[ABC News] Nightrider costing taxpayers too much: Stanhope

[Barry Drive]

From ABC News online

By Kathleen Dyett

The ACT Government will review Canberra's Nightrider bus service after a disappointing passenger response.

The Government agreed to fund the three-month trial of the Nightrider service from last month, as part of an agreement struck with the Greens to pass changes to Canberra's liquor licensing laws.

The service runs from around 1:00am until 5:00am on Friday and Saturday, travelling from Alinga Street in Civic to all suburbs for a $10 flat fee. It also includes buses linking Manuka and Kingston to Civic.

But despite expectations many people would welcome the travel option, just 197 people used the service in its first three weekends.

After a busy New Year's Eve, 936 people had used the service during the first four weeks.

Chief Minister Jon Stanhope says the Government cannot continue to subsidise the service's nightly running cost of $10,700 with such disappointing passenger numbers.

"It's running out at over $300 per patron. Those are unsustainable numbers and unless the take up improves or picks up over this next two months then this is a trial that will be judged a failure," he said.

"I can't possibly ask the people of Canberra, the long-suffering ratepayers, to continue to pay $300 per patron who want to take a bus between midnight and dawn to get home from a night out on the town.

"That is simply not fair, despite the very good outcomes that it may achieve for those people who are using it."

Mr Stanhope is urging more people to use the service.

"The nightrider service is a good idea. It's one way of ensuring that people are kept safe, that people who go out, that drink, that have a good time, that socialise do have an alternative in terms of getting home without being forced to drive or being foolish enough to drive," he said.

"If there isn't a greater uptake of the service then it will be hard to judge the trial as a success."

Greens transport spokesman Amanda Bresnan says the Government has not done enough advertising.

"This is the sort of service that takes time for people to find out about it, for it to work and we are actually talking about cultural change with drink driving," she said.

But Mr Stanhope says the service has been widely advertised and the Government will review the trial at the end of summer.

[The Love Guru]

Almost $11k a night! Privitisation - The way to go!!!!!!!!!!

[Buzz Killington]

One of the major factors IMO is that people aren't going to want to pay $10 to catch a bus home alone when they can split the cost of a taxi with a few mates and get dropped at their front doors.

[Barry Drive]

The second problem is that passengers, at that time in the morning, do not want to wait up to 90 minutes for the next bus to their suburb.

And who made the decisions about the fares and the timetables for Nightrider? Transport for Canberra!