Liberals ask question about Capital Metro

Deputy Opposition Leader and Shadow Transport Minister Alistair Coe has released a press release detailing questions about the Capital Metro project that were deleted (by Labor and Greens votes) from a motion passed in the Assembly on light rail. These are all good questions that the Government must provide answers to. 

Media Release
Thursday 14 February 2013

GOVERNMENT AVOIDS QUESTIONS ABOUT LIGHT RAIL

The Government has refused to provide information about plans for light rail in
Canberra, said ACT Shadow Transport Minister Alistair Coe.

In the Assembly yesterday, the Government deleted all the questions Mr Coe asked in a motion about the delivery of light rail.

The information on light rail the Liberals sought answers to were:

• the timeline for the decision making and construction progress;
• the expected cost to taxpayers of pre-construction and construction;
• the predicted patronage, running costs and staffing once operational;
• the population within reasonable walking distance of a light rail stop;
• plans for park and ride facilities;
• the financial models for funding the project; and
• what feedback was received from Infrastructure Australia as a result of the 2008-federally funded proposal.

“I’m disappointed that the Government is not passing on information about how they intend to honour their huge financial commitment,” Mr Coe said today.

“Whilst I realised that definitive costs and figures will not yet be known, the Government must have estimates for each of the questions I asked.

“If the Government is serious about delivering light rail, they need to get widespread community support and confidence in the project. Instead, refusal to answer questions will lead to greater scepticism about the viability of light rail in Canberra,” Mr Coe concluded.

All these buses = one light rail vehicle

I took this photo in Lathlain St, initially as it demonstrated the problem of 'Bus bunching' which bedevils public transport networks, but it then struck me that the capacity of these four buses would be the equivalent of one light rail vehicle. The difference being that only one driver would be required for that light rail vehicle. 

The 2004 'Sustainable Transport Plan' dismissed light rail as it was based on 77 passenger light rail vehicles. More recent ACT studies have more sensibly looked at contemporary light rail vehicles, both articulated and multi-vehicle (that is coupled vehicles). These have greater passenger capacity, which is required if light rail is to serve as the mass-transit backbone for the ACT.