Page 219 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 15 February 2012
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
major issue around safety if you wanted to also put cars in that lane. Quite frankly, I am not quite sure how that would assist people to be able to get to a place quicker. It just really has not been well thought out at all.
Back in November we did support the motion around the change to the Adelaide Avenue T2 lane. We said yes, we think it should be reinstated while we do investigate where we should have these lanes and how we can promote car pooling across the ACT. Mrs Dunne has just attacked the Chief Minister about not coming in here with all that information today. Quite frankly, the motion made it very clear that the reporting date was not today, that it was tomorrow, and that they would have a full report on all the options. So it is premature to be coming out now.
I do take on board that there are transport issues in Ginninderra. There are transport issues right across Canberra and they are not going to go away. We do need to meet the challenge of what we are going to do to reduce congestion, to reduce pollution, to make more affordable options for people so that they do not have to buy a second car.
If we provide choice, that really could help people with their household budgets. And that is why many people who live in Gungahlin were delighted when we, through the parliamentary agreement, pushed for more frequent bus services and the Red Rapid service was put in place. Those people, many of them families who were buying their home, had recently moved into their new homes, and transport was being made affordable. They were going to be able to make those mortgage payments, because there was a bus that went every 15 minutes from 7 am to 7 pm, five days a week. That meant that they did not have to buy a second car. Therefore, that was what made their mortgage payments possible.
We have also obviously not just focused on the Gungahlin issues around transportation. We have also very much been pushing out in Ginninderra. What we have got in Ginninderra so far, from pushing through the last budget, is a Blue Rapid service. This was to extend a very regular, frequent service that runs from Kippax and goes into Belconnen. And this again will be one that proves to be very popular.
What we know is that it is about frequency and reliability. They are the key things. What we also need, which needs to go hand in hand with frequency and reliability, is infrastructure. And that is dedicated busways. It is also giving priority to buses at traffic lights. These are the sorts of things that also mean that people see it is a viable option. If we start messing around with that, then that is a real issue around how we are going to build that transport system into the future that people are going to need to be able to get around our city, not only to get around the city with ease but also in an affordable way.
I understand that Mr Coe has listened to constituents about their frustrations about traffic jams and choke points, but this is not a well-considered, well-thought-through response. That is why we cannot support this motion today.
We have also pushed for park and rides. I know that there have been comments that not everybody can have that Blue Rapid or the Red Rapid right outside their front door, and that is absolutely true. That is why the Greens have also pushed for park and
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video