Page 4665 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 27 November 2019
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It is well understood among transport planners that, with the current technology that is available, any network update should only ever improve, not worsen, the accessibility, reliability and connectivity of a network.
It is evident that our public transport network has not reaped the benefits that so often come with change. Network 19 was ill conceived, poorly planned and woefully implemented. As always, it is the Canberrans who rely on these services who continue to suffer the consequences. It is Canberrans who must now navigate a second-rate bus network. And it is Canberrans who are paying the price for the most complacent and out-of-touch government that this territory has ever seen.
2019 has been arduous for Canberrans trying to get around Canberra on public transport. 2019 has seen over 752 bus stops removed, weekend services drastically cut back, commuter services slashed and dedicated school bus services cancelled. In just under 12 months, we have had two transport ministers and two transport networks but zero real solutions to the issues plaguing network 19.
What we have witnessed over the past year can only be viewed as a series of failures. It is unfortunate that many thousands of Canberrans that rely on a frequent, reliable and efficient bus service have lost so many services and been left stranded by this government.
Let me highlight some of the government’s so-called celebrated achievement over the last 18 months. In mid to late 2018, the former minister for transport unveiled her plans for network 19 and soon after engaged in a consultation process which many Canberrans will tell you was completely disingenuous.
The government released a report on the your say website to say that they were listening to the public’s concerns. That report said that Canberrans wanted more frequent services and greater reliability. It said that soon Canberrans would have a shiny new bus network that incorporated these things. It soon became very clear that network 19, in all its proposed glory, was set in stone well before the consultation had ever begun. Over 13,000 submissions were made and none of them have been taken seriously.
In early 2019 parents, children and schools continued to raise their concerns about the impact of cancelling dedicated school bus services. We now know that if the government’s intention was to drive parents and kids back to their cars to get to and from school, the cuts to dedicated school services have been a resounding success.
Around the same time, the Council on the Ageing and other seniors groups raised their own concerns about the inaccessibility of the new network, with many older Canberrans facing an extra 400-metre walk to their local bus stops. Unsurprisingly, little care was shown for how it would affect the quality of life or how isolated these people might become.
Next it was Canberrans in Tuggeranong and Belconnen who expressed their concerns about cuts to Xpresso services and suburban routes, routes that had previously served
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