Goodbye Belconnen Bus Interchange

The Belconnen Bus Interchange will be closed from Monday to make way for the ACT Government-Westfield redevelopment. The new services will stop on Cameron Avenue, Lathlain Street and Cohen Street with new timetables in place. Further info is available here.

Free Bus Travel for over 75’s

The Stanhope Government has committed $500,000 over 4 years to provide free travel on ACTION buses for people over 75.

Minister for Territory and Municipal Services John Hargreaves says the objective of the scheme is to encourage existing drivers over 75 to surrender their driver’s licence, where they may no longer be capable of driving safely, by providing free transport on ACTION buses.

This is a sensible initiative, which will provide economic assistance to the elderly, help with road safety, and improved environmental outcomes.

I had a chat yesterday with Paul Flint, Executive Director of Council on the Aging (COTA) in the ACT. It’s clear that the needs of the aged are highly complex and the policy initiatives required to address the changing demographics in the ACT will be a constant challenge in the future. It’s something the Stanhope Government recognises and providing free bus travel is one element of the overall strategy.

Slow Train Coming…

Yesterday, the Canberra Business Council put a high speed rail link to Canberra back on the agenda.

Personally I’m highly supportive of the idea. It has the potential to deliver huge benefits to the Canberra region. However, there are a range of issues that immediately spring to mind. For instance:

Where’s the funding coming from?

One of the key reasons the idea fell over a number of years ago was that the Howard Government imposed a “no net cost to government” condition on the project. I believe that if the private sector considered this project to be commercially viable on its own merit, and without assistance from Government, it would already be under construction.

If we are to undertake such a nation building task, we need to know up front, how much money the Federal, ACT and NSW (and potentially Victorian) Governments will put on the table. This would give commercial partners certainty, and minimise the risk of dragging the Governments into a deeper commitment than either they are prepared for or that is acceptable. If Government can’t afford to contribute to the project, it simply won’t get off the ground.

What should the proposed Study consider?

There are a number of important considerations for any Study into the high speed rail project, including:

• The government budgets to support high speed rail versus the savings in road maintenance and upgrades
• The potential costs of increased rail freight against road transport freight and the associated savings in road safety
• Considering Canberra as a second airport with a high speed rail link, versus building a second Sydney airport (or upgrading Kingsford-Smith); when that might be required and how long a high speed rail link would delay the need for a 2nd or upgraded Sydney airport
• The effect on greenhouse emissions targets
• The impact on door to door travelling time between plane and train, and the economic impacts for business travel
• The effect on ticket prices for Sydney – Canberra travel for consumers.
• The benefits to the ACT economy by having commuters from further afield travelling into Canberra for work

I completely agree with Canberra Business Council CEO Chris Faulks when she says: “We’re not talking pie in the sky technology here – we are talking about technology that has proved itself over the last ten years in countries such as Japan, France and Germany, and is being built or developed in Spain, Vietnam, Turkey, Morocco and Saudi Arabia”.

The key issue is not the feasibility of the project, but how we can develop a funding model that allows both private sector and government infrastructure investment to get the project off the ground, quickly and with minimal risk.