ONE in three Canberra buses is not running on time, meaning the ACT government has fallen well below its yearly target and leaving balance-of-power MLA Shane Rattenbury with hefty ground to make up, according to annual reporting.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The overall performance of the ACTION Bus service in the past financial year was disappointing, according to Mr Rattenbury, the Territory and Municipal Services Minister.
Mr Rattenbury, a Greens MLA who chose to accept several ministerial positions from the government after he won the balance of power in the Legislative Assembly last year, said he hoped several looming changes to the network would make it more efficient. These included a revamp of routes for next year, which is open for public discussion, as well as a bus-tracking system commuters will be able to access on their phones that will tell them where the buses are located in real time.
The proposed new network will have fewer evening and night-time buses, so more could be run during the day; and services will be more direct, sometimes by lengthening the distances people walk to buses. Opposition transport spokesman Alistair Coe jumped on the latest annual report figures. ''One in three buses aren't running on time, meaning they're either more than a minute early or more than four minutes late,'' Mr Coe said.
''On top of that, ACTION is now subsidised to the tune of 86 per cent, or $109 million annually. Everything from the cost of the service to customer satisfaction has gone backwards as already low performance indicators fall further.''
A total of 56 per cent of customers were satisfied with the service, a figure contrary to a media release sent out by Mr Coe, which said 56 per cent of customers were not satisfied with the service.
Despite this, the government still fell 29 per cent short of its target, according to the report.