Transport Canberra brings a new vision for public transport to the ACT

http://www.cmd.act.gov.au/open_government/inform/act_government_media_releases/barr/2016/first-sod-turned-on-stage-one-of-city-wide-light-rail-network

Interesting that It only makes sense for light rail in the particular corridor because of the increase in population over the next 20 years. However we’re now going to pony up for the rest of the network too:

“The Government will be making further commitments on public transport in coming months, including on future stages of the light rail network – demonstrating our commitment to a city wide improvement of public transport.”

It should be clear that a vote for the current government will be a vote for a white elephant all over Canberra. Not sure how we’re expected to grow to half a million when half a million $PA is probably what it’ll cost to live here.

Agreed, @rommeldog56. We will look into ways to ensure the distinction is clearer to readers.

madelini said :

This article is basically a press release. Is the Riot Act the ACT Labor government’s official publication? (And will you publish this comment?)

The RiotACT is most certainly not the ACT Labor government’s official publication.

The first thing I did when I joined as editor late last year was contact the Canberra Liberals and the Greens to discuss sourcing potential regular columnists from their sides of politics to ensure our opinion writers were from across the spectrum. We have since brought on a former Liberal MLA in Greg Cornwell and a former senior Fairfax journalist, Neil Lade, who is a Greens supporter.

We work hard to present balanced news coverage. We will not shy away from publishing stories that are critical of any side of politics. It is our job to hold our representatives to account and to keep Canberrans informed so they can share their views on issues through our forums.

There will often be more news stories from the Government because they are in office and therefore actively implementing policies, not because of our take on their political leanings.

All that said, your radar is on the money with this article. It is a piece of paid content and marked as such (see tags). I wrote a follow up opinion piece here that will be more to your liking, I hope: http://the-riotact.com/will-the-city-loop-bus-be-a-hit-or-miss/180271

The “tag” that this is a paid advertisement isn’t very obvious really, being at the bottom (after it has been read) and tucked away with other tags. If it were obvious and at the beginning, I probably wouldn’t have read it as it would have been more identifiable as just ACT Labor/Greens spin.

This article is basically a press release. Is the Riot Act the ACT Labor government’s official publication? (And will you publish this comment?)

The RiotACT is most certainly not the ACT Labor government’s official publication.

The first thing I did when I joined as editor late last year was contact the Canberra Liberals and the Greens to discuss sourcing potential regular columnists from their sides of politics to ensure our opinion writers were from across the spectrum. We have since brought on a former Liberal MLA in Greg Cornwell and a former senior Fairfax journalist, Neil Lade, who is a Greens supporter.

We work hard to present balanced news coverage. We will not shy away from publishing stories that are critical of any side of politics. It is our job to hold our representatives to account and to keep Canberrans informed so they can share their views on issues through our forums.

There will often be more news stories from the Government because they are in office and therefore actively implementing policies, not because of our take on their political leanings.

All that said, your radar is on the money with this article. It is a piece of paid content and marked as such (see tags). I wrote a follow up opinion piece here that will be more to your liking, I hope: http://the-riotact.com/will-the-city-loop-bus-be-a-hit-or-miss/180271

This article is basically a press release. Is the Riot Act the ACT Labor government’s official publication? (And will you publish this comment?)

“providing more transport choices for Canberrans wherever they live”
“for everyone – no matter where you live”
“making public transport a more attractive option for everyone, a genuine alternative to driving.”
“to be there when they need it and to get people where they need to go on time.”

So far, it seems to be a plan for all Canberrans, but;
“we already know that without light rail, commuters from Gungahlin are looking at an hour-long trip to work in the morning.”
Only the Civic to Gungahlin region has been addressed by the government. There is a lot of fanfare about the new agency making life better for everyone, but no concrete plans to address the issues for anybody else except those on the light rail route? How long before the rest of Canberra sees any public transport improvements? Molonglo and west Belconnen are expanding areas, as will be the CSIRO site. Without improving road congestion, public transport in these areas will be subject to the same travel times as automobiles. Where is the planning, where is the foresight, for the rest of Canberra?
3 lane roads such as Parkes way have not made travel into the city any better for southerners. Since completion, delays have been in place thanks to all the continuing work around the Civic Pool and Constitution Avenue. William Hovell Drive, Cotter Road, Adelaide Avenue, Belconnen Way, Hindmarsh Drive, Morsehead Drive, the Monaro Highway and many others are stop start traffic jams and cause longer travel times than for those living in Gungahlin. What are the solutions? When are we going to see some ideas, apart from multi billion dollar daydreams of rail networks some twenty or thirty years from now?
Have the side effects of the tram been considered, such as the extra delays for people travelling east west across Northbourne?
So far, there is little promise for making public transport attractive for anybody but the Inner North, what about everybody else? We are all paying for it but most getting little to nothing back.
The government has lots of plans for increasing the population density on the fringes of the territory, such as Kippax, Molonglo, west Belconnen and the western side of the Murrumbidgee River in Tuggeranong. Where is the associated planning for transport infrastructure to cope with all these extra people? It isn’t a problem that can be dealt with after the tram funds have gone dry, we need it now. Just ask the rest of Canberra what they think and not just those in the electorates of Yerrabi and Kurrajong. Oh, wait, you will be on the 15th October. Hopefully Canberra will let you know what they really think of “Transport Canberra” and this incompetent Labor government.

Garfield said :

Megan Fitzharris Occupations – Public Servant, Political Staffer, Politician .

I can see they picked the right person for the job. Her credentials in transport are impeccable .
Blow out city here we come.

she also came to Australia from NZ when she was 18 . Suspiciously the same age as you qualify to get the dole as a Kiwi .

Megan Fitzharris Occupations – Public Servant, Political Staffer, Politician .

I can see they picked the right person for the job. Her credentials in transport are impeccable .
Blow out city here we come.

wildturkeycanoe said :

bringontheevidence said :

dungfungus said :

So the cost of light rail just went up another 3 million.

Government also admits there is an issue with myway and it needs replacing?

Why not just adipt whatever payment system sydney uses. Save money and allow us to travel to sydney.

While were at it mske northborne a toll road to cover the costof of light rail expansions.

Actually they are looking at using opal, the NSW system. But from an interoperability view point, eg use same card in nsw or act.

Btw re saving money by using someone else’s system you do realise they did exactly that with my way? The used the Perth system more or less off the shelf. Would have been hard to use opal though as it wasn’t up and running and had and still does gave quite a number of issues.

It looks like Opal Cards are on the way out already. According to Seven News the other night, the NSW government is looking at replacing the cards with tap and go technology meaning you simply have to use your credit card.

Think you will find that technology is more an addon rather than complete replacement.

They have had this in London for a few years now (though only works on UK and some European credit/debit cards). Both London and Sydney use the same base technology which is provided by Cubic systems.

What if you want to use a bus and not have them track your every move? Just pay cash?

Still doesn’t make sense to charge for public busses the same it doesn’t make sense to charge people to use footpaths. If you charged for the footpath how many people would just walk on the road?

bringontheevidence said :

dungfungus said :

So the cost of light rail just went up another 3 million.

Government also admits there is an issue with myway and it needs replacing?

Why not just adipt whatever payment system sydney uses. Save money and allow us to travel to sydney.

While were at it mske northborne a toll road to cover the costof of light rail expansions.

Actually they are looking at using opal, the NSW system. But from an interoperability view point, eg use same card in nsw or act.

Btw re saving money by using someone else’s system you do realise they did exactly that with my way? The used the Perth system more or less off the shelf. Would have been hard to use opal though as it wasn’t up and running and had and still does gave quite a number of issues.

It looks like Opal Cards are on the way out already. According to Seven News the other night, the NSW government is looking at replacing the cards with tap and go technology meaning you simply have to use your credit card.

Think you will find that technology is more an addon rather than complete replacement.

They have had this in London for a few years now (though only works on UK and some European credit/debit cards). Both London and Sydney use the same base technology which is provided by Cubic systems.