Page 2622 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 11 August 2015
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lanes in Northbourne Avenue and even bigger roads through the middle of our city that make us just that little bit more like Sydney? I think not. No; sustainable transport is the key to our future, and I am pleased to support the government’s strong and forward-thinking commitment to this through the light rail project.
The government’s broad strategic priority of suburban renewal and public transport includes two elements in addition to capital metro. These are the prioritisation and improvement of active travel and transport reform. I am pleased to be involved in both of these priorities as the minister for active travel and for transport reform. I wi1l discuss some of the progress on these topics being made through the 2015-16 budget.
The government provided the Chief Minister, Treasury and Economic Development Directorate with $1.4 million of funding in 2015-16 and $0.2 million in 2016-17 to support transport reform. The government’s agenda for public transport, including capital metro and ACTION, will be further elaborated through the course of this year as this funding is spent to help develop that work. The funding will also be used to draw upon external expertise to support transport reform.
With the capital metro project, the government is facing a critical period for public transport. Significant effort will be required to integrate light rail and buses and to undertake the type of long-term planning that public transport and urban development require. The funding in this year’s budget will support these key objectives.
The government has established the active transport office to ensure active travel is at the forefront of government priorities. Active travel is a major part of Canberra’s transport future to continue to grow as a healthy and vibrant city. The government has a mandate to prioritise sustainable transport in Canberra and has invested $23 million in the recent budget to build active infrastructure for a healthier ACT. These funds prioritise walking and cycling paths and will contribute to the vision for an ACT integrated transport network. The active transport office has already begun to drive the implementation of the active travel plan, which sets outs priority actions to build, deliver, encourage and manage active travel across the various government directorate programs responsible for urban planning, transport, health, environment and education systems.
This is the ACT’s first active travel plan. It aims to integrate walking, biking and road infrastructure with public transport to make it easier for Canberrans to get around and be more active. I am very pleased that that is on the table. My colleague Caroline Le Couteur produced an active transport plan in 2010 that addressed exactly these points. I am pleased the government has now formally adopted an active travel plan that reflects these very observations.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I am speaking in my capacity as the minister, so I do not believe I am time limited on this speech.
The 2014-16 budget specifically supports active transport by providing $250,000 to fund the design of new, and upgrade the existing, share paths and cycle infrastructure in and around the Woden town centre. This project will consider locations for dedicated facilities for cyclists and potential locations for shared zones to improve the priority provided for walkers and cyclists.
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