It is not just about vehicles; it is also about transit. It is about making sure people have choices. It is about making sure people have choices in the way they get around this city. It is about making sure we do not lock people in to expensive choices that restrict their ability and potentially restrict their mobility as prices increase in the cost of vehicle fuels.
For that reason, we will continue to invest in important projects that give greater priority to public transport—work such as the Belconnen to city transitway. The works that are currently underway between Marcus Clarke Street through to Barry Drive and the Australian National University will deliver improved timeliness. That is exactly what that busway project is all about. It is about making sure buses have priority on one of the busiest transport connections within the city. The corridor between the city and Belconnen is one of the busiest transit corridors in the city, both for private vehicles and for the number of public transport journeys that take place.
Giving buses priority along that route is absolutely critical to making sure that public transport remains a viable option and improves as an option for people who live in the Belconnen area. That is why this government is investing in the development of bus priority lanes along that corridor. Commencing at Marcus Clarke Street, through to the ANU exchange, we are building an integrated bus station in the heart of the student resident complex in city west. It is an exciting project that will see dedicated bus-only access through the heart of a large-scale residential complex where the residents are high users of public transport—students. This is a great development in terms of improving the public transport effort for the city. We are then going to give those buses further priority, beyond city west, through to Barry Drive—
Mr Smyth: Tell us about the busway, though.
MR CORBELL: I am telling you about it right now, Mr Smyth, and you do not even understand what the project is about. It is about giving—
Mr Smyth: So it’s going all the way to Belconnen now, is it?
MR CORBELL: You guys just do not get public transport. You seem to think that if people do not catch it, you should cut it. That is Mr Coe’s approach: it is too expensive, therefore, you have got to reduce costs; you have got to cut it; you have got to cut and reduce services because not enough people catch it. That is a vicious circle. The fact is that you have to build patronage. You have to build patronage through frequency, through reliability and through the better provision of infrastructure. That is exactly what this government is doing. The city west project is a great example of that.
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