The Canberra Liberals plan hundreds more electric buses to meet growing demand. Photo: Ian Bushnell.
A fully electric bus fleet built in Canberra and a dedicated busway from the city to Woden by 2027 are key elements of the public transport policy the Canberra Liberal will take to the 19 October election.
The party will today unveil the policy, People focused Public Transport, saying it will get Canberrans where they want to go, when they want to get there.
The Canberra Liberals had already pledged to ditch light rail Stage 2B to Woden, and all work on this project would cease immediately if they win government.
The new policy promises a seven-day-a-week service with reliable, frequent and direct bus routes on the Rapid, Local and restored Xpresso (Express) routes, as well as a new fare structure that caps fares at $25 a week and a new free city travel zone.
The Canberra Liberals say they will back this with a legislated service guarantee.
They also promise to expand the current bus fleet, saying Canberra needed over 500 new buses over the next decade and electrify it faster than the current procurement program.
Procuring bigger buses to carry more people will also be explored.
Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee said a Liberal government would go to market to partner with a bus manufacturer to build the future bus fleet in Canberra, as is being done in other cities, and assemble buses for other jurisdictions in the long term.
“Our plan is to assemble our electric buses for Canberrans by Canberrans, which will create local jobs,” she said.
But the policy acknowledges that buses will still need to be assembled elsewhere until Canberra can do so.
The Canberra Liberals’ proposed city to Woden travel corridor. Image: Supplied.
The Woden busway, which the Liberals say will cost a fraction of light rail, is one of several capital works projects that also include a new Civic interchange, a new northside bus depot and the Belconnen to City busway.
Like the proposed light rail line, it will link key employment and recreation precincts in the City, Acton Waterfront, Commonwealth Park, Adelaide Avenue corridor and the Woden Town Centre.
It will involve a series of bus-only lanes along the identified corridors, a reinstated bus-only roadway between Capital Circle and Adelaide Avenue to Carruthers Street in Curtin and the conversion of the Yarra Glen roundabout to a signalised intersection but still allowing for non-stop through traffic.
The Mawson extension will include the eastern side of Athllon Drive between Hindmarsh Drive and Beasley Street, Torrens, with bus priority at intersections.
A new Park & Ride at Phillip, the return of the Woden Park & Ride and improvements to the Beasley Street and Mawson Park & Rides are also planned.
Opposition transport spokesperson Mark Parton said the busway would reduce the journey time from Woden to the city to under 15 minutes and also speed up travel times for those travelling to the city from Woden, Weston Creek, Molonglo and Tuggeranong.
“Under a Canberra Liberals government, transport improvements will be made across all areas of Canberra, and the legislated service guarantee will give Canberrans a reliable and frequent seven-day timetable,” he said.
He said Rapid buses would run at least every 15 minutes, 7 am to 7 pm, seven days a week; local services at least every 30 minutes during the daytime, seven days a week; and school and Xpresso busses every 30 minutes during peak periods Monday to Friday.
This will put the Liberals on a collision course with the powerful Transport Workers Union over filling the weekend roster, a notoriously prickly issue.
They may also have difficulty recruiting enough drivers, but the policy says a Liberal Government would further develop and implement the 2019-2023 Transport Canberra People Strategy, focusing on attracting and retaining bus and tram drivers to increase weekday and weekend services.
Where you would travel for free in the city. Image Canberra Liberals.
Mr Parton said a number of priority transport projects would be implemented to get Canberrans where they need to go as quickly and comfortably as possible without having to change transport modes constantly.
“The fastest way to do this is to remove stop-start sections along Rapid corridors, introduce more intersection jump-starts, more slip lanes and priority phasing for buses at traffic lights through the installation of transponders in the bus fleet,” he said.
The policy says the school bus network will be restored and more services added where needed.
It also envisages a trial of on-demand services, more frequent and dedicated airport bus services using better-suited vehicles, more bike storage cages and better active travel connections, and smart, connected bus stops with real-time electronic information.
Ms Lee said the policy would focus on a faster, greener, and better-connected public transport system that would be delivered cheaper and sooner than the government’s plan.
“This comprehensive plan will reimagine the future of public transport in Canberra,” Ms Lee said.
Mr Parton said the current public transport system was not meeting the needs of Canberrans.
“The Canberra Liberals’ people-focused public transport policy will provide a faster and more reliable transport network,” he said.
A Liberal Government would establish a transport task force to review, evaluate, and report on the current status of Transport Canberra services and report back by mid-2025.
It would also honour the light rail Stage 2A to Commonwealth Park contracts.
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