Page 386 - Week 01 - Thursday, 16 February 2012
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Transport for Canberra also includes specific incentives and actions to help increase the number of people per vehicle; these include continuing the “three for free” parking scheme in the city and town centres; expanding car-pooling across the ACT public service by 2013 and investing in an expansion of the program to include federal government departments; considering high-occupancy vehicle lanes where they do not interfere with bus priority on rapid transit corridors; and combining car-pooling with workplace travel planning for ACT government facilities, and providing support and templates for community, public and private sector workplace travel planning.
Transit lanes, which are also referred to as T2 or T3 lanes, facilitate improved travel times for buses, taxis and other vehicles carrying multiple occupants. T2 lanes can be used by vehicles if there are two or more people in the vehicle, while T3 lanes can be used if there are three or more people in the vehicle.
In November 2011, the temporary T2 lane on Adelaide Avenue was converted back into a bus lane. This was a commitment that had been made when the lane was temporarily converted to a T2 in order to help manage traffic demand generated by the construction of the Gungahlin Drive extension. In response to a motion of the Assembly, the government reinstated the T2 lane on Adelaide Avenue on 19 November 2011.
I would like to give some detail about the work the government is doing to develop guidelines for transit lanes more generally. TAMS and the Environment and Sustainable Development Directorate are working together to produce a guideline on transit lanes that will incorporate safety, congestion and sustainability goals consistent with the transport for Canberra policy.
To assist in development of this guideline, consulting company AECOM has produced a summary of high-occupancy vehicle policies and approaches elsewhere in Australia and internationally, as well as a preliminary analysis of which roads might be suitable for high-occupancy vehicle investigations in future. The AECOM study is now available on the TAMS website and I refer members to it. I also have a copy here that I am able to table.
In the broad, high-occupancy vehicle or transit lanes are a form of travel demand management in which road space is prioritised, based on the number of people per lane rather than the number of vehicles. This allows vehicles with higher occupancies, whether cars or buses, a faster journey time.
The transport for Canberra strategy outlines a number of considerations in relation to transit lanes and bus lanes. First, if the road is on a rapid public transport corridor, a decision to install a bus transit lane will be based on bus/transit journey times, and the “level of service” criteria for buses. This reflects the number of people per lane and the congestion during peak hours. A T2 or T3 lane will be considered if there is no existing transit lane as a way to “step up” to a full bus lane over time. The type of arrangement would be considered for John Gorton Drive in the new Molonglo valley development, for example. If the road is not a rapid public transport corridor, a decision will be based on transport efficiency, including the level of congestion, traffic delay and passenger throughput.
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