In a masterful example of consultation Stanhope style today’s roundtable, supposedly to start the development of a Sustainable Transport Plan, has instead been used to announce a completed Strategic Public Transport Network Plan 2010-16.
- Through this plan the Government is looking to engage Canberrans on the future of our city and where they see the key public transport corridors – corridors for frequent services, which run 15 minutes or better during the peak and day period.”
The Plan includes designs for Rapid, Frequent Local, Peak and Coverage services, where:
— Rapid services are frequent and fast all day with services every 15 minutes or better and less stops, similar to the current inter-town bus routes;
— Frequent Local services have many stops, serve continuous high-density areas, connect to rapid services at town centres and major centres, like the current services on Northborne Ave;
— Peak Express are non-stop services from town centres to worksites, operating in peak commuter hours only, similar to the current Xpresso services; and
— Coverage services are all-day service every 30-60 minutes, covering low-density areas where relatively low patronage is inevitable. They connect all suburbs to their nearest town centre.
“The Plan also raises three key questions, which the Government is seeking the community’s input on,” Mr Stanhope said. “These questions go to what is the level of public transport services which our community expects in the future; whether the Frequent Network, that is the Rapid and Frequent Local services, is in the right place; and also how much Coverage service do Canberrans need and expect in the future?”