Canberra Liberals commission a report on Capital Metro and agree with themselves again

In their ongoing campaign to prevent the ACT Government from improving

Canberra's public transport infrastructure, the Canberra Liberals have

commissioned a report on the Capital Metro light rail. To the surprise

of all, the report has concluded that the cost is higher than the

government expects, that the benefits are less then the governments

claims and that disturbingly, the project is not 'economically

viable'.

The Canberra Times report can be found here.

Mr Bob Nairn, a retired transport consultant, was commissioned by the

Canberra Liberals to perform this research.  Without access to the

report, ACT Light Rail can only comment on what the media has selected

to use in its reporting.

The first thing that strikes us as odd, is that the costings are based

on US figures. There is ample contemporary light rail construction and

vehicle procurement locally, that Australian figures and costs from

Gold Coast, Adelaide or Perth could easily have been obtained. So why

have the Canberra Liberals and Mr Nairn used US figures?  This is

puzzling, especially as Mr Nairn has experience consulting to

Australian light rail projects.

The report also ignores information already in the public domain. For

example, it is expected that the Myway card will be used on light rail

and the bus, and that the entire trip will be capped (as it is under

the existing ACTION only system). This impacts the liberal

calculations.

Indeed, this is the trip model being moved to all around Australia,

where all public transport networks are being increasingly integrated

in contemporary public transport networks.

The effect on ACTION services that the Liberal report suggests, also

ignores the reallocation of ACTION buses following the commencement of

light rail service. ACTION buses will be taken off the red rapid run

from Gungahlin to Civic and re-tasked to better serve Gungahlin

suburbs, and to feed greater numbers of passengers to the light rail.

Services adjacent to Northbourne avenue will also be expanded. This

planning is already underway by ACTION, in conjunction with Capital

Metro. The government expects more passengers to use the bus service,

as well as Capital Metro, and is planning accordingly. ACTION will be

buying more buses, not less, as the Liberal report would suggest.

Contrary to the liberal report, contemporary Australian experience

shows a rapid uptake of light rail patronage, exceeding the bus

services they replace. Mr Nairn has not taken this into account.

Sadly, the Canberra liberals fail to understand what makes a public

transport system viable. The best way to make a public transport

system viable is to attract as many full fare paying adult passengers

as possible. They will not use the bus, as bus patronage has been in

decline for years. A viable system, is one that carries passengers,

not empty buses.

It took the ALP government twelve years of bus improvement programs

before they realised that Canberra had outgrown a bus-only solution,

and needed a better mass transit technology. Light rail is the

technology to meet Canberra's existing public transport problems and

ensure that a scalable solution is in place for Canberra future. This

is the policy that was put to Canberra's voters in 2012, and which

they supported.

Unfortunately, the time and money that the Canberra Liberals could

have used to develop an alternative public transport policy, has been

spent on attacking a project that was supported by the electorate at

the last election - a light rail and integrated bus public transport

network. The public deserve better than a constant attack, they

deserve an alternative approach.

For more frequent updates on Capital Metro and light rail related news, please visit our Facebook page 'Light Rail for Canberra'.