ACT Government, Transport Canberra, public transport users see red amid bus cuts
Public transport users in Canberra are raising concerns about reliability of services amid cuts to bus timetables.
Canberra Star
Don't miss out on the headlines from Canberra Star. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Public transport users are raising concerns about reliability and public safety after the announcement of the Term one 2023 time table earlier this month.
The new timetable has reduced services for 16 routes, and has decreased the frequency of buses at night and off peak times.
These changes, which are in response to road closures due to the raising of London Circuit for light rail to Woden, drew the ire of Liberal MLA Mark Parton who accused the Barr Government of not caring “about increasing the patronage of public transport.”
Yet those who rely on public transport every day say the issues Canberra’s public transport system face are much deeper.
Soft tissue therapist Garvin Francis is legally blind and relies on buses to travel independently.
His commute to work takes 40 minutes and two buses, yet he says the journey is only 5-8 minutes by car.
Mr Francis said he understood why so many Canberrans are car reliant, but said he would like to see more locals embrace public transport
“The more people who do use it the better the services will be,” he said.
Mr Francis said he only heard about upcoming changes to the bus timetable through social media and was disappointed the timetable came out “without too much fanfare”.
While his work commute is contained in Canberra’s Belconnen region the bus routes he takes are affected by the new time table because they eventually go through Civic.
“Why does my timetable get impacted when I hardly ever go into the city?” Mr Francis said.
“I don’t have the answer but there has to be a better way”
Another local resident, who did not wish to be named, said when she first moved to Canberra in her teens 30 years ago the bus system was efficient, but failed to scale up as the Nation’s capital has grown.
She now works as an office administrator, and does not drive due to disability and the running costs of a car.
The woman said the reduced frequency of services at night posed a safety concerns for women, younger people and vulnerable people
“If you’ve missed the last bus and you need to hang around the bus stop, bus stops are generally in the middle of nowhere, they are badly lit or they are at bus interchanges,” she said.
“Quite often the buses don’t run to timetable — some of them will turn up early, some of them turn up late.
“It’s possible that you’ll be standing there for a good 25 minutes waiting for the next bus.
She said people involved in making bus timetables should “practice what they preach” and begin to take public transport regularly.
“I worked for the ACT Government ten years ago and no one used the bus – they were mortified at the thought that anyone actually used it,” she said
“We give a lot of airtime to the anti-tram people … well they’re driving around in their cars.
“Go and talk to women‘s safety groups, go and talk to disability advocacy groups, and go talk to the people who are actually using the buses.
“The ACT Government does all these things to be progressive and inclusive, but with their approach to transport they’re undoing all those great things.”
Public Transport Canberra (PTCBR) chair Ryan Hemsley said the closure of London Circuit had only led to minor delays between 1-5 minutes and said the cuts to bus time tables “didn’t add up”.
“The journey times aren’t much longer, half the routes don’t even go into the City, yet services are being cut across the board, and by up to 30 per cent on some routes,” he said.
Mr Hemsley said the cuts to bus timetables would make Canberrans more car reliant.
“We've heard from families who are now considering a second car, because it will be too inconvenient to rely on public transport,” he said.
“Others who rely on public transport are going to have to manage the hard way — waiting an extra half-hour at the bus stop, leaving engagements early, giving up late night shifts or simply not leaving the house.
“With changes being focused on off-peak and late night services, they will hit these people the hardest.”
Mr Hemsley said PTCBR believed the government could use other measures to soften the blow to public transport users, such as creating more bus lanes in Civic, and by having “more thought put into timetables to make connections easier”.
In response to concerns raised by Greens MLA Jo Clay about a shortage in bus drivers, Mr Hemsley said driver numbers had increased from 801 to 902 in 2022 and did not lead to an increase of services.
“Our biggest concern is that Transport Canberra seems to have not really anticipated how much this would affect and upset the community,” he said.
“We’d been told to expect a new and improved timetable, and instead we got cutbacks.
“We really hope they start listening, and start focusing all their efforts on running as many buses as they can.”
Transport and City Services Minister Chris Steel said Canberra would go through a “period of disruption” in 2023.
“We’ll make adjustments when necessary and potentially look at uplifting services in the second half of the year if it does take as much time for buses to move through the city,” he said.
“We want to make sure during this construction period we’re delivering reliable services.
“That’s why we have to account for the extra time it takes for the buses through the network.”
Mr Francis said he appreciated the difficulties faced by Transport Canberra but said it was important for the government to create a user friendly system.
“Its chicken and the egg, do you put more services on and hope people come to it, or do you wait for people to demand it.”
Why super-fast Australian crew still underdogs in Youth America’s Cup
They are sailing faster than they have ever done but a quartet of Australian sailing rising stars still enter the Youth Americas Cup as rank underdogs thanks to a strange rule.
‘Real challenge’: Headache for U16 Waratahs selectors after trial try blitz
It was the first real indication of how the Waratahs are shaping up for their defence of the U16s title in the upcoming Super Rugby comp. It’s also caused a major headache for selectors.