New Woden bus depot heralds the arrival of a new timetable

Transport Canberra is rolling out a new bus timetable from the start of Term 2, which promises to deliver better connections between our fastest-growing suburbs and the city.

The new timetable, which comes into effect from Monday, 28 April, will mean more Rapid, local and school services, particularly to Molonglo Valley and Belconnen.

Rapid services out of Molonglo Valley will start earlier on weekday mornings, at 6:05 am, and run every 15 minutes throughout the day.

Local services connecting Denman, Whitlam and Belconnen will also start earlier and run nearly three hours later, providing hourly frequency from 6 am to 10 pm and 30-minute frequency during the afternoon peak.

More buses will also service other routes between Belconnen and the city and Woden and the city during high-demand periods.

There will also be a “range of improvements to help students get to various schools” thanks to additional services and refined routes “so they provide better coverage to surrounding suburbs”. Other services are being adjusted in step with schools to better align with bell times.

Minister for Transport Chris Steel said the new timetable makes good on Labor’s election promise.

“This new timetable delivers key parts of Labor’s plan for more frequent local and Rapid services that we took to the election,” he said.

“We’ve heard from the community that some buses are full on certain routes, and we’ve responded by increasing frequency on these routes to meet demand.”

A document detailing ACT Labor’s public transport plan from before the election says ACT Labor will deliver local service uplift to 20 minutes on weekdays across the whole of Canberra for all local bus routes “by the end of the term”.

The party also promised to improve the frequency of weekend services, upping it to hourly on Sundays during the day.

Three new Rapid services are to be installed, between Lanyon and the city, Ginninderry and West Belconnen and the city, and once the new bridge over the Molonglo River is completed, one between the Molonglo town centre and the city.

“ACT Labor will construct immediate bus priority measures for the Belconnen to City Transitway following work on the updated feasibility study,” the final points on the document read.

“ACT Labor will also look at options to improve public transport and general traffic flow on the Cotter Road from Streeton Drive to the Tuggeranong Parkway.”

Mr Steel added this year’s revised timetable is thanks to “Australia’s largest all-electric bus depot in Woden, which has increased the efficiency of the whole public transport network”.

The new depot off Paramatta Street in Phillip, which opens soon, includes undercover shelter for 100 buses, with the roof designed to hold a future photovoltaic solar array.

The government has upgraded the grid capacity in the area by laying new cables from the Wanniassa substation (11.9 km away) to allow up to 96 electric buses to be charged at the depot simultaneously. Each bus will take about three to five hours to reach a full charge.

Also, thanks to more cables from the same substation, the new depot coming to Tuggeranong will soon be able to charge a further 200 buses.

ACT Labor has also committed to building a fourth depot on the northside to continue to “support the growth of our fully electric bus fleet”.

The Public Transport Association of Canberra (PTCBR) described this week’s timetable announcement as a “positive first step” towards delivering the improvements promised last year.

“It’s especially great to see the network efficiencies gained by opening the Woden bus depot being invested into new and improved services right across the city, with a strong focus on Canberra’s western growth areas,” chair Ryan Hemsley said.

“PTCBR eagerly anticipates further details on Transport Canberra’s upcoming Bus Frequency Improvement Plan, including when and how it will deliver frequent and reliable bus services, seven days a week.”

Visit the Transport Canberra website for full details on the timetable changes.