Speed up light rail rollout, fix bus issues, urges public transport lobby

The rollout of light rail across the ACT should be sped up and pre-feasibility work for all stages should occur simultaneously to ensure smoother transitions between projects, according to the ACT’s public transport lobby.

The Public Transport Association of Canberra has also called for a beefing up of Major Projects Canberra to give it the capacity to deliver more light rail stages sooner.

In its 2024 ACT Budget submission, PTCBR says the government’s commitment of a stage a decade was no longer relevant after revealing the latest milestones of 2028 for 2A and 2033, saying both projects were now well behind promised timelines.

“We urge the ACT Government to learn from issues with Stages 2A and 2B and begin planning now to ensure smoother delivery of future light rail stages while maintaining the ongoing progress of the light rail to Woden project,” the submission says.

It calls on the government to fund pre-feasibility work for all future stages of light rail identified in the ACT Light Rail Network Plan.

“Government must take a long view of light rail delivery and begin preliminary work now on future light rail line projects,” the submission says.

PTCBR says Major Projects Canberra needed enough resources to ensure multiple stages of light rail can be advanced concurrently, regardless of which specific phase of project delivery each stage is at.

The submission also calls for the government to increase the frequency of light rail and bus services and do more to ensure better bus connections.

It wants all bus services to run at a minimum of an hour apart seven days a week and for the temporary weekend service cuts of Network 19 to be reversed.

“Suburban routes remain at a two-hourly frequency on Saturday nights and all day on Sundays – this is not good enough,” the submission said.

“Sparse service on routes that are often circuitous and lengthy is an unattractive prospect and poor offering for passengers.”

The submission calls for more buses to be run during peak times, particularly articulated ones, to alleviate overcrowding.

Light rail services on Fridays and weekends should also be increased to every 10 minutes on Friday nights between 6:30 pm and 1:30 am, every 15 minutes on Saturday between 6 am and 9 am, every 10 minutes from 9 am to 9 pm, and every 15 minutes after that. On Sundays, they advocate for buses every 15 minutes from 7 am to 9 am, every 10 minutes from 9 am to 6 pm and every 15 minutes after that.

“We regularly hear from our members and the public asking for a greater level of service provided over the weekend. This reflects the modern lives lived by Canberrans, who want to get around conveniently on all days of the week and enjoy the city’s nightlife with assured and easy ways to get home,” the submission says.

PTCBR says there are too many multi-leg journeys, buses running late and missed connections for public transport to be a viable option for many commuters.

It says only about three-quarters of buses run on time, and the government should prioritise fixing this.

Transport Canberra should use existing data or conduct new research to identify highly patronised routes that would best benefit from revised timetables.

PTCBR says passengers shouldn’t have to wait more than 10 minutes for their connecting bus.

The submission calls on the government to investigate faster services through measures such as bus lanes and traffic light priority to prevent buses from regularly being caught in traffic.

It also seeks funding for the final stage of the Belconnen Transitway.

The submission says a public transport infrastructure standard should be established for bus stops and interchanges so passengers have appropriate shelter, seating, maps and directions to key nearby locations.

PTCBR Chair Ryan Hemsley said the government should focus on delivering an integrated bus and light rail network that gets the basics right.

“Canberrans want public transport that is on time, frequent, reliable and pleasant to use. Our submission calls on the ACT Government to focus on improving these fundamental elements of our public transport system,” said Mr Hemsley.

“For example, it is unacceptable that Transport Canberra’s buses run on time only 77 per cent of the time. Punctuality is a key aspect of service delivery, and we need to see drastic improvements as a matter of priority.”

Mr Hemsley said the best way to get more people using public transport was to make it better.

“The evidence is clear – if you provide better services, more people will use them. We’ve seen it with the recent improvements to Saturday bus services, which resulted in the highest number of local bus trips recorded on a Saturday,” he said.

Public transport is set to be a major issue at the October election. While the Canberra Liberals plan to dump light rail after stage 2A, they have adopted many of PTCBR’s suggestions in their bus-focused public transport policy released earlier this month.