My submission to Transport for Canberra

[Barry Drive]

A summary of my submission to the Transport for Canberra - "Transport for a sustainable city 2011-2031" policy document:

Rapid Services

1. the Rapid route between Woden and Tuggeranong should remain unchanged (i.e. not travel via Erindale);

2. a more suitable route to Lanyon Group Centre is via Woodcock Dr rather than through Bonython;

3. the Rapid route should be modified to service both the Manuka and Kingston Group Centres;

4. planning of a more direct route between Gungahlin and the City needs to be undertaken;

Group Centres

5. each Centre should have its own Public Transport strategy;

6. a new service type ("Frequent Connector routes"), based on Group Centres, should be added to the network;

Frequent Local Development areas

7. areas which currently have only a 60 minute frequency, but have sufficient density and demand, should be upgraded to 30 minutes;

Park and Ride

8. where the facility is not located on a Rapid route, it must be serviced by an Xpresso route operating directly to either the City or the nearest Bus Station;

9. install parking voucher machines linked to the MyWay card at selected locations;

Infrastructure

10. Kippax Group Centre should be considered for a Bus Station in the near future, rather than a major stop;

11. a new City terminus location should be included in long term planning;

MyWay / Fare System

12. a formal public review of fares occur every 5 years with the first review to be held within the next 12 months;

Bus Fleet

13. for the next round of bus purchases, 10.5 to 11 metre long buses should be considered;

14. introduce a requirement that 95% of all bus services operating after 6:30 pm weekdays and all day Saturday and Sunday be operated by wheelchair-accessible buses.

[Buzz Killington]

Rapid Services
2. a more suitable route to Lanyon Group Centre is via Woodcock Dr rather than through Bonython;

Only one of the rapids goes through Bonython at present, though.

[Barry Drive]

Only one of the rapids goes through Bonython at present, though.

Currently that's the non-rapid part of the route (19/319) - since it only operates every 30 minutes.

The idea is to extend the Rapid route to Lanyon Group Centre via Bonython by 2016, similar to the planned extension to Kippax. I have no objection to a direct service to Lanyon operating every 15 minutes, but to define a Rapid service via secondary suburban streets is not in keeping with the Rapid concept. Much better to either run it directly to Lanyon via Drakeford Dr / Tharwa Dr or, if it must go suburban, via Woodcock Dr which is at least a major road.