Parton defends busway plan after admitting bridge unlikely to carry priority lane

The light rail wars have erupted after a concession from opposition Transport spokesperson Mark Parton that the proposed dedicated busway between the city and Woden was unlikely to operate across Commonwealth Avenue Bridge.

The ACT Government has seized on the statement, saying it undermines a key plank of the Canberra Liberals’ transport policy, which dumps light rail Stage 2B in favour of electric buses running along a priority lane.

However, Mr Parton has doubled down on his transport policy, focusing on travel times, the unknown cost of light rail to Woden, and the uncertainty over the Stage 2B route.

“Our Woden to Civic plan will still be significantly faster and cheaper,” he said.

Mr Parton had responded to an online question from a member of the Public Transport Association of Canberra, Mark Dando, about how the Liberals would get buses across the lake with their own right of way.

Mr Dando had referred to lines on a map in the Liberals’ policy representing new bus lanes on Capital Circle northbound and Commonwealth Avenue, including across the bridge.

He told Mr Dando that a bus lane was now unlikely to happen, adding that the indicative map in their policy released in April was a year old.

“At the time, it was not clear to us whether the NCA bridge renewal would provide an additional transport lane. That’s not going to happen, so it’s not likely there will be a dedicated bus lane on the bridge,” Mr Parton posted on X.

Transport Minister Chris Steel said Mr Parton had publicly admitted a signature part of the Liberals’ transport policy won’t work.

“Key questions are also unanswered about how they would remove northbound road lanes from Capital Circle to Coronation Drive without creating significant congestion for commuters on Adelaide Avenue,” Mr Steel said.

“The Liberals B-grade bus plan was always light on detail, but it has now failed the most basic scrutiny.”

Mr Steel said light rail would run on its own dedicated bridge, adding significant capacity to this key North-South transport link, which would become more congested as the city grows.

New government figures from its project update last week show that light rail Stage 2 will significantly increase capacity on Commonwealth Avenue as the city grows.

A new light rail bridge between the current spans of Commonwealth Avenue Bridge will create a new prioritised corridor that would move up to 2500 people an hour, compared with the current estimate of 1100 an hour per road lane.

Chair of the Public Transport Association of Canberra Ryan Hemsley said there was no credible alternative to light rail in the ACT.

“Buses without their own lanes are an incredibly poor substitute for frequent and reliable light rail operating on its own right of way,” he said.

“This is exactly why we need to extend our city’s successful light rail system across the lake.”

Mr Parton did not respond to a specific question about when the Liberals knew a bus lane on the bridge was unlikely.

He attacked Mr Steel for focusing on a small part of the Liberals policy when the government was short on important details about light rail Stage 2B.

“Chris Steel knows the tram is losing public support among Canberrans with the project in disarray as highlighted late last week with the announcement a tunnel might now need to be built for stage 2B to Woden,” he said

Mr Parton said the Canberra Liberals would not be lectured to about transport policy by a minister and a government that has been talking about building a tram to Woden for over 12 years but was still unable to tell Canberrans what the route will be and how much it will cost.

He said dedicated bus lanes and bus priority measures at traffic lights, as well as using transponders on buses, would deliver a faster journey from Woden to the City than the current 20 minutes or less.

The Liberal policy promises a journey time of under 15 minutes. Mr Parton insists a light rail trip will take more than half an hour.

Mr Parton said the bus network plan would improve services in and out of Barton, where thousands more public servants will be based in coming years. More details would be fleshed out by the Liberals’ ACT Transport Taskforce.

The Liberals’ Barton network improvements and the busway would occur in 2027, at least five years earlier than any multi-billion-dollar tram track was completed, he said.

Mr Parton added that the Liberals’ transport plan had a genuine citywide focus.

“We will provide a reliable and frequent seven-day timetable that will be able to move more Canberrans around the city much faster than they currently can,” he said.

“We’re confident that our public transport improvements will get more and more Canberrans out of their cars which ultimately will ease traffic congestion.”