Canberrans will be able to get home safely after a night out in Civic with the launch of the ACT Government’s Nightrider bus service run by ACTION this festive season, Minister for Territory and Municipal Services, Simon Corbell, announced today.
“Nightrider will run most Friday and Saturday nights in December, with additional services on New Year’s Eve,” said Mr Corbell.
“Fares will decrease to just $5 to encourage people to take the Nightrider home as a safe, convenient option to get home after a low patronage level last year.
“The new Nightrider fare is a direct outcome from the 2010-11 trial where customers were discouraged by the higher $10 fare, which for some people worked out to be more expensive than a shared taxi ride.”
The evaluation of last summer’s extended Nightrider found the service was not cost effective over three months. This year’s Nightrider will run similar to previous years before the three-month trial, with services focussed on helping people get home during the busy festive period.
Departing from Platform 7 at the City Bus Station, eight Nightrider routes will take passengers home every 90 minutes between 1am and 4.45am with extra services to operate on New Year’s Eve. The Nightrider routes will service suburbs in Belconnen, Gungahlin, Inner-North, Inner-South, Woden and Tuggeranong dropping passengers at the bus stop nearest to their home.
Mr Corbell said that each bus will have CCTV facilities. ACTION supervisors will also be within the City Bus Station to assist with marshalling.
“The measures that we put in place will help ensure Nightrider is a safe and convenient option to help people home safely after a night out in Civic this festive season.
“A comprehensive marketing campaign will promote the service in conjunction with popular night venues in the city,” he said.
Nightrider will operate on 9-10 December, 16-17 December, 23 December and 30-31 December 2011.
The service will be evaluated to determine its effectiveness. More information on Nightrider is available at http://www.transport.act.gov.au/
This page was last updated on 19 November 2011
