Page 2628 - Week 08 - Thursday, 14 August 2014
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passenger trips over the last year. We were told that, with MyWay data, we will actually be capturing with a higher degree of accuracy the number of trips being made. So, if this is actually capturing more accurately the number of trips being made, the fact that we are going backwards by 250,000 people, especially under a Greens transport minister, is a worry.
This drop has affected fare box revenue, which, as a percentage of total network operating costs, is down from 16 per cent to 15.6 per cent. ACTION’s costs have also increased, with the total network operating cost per passenger boarding rising from $7.04 to $7.50. The total network operating costs per network kilometre also rose this year.
Of great concern is the percentage of services operating on scheduled time. Just 70 per cent of ACTION buses run on time, the same percentage which was recorded last year. Last year and the year before that, the government used the MyWay data as an excuse as to why there might be some anomalies in the data. We are now two or three years into this MyWay data being used, therefore they should be able to reach their target.
This means that 30 per cent of ACTION services do not run on time. Practically, it means that over a fortnight someone who uses ACTION to get to work would be late three times, or perhaps the bus would be early three times, which is even worse, I think, than a bus running late. Shortly, ACTION will release the full details of network 14, which ACTION hopes, with the NXTBUS system, will realise a better bus transport system for Canberrans, and I hope that is so. However, the feedback I have received, particularly about the changes to the school bus system, are worrying.
Madam Assistant Speaker, there are many opportunities and challenges facing ACTION. I am concerned that many of these opportunities and challenges will be somewhat neglected by way of all the attention being focused towards light rail. I firmly believe that an improvement in ACTION operating processes and in the general systems being used would deliver to taxpayers a far better return on investment than with the proposed perhaps $1 billion of construction costs and $50 million to $100 million per year every year to operate a light rail system.
The provision of bus services is an extremely important area of government expenditure, and I hope the government will do better in 2014-15 than they did in 2013-14.
MRS DUNNE (Ginninderra) (5.10): I will use this opportunity in relation to the appropriation for the TAMS Directorate to touch on a few issues close to the hearts of my constituents.
The suburb of Cook was gazetted just over 46 years ago on 6 June 1968, so the local shopping centre at Cook is likely to be of similar vintage. These days it is looking a little sad. It is not very inviting for the local residents to visit their local shopping centre and, as a result, local businesses struggle in an already challenging economic environment. It is a testament to the shop owners at Cook that all of the shops are full and operating and that there is diversity of shops and businesses there. But it is pretty tough in the environment.
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