It's hard to see that number increasing after new analysis provided to The Canberra Times revealed just 36 per cent of residents would be within 800 metres of a light rail or rapid bus stop after the proposed shake-up of the network, set to go live in January.

That number is well below the 55 per cent of Canberrans Transport Minister Meegan Fitzharris said in June would be within 800 metres of a stop on a rapid bus or light rail route.  That claim about the ease of access to these flagship services was made to soothe disquiet at the cutting of other services, such as peak-hour Xpressos and many school services.

For those concerned about an 800m walk to one of these key corridor services, the government offered assurances that it had learned, via consultation,  that almost 80 per cent of people would gladly walk further to access more frequent or faster services.

This is a surprising outcome, and those who didn't participate in this consultation might be forgiven for asking exactly what questions were asked. According to Australian National University researcher Bruce Doran, those who need to walk between 400 and 800 metres to a bus stop are considered to have low access to public transport, and those with an 800 metre or longer hike have poor access.

It is important to note the analysis published on Tuesday looks only at access to rapid bus and light rail routes, not local bus routes. But it does cast doubt on government claims Canberrans substantially will be better off under its new transport plan.

Given the significance of the light rail project, which is appearing near completion before our eyes, it made sense for the government to completely revisit its network and effectively start from scratch, rather than tinkering with existing routes.

But this new analysis, on top of the 13,000 responses to the government's consultation call,  shows the network plan as it currently stands isn't ready to be rolled out.

The government has already significantly backed down on its school bus route cuts. This was a welcome sign that the government was listening to residents who rely on the public transport network. It needs to continue to listen, even if it doesn't like what it hears.

These changes need to happen before the new network is rolled out early next year. The territory can't face a repeat of the 2006 functional review of the transport network, where 240 daily bus services were removed in December, only for 37 to be added in the following February, and a further 84 added in April. It was a time when Canberrans lost confidence in the bus services, longtime transport reporter for The Canberra Times Graham Downie said.

Canberrans will soon have a public transport network that includes light rail as well as buses, but they'll need to be presented a reasonable, if not compelling, case to get out from behind their own wheel.