Page 5185 - Week 12 - Thursday, 27 October 2011
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been significant additional funding for footpaths and bike paths, which enable people to more easily link into public transport using active transport.
The Greens have done much work on active transport, including producing a paper on active transport and these very issues. The government is also now recognising the importance of active transport and it does feature prominently in the new transport plan, something which is very pleasing to see. I would also like to acknowledge the work of the Heart Foundation in this area. They have been very active in developing these ideas and encouraging people to engage in active transport.
Another achievement is the extension of the Blue Rapid bus line to Kippax, along with an expanded park and ride, meaning commuters in west Belconnen can have much better access to the bus network. Frequency is a key issue the Greens have focused on, as frequency has been shown to be one of the single biggest factors that encourage people to use public transport.
Another public transport achievement of the Greens is new park-and-ride and bike-and-ride facilities for Mawson, Mitchell, Calwell and Erindale. Expanding park-and-ride services is an important part of making it easier and more accessible for people to use public transport. If you do look to what other states have done on public transport, park and ride is typically and often one of the first pieces or one of the key pieces of work that need to occur in terms of actual infrastructure.
Mr Coe has mentioned the subsidy issue. I am somewhat concerned by the approach that has been taken on that. Mr Coe has criticised the provision of bus services in the ACT, has talked about the subsidy issue and has argued that we should be spending that on other areas and not on the bus network, presumably. I do think we have to be very careful with that, because when we look at all cities, all cities have a subsidised public transport system.
We do know that many people rely on public transport, particularly older people and people with a disability. Whilst Mr Coe has made the point that some people do it because they have to, a lot of people actually want to catch public transport. I think that is particularly evident in the new transport plan and the public survey that was included in there about public transport investment. So I think it is a serious issue and one that needs to be approached seriously as well. Public transport is a key part of the city and is something we need to invest in for the future of our city and something cities across Australia are doing. And it is something we should be and have to be doing here in Canberra also.
The Greens believe public transport funding should be commensurate with the importance of public transport and the transport challenges that we face as a city. The Greens are concerned that the government is still largely focused on a business-as-usual approach to planning and infrastructure and that we need to take a stronger approach to address Canberra’s public transport patronage levels and provide people with a viable alternative. For example, the government’s focus on building the Majura freeway came at the expense of other sustainable transport initiatives. In particular, it was the main bid to Infrastructure Australia and the 2008 pre-election light rail bid seems to have disappeared from the agenda.
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