Mark Parton was loving light rail in 2011 and now that he is a Liberal?

Liberal candidate Mark Parton 30 June 2011

Back in June 2011 Mark Parton was his own man, with his own views, and in this column he discusses that after visiting a city with appalling road congestion, and buses not coping, even with bus lanes, that he thought it was time to talk about light rail in Canberra.

Now it is September 2016 and Mark is a Liberal candidate, running in an election where the singular obsession of the Canberra Liberals to the detriment of all other policy areas, has been light rail.

How much input has Liberal candidate Mark Parton had on the Liberals bus only transport plan? He certainly has some insights from visiting a city with outrageous road congestion. Here is what he said in 2011:

"If Northbourne Avenue was in Bogota there would be six lanes of traffic - each way!"

"Bogota is the classic example of what happens when you don't plan for the growth of a city"

"There is a bus service - some of it designated bus lanes - but it doesn't help much"

"If there is a lesson to learn from my traffic experience in South America, it is that the best time to build a public transport network is well and truly before you need it.
Maybe its time to talk light rail in Canberra again"

I wonder if Mark still holds these views? Does he still feel we need to plan for growth of a city? Does he still feel bus lanes don't help much? Does he want Bogota like congestion in Tuggeranong or the rest of Canberra?

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