ACT election candidates who would scrap Woden light rail revealed

An advocacy group that promotes public transport has revealed the names of six ACT election candidates who would vote to terminate an extension of light rail to Woden.

The ACT Government has promised to extend the light rail network from Commonwealth Park to Woden. It aims to complete the project by 2033.

The Public Transport Association of Canberra (PTCBR) also wants to see this project come to fruition and sent out a survey to all 149 candidates running in this Saturday’s election.

PTCBR asked the candidates: “In a hypothetical vote in the ACT Legislative Assembly, how would you vote on a motion to immediately and permanently stop all work on Light Rail Stage 2B (Commonwealth Park to Woden)?”

Twenty-six candidates responded to the request, of which six said they would vote to cease work on the project – Canberra Liberals Mark Parton and Amardeep Singh, independents Rima Riab and Janine Haskins, the Belco Party’s Bill Stefaniak and Animal Justice Party candidate Robyn Soxsmith.

The Canberra Liberals’ official party position is to scrap the Woden light rail project, which it says will cost more than $5 billion. Leader Elizabeth Lee has argued more bus lanes and rapid routes will be better measures to improve transport to the southside.

The remaining 20 survey respondents said they would vote to continue the Woden light rail project. This included a host of ACT Greens and Independents for Canberra candidates and two Animal Justice Party candidates. ACT Transport Minister Chris Steel also indicated Labor’s support.

PTCBR chair Ryan Hemsley said those who did not respond to the survey included candidates from Family First and the Fiona Carrick independents.

He said it was important candidates were upfront about their views on Canberra’s biggest ever infrastructure project.

“Canberra voters have every right to expect candidates standing for election to be transparent about their views on issues such as light rail,” Mr Hemsley said.

He said despite multiple attempts through a variety of channels, PTCBR was unable to secure responses from various high-profile candidates.

“We reached out several times to the Fiona Carrick independents through a variety of means and did not get a response from any of their candidates.

“This survey provided an opportunity to get her views on the record and it’s disappointing they didn’t take up this opportunity.”

Ms Carrick told Region she did not answer the survey because it was impossible to give a simple yes or no answer to such a question without having all the information.

“I just want to see really good public transport, I’m mode agnostic, I want to see the underpinning analysis that says where light rail is appropriate and where dedicated bus lanes are appropriate for commuter services,” she said.

“At the moment, it’s just so piecemeal. There is no underpinning analysis about what the best public transport is for Tuggeranong, Weston Creek or Molonglo.

“Nobody has been able to tell me what services people will get or how reliable they’ll be. We can’t just say yes or no until we know the answers to these questions.”

The PTCBR survey also asked candidates how often they used public transport in Canberra.

The results revealed most respondents were not frequent users of public transport, but many would be more likely to catch public transport if services were more frequent.

Full results of the survey can be found on the PTCBR website.