Page 3472 - Week 10 - Tuesday, 17 September 2019
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That the Assembly take note of the following paper:
Weekend bus service reliability—Action Plan—Response to resolutions of the Assembly of 14 and 20 August 2019.
MR STEEL (Murrumbidgee—Minister for City Services, Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Minister for Recycling and Waste Reduction, Minister for Roads and Active Travel and Minister for Transport) (3.02): I rise today to speak to the action plan on weekend bus service reliability that has been tabled. The ACT government acknowledges that at present the reliability of weekend bus services operated by Transport Canberra does not meet the expectations of Canberrans. With the implementation of the integrated light rail and bus network, Transport Canberra introduced a significant increase in weekend services compared to the previous timetable. This was in line with the principle to provide more weekend services more often.
Ahead of the introduction of the new network, Transport Canberra recruited an additional 60 drivers and reasonably expected to deliver a consistently reliable weekend service. However, due to a higher than anticipated rate of separation of drivers aligning with the new network and other factors such as the desirability of shift lengths and patterns for drivers volunteering for additional overtime, Transport Canberra has not been able to meet the expected level of reliability on the weekends.
There has been continuous work to improve the reliability of weekend services from the outset of the network and much of this action plan documents work that is already underway as well as new actions that have been identified through ongoing consultation with the workforce and input from the community. It is important to note that, despite the unacceptable reliability issues, the increase in services is working to bring more passengers into the network on the weekend, with around a 30 per cent increase in patronage year on year.
However, to maintain and grow the number of passengers on the weekend network the ACT government is committed to improving weekend bus reliability. This has meant that one action needed is an interim reduction in weekend services to guarantee reliability. This has clearly been the key focus of the Assembly and of media attention. The action plan outlines this action and that the interim network change will see more weekend services delivered than at the same time last year. The action plan sets out 10 short-term, medium-term and long-term actions under five broad themes:
• Bus driver recruitment—actions that are related to increasing recruitment of Transport Canberra bus operators and improvements to recruitment processes.
• Improving information for customers—actions that are related to providing better or more timely information to customers about services including cancellations or disruptions.
• Improving workforce planning—actions that are related to the implementation of a new workforce plan for Transport Canberra.
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