At Wednesday nights Gungahlin Community Council meeting Paul Peters - Director of Transport Planning, advised that the outcome of the Northbourne Transit Study (which has somehow become a defacto light rail study) will be available before the next election in October 2012.
What an amazing coincidence! Perhaps the ALP can go to yet another election saying they are in favour of light rail - then do nothing except build more roads for another 4 year term.
Although Simon Corbell, ACT Minister for Transport, didn't attend, a staff member from his office did attend the GCC meeting. He was dismissive of light rail when raised as a solution to the suggestion by Paul Peters that ACTION would have to double current bus numbers to tackle the peak hour overcrowding problem. The Ministers staffer dismissed light rail on cost grounds.
One thing that became clear from the meeting was that peak hour buses into and out of Gungahlin are at capacity, and there is no surge capacity built into ACTION to tackle it. At least three people at the meeting reported buses failing to stop and collect them due to the bus already being full.
ACT Light Rail are not anti-bus, we are pro-public transport. We consider the fact that ACTION buses are at capacity to indicate that the passenger volume justifies a modal change to light rail. The main Gungahlin to Civic transit route should become light rail, tripling passenger capacity, and ACTION buses can be re-tasked to feed passengers to the light rail.
Clearly Light Rail needs to be built - immediately.
Website for ACT Light Rail, the predecessor to the PTCBR Public Transport Association of Canberra
