Chief Minister Gallagher is letting us know the first commuter bus from Cooma has arrived in Canberra:
“The ACT Government is committed to the development of safe, accessible and efficient methods of public transport and I believe that the Cooma Connector service is a fantastic initiative that meets all of these goals,” the Chief Minister said.
“This initiative will provide an efficient travel option for those who travel daily to Canberra for work and study.
“The Deane’s Transit Group will provide the return service which will operate on weekdays, excluding ACT public holidays.
The Cooma Connector will service commuters living in Cooma and its surrounding areas, such as Bredbo, Michelago and Williamsdale.
The service will make a stop at Calwell, the Civic Bus Interchange, Russell, the Canberra Airport and Queanbeyan, and will stop at the Tuggeranong Hyperdome and Woden Bus Interchange on request.
Tickets for the service cost $20 for passengers departing from zone one (Williamsdale, Royalla and Michelago) and $22 for passengers departing from zone two (Cooma, Bunyan, Bredbo and Colinton), and can be purchased on board.
“For an extra $3 one way, passengers can store their bikes in the bus luggage area (the bikes must be unassembled for safety reasons) and cycle the rest of the way to their destination, or connect with the ACTION Bus network,” the Chief Minister said.
The Greens’ Amanda Bresnan is getting in on the congratulations:
ACT Greens Transport Spokesperson, Amanda Bresnan MLA, has congratulated Dean’s on the introduction of the Cooma to Canberra bus service, and called for both the ACT and NSW Governments to support such links between Canberra and other regional centres.
“I was in Civic today for the arrival of Dean’s new Cooma to Canberra bus service, and it was great to see a number of people already making use of this service,” Ms Bresnan said.
“A significant number of people travel between Canberra and regional areas such as Cooma, Queanbeyan, Bungendore, Yass and Goulburn, to name a few, every day for work and to access a range of services, and this should be figured into the development of transport strategies.
“There is a regional transport taskforce that has looked at transport issues between Canberra and Queanbeyan, but no definite action has come out of that forum.
“It’s time both the ACT and NSW Governments took cross-border and regional transport seriously, and started to acknowledge and develop strategies to provide better public transport to people in the region.
“With the Calwell park and ride, which the Greens pushed for, we also have the additional infrastructure to facilitate more regional services to the south of the ACT.