Page 215 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 15 February 2012
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… develop and publish Government guidelines for the appropriate locations and uses for transit lanes and bus lanes in the ACT, which have reference to safety, congestion and transport sustainability goals …
The Chief Minister has already mentioned what we could expect to see in that report. That is a sensible, evidence-based approach. At the time, the Canberra Liberals voted for that approach. In fact, as everyone knows, the government is scheduled to report back to the Assembly tomorrow on its progress on this resolution and the development of transit lane guidelines.
It does not make any sense for the Liberal Party to agree on one day that the government should develop an evidence-based approach to transit lanes and bus lanes and then a few months later suddenly propose that a well-established bus lane be immediately converted to a T2 lane.
I would also like to point out that the Greens are supportive of the Belconnen to city busway project. This is a key public transport corridor. Prioritising public transport in this area is an important way to increase the speed and reliability of the bus system for a large number of patrons, as well as to create other benefits such as transit-oriented development. This is something the Greens believe is important for the future of our city.
One fact about congestion that is often overlooked is that Canberra’s congestion can be significantly eased by creating a corridor transit system of public transport priority. This is documented clearly in independent studies on Canberra’s transport opportunities. The Kellogg Brown and Root study in 2005, for example, said that congestion projections are significantly improved by the creation of a corridor transit system, including from Belconnen to the city. The study warns that if Canberra does not create the population densities in the right places and with the right public transport, it will face a real and serious transport problem.
This is one of the issues I have with Mr Coe’s motion. The bus-only lane from Belconnen to the city is a key public transport priority lane that will contribute to transit-oriented development as well as easing reliance on a car and also reducing congestion for people who need to travel by car. It is also my understanding that work has been done on a Belconnen to city bus lane. The projection is that, as Gungahlin in particular grows in population, a bus-only lane will become more and more valuable and effective.
Lastly, I want to briefly address some of the differences between the Adelaide Avenue situation and the motion today, which is focused on Barry Drive. The Adelaide Avenue transit lane was already a T2 lane that the government proposed changing to a bus-only lane. We knew the T2 lane had been working effectively on Adelaide Avenue for a number of years. What the Greens agreed to in November was to keep the lane as a T2 lane while the government investigated the evidence about the best use of the lane.
1 will repeat some of the speech that I gave on the Adelaide Avenue transit lane motion:
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