ACT Greens leader Shane Rattenbury, transport spokesperson Jo Clay and Murrumbidgee candidate Harini Rangarajan have announced the party’s grand plans for Canberra’s bus system. Photo: Claire Fenwicke.
The ACT Greens have promised to do what the current government hasn’t been able to achieve: a bus every 20 minutes during the week and every 30 minutes on the weekend by 2026.
The party unveiled its ‘Big Bus Plan’, which includes 100 more buses for our roads and 200 more drivers behind the wheel to make a more reliable bus service a reality.
This would be supported by improved infrastructure such as more bus lanes (starting with the Belconnen, Civic and Molonglo corridors), upgrading Canberra’s bus shelters, and building two new bus depots to house more vehicles as the city grows.
Everyone under the age of 18, seniors and concession card holders would also be able to access free public transport across the system.
ACT Greens transport spokesperson Jo Clay said the election policy was about making Canberra a truly liveable city.
“At the moment, too many people are locked into the expense of having a car because there isn’t an easy alternative,” she said.
“With extra buses, extra drivers, extra depots and dedicated bus lanes for our busiest corridors, we can create a public transport system that genuinely serves our whole city.”
To achieve their 2026 vision, one-off spends of $100 million would be needed for the 100 new buses and $105 million for accompanying infrastructure. It’s expected this would be sourced through Federal funding.
Recurrent spending would include $50 million for the extra 200 drivers, $5 million to improve bus stops and $6 million for the waived fares.
Public transport has become a bone of contention for the ACT Government.
Four Custom Denning battery electric buses, announced last October, went missing from our roads, and the delivery date for the rest of the promised 26 low-emission diesel buses is still up in the air.
Saturday services have recently received a boost following negotiations with bus drivers, but the Sunday timetable still hasn’t been improved.
When questioned how the ACT Greens could avoid these same issues, Ms Clay said it was about spending the money, signalling that buses were a priority, and being more organised with procurement.
“What we’ve seen is we’re having really slow procurement. We’re not starting our projects early enough. We’re not planning ahead. This plan has all of the milestones set out. We’ve got all the steps in there,” she said.
“Part of the delay with our buses is that we haven’t been putting our orders in on time … we know exactly how many buses we need to buy and we will set about securing those as soon as possible.”
ACT Greens candidate for Murrumbidgee Harini Rangarajan said improving bus reliability would especially go a long way for students and seniors.
“I believe students should have a public transport system where they can show up and know they can get to wherever they want to on time,” she said.
“[As someone reliant on buses] invariably what ends up happening is that I plan my entire day around catching the bus, and regardless of all the preparation beforehand, I end up late to my classes because the buses are either late or they simply don’t show up.”
She was particularly keen to see rapid services reinstated to the ANU.
“It’s really hard for me to get from Weston Creek to the ANU these days. You can’t be charging students exorbitant parking fees when there’s no bus system that works hand-in-hand with that,” Ms Rangarajan said.
The bus plan has already been welcomed by the Public Transport Association of Canberra, with chair Ryan Hemsley calling on ACT Labor to match the Greens’ bus frequency commitment.
“By announcing this policy, the ACT Greens have joined the Canberra Liberals in promising better public transport, no matter where you live in the nation’s capital,” he said.
“It’s time ACT Labor got on board with delivering more and better buses for Canberra.”
Shadow Transport Minister Mark Parton said the Canberra Liberals were “genuinely flattered” by the Greens’ announcement.
“Much of the Greens policy is a poor copy of the Canberra Liberals’ recently announced ‘People Focused Public Transport’ plan, which has created the agenda in this portfolio space,” he said.
“The Canberra Liberals’ announcements around expansion of the bus fleet, new bus depots, dedicated bus lanes, better bus stops, local improvements and more school services and free public transport for kids, concessions and seniors is a part of both our transport and cost of living policy.”
However, he questioned how the ACT Greens would avoid the frustrations the current government had been experiencing with bus and driver procurement.
“In the 12 years that members of the ACT Greens have sat around the cabinet table, ACTION and Transport Canberra have seen continual service degradation and a bus fleet that fails to keep pace with Canberra’s growing population,” he said.
“Labor and the Greens cannot be trusted with public transport.”
The Big Bus Plan is part one of the ACT Greens’ transport policy, with more announcements to be made around light rail and active travel in the coming months.
The party has already signalled that it will commit to speeding up the delivery of light rail stage 2B to Woden.
It has also supported the case for separated cycleways, which are being trialled in Kingston and calls for a separate cycle lane on Northbourne Avenue.
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