The residents of one of Canberra's newest suburbs certainly won't have any trouble finding a seat on public transport.
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With Strathnairn set to get its first bus route from next week, the entire suburb will be able to fit on the new bus. Twice over.
As the first residents of Ginninderry start to move into the west Belconnen development, public transport will be available from March 2.
The new route will service Strathnairn before linking to Kippax, stopping at Kingsford Smith School and Macgregor Primary School.
While the bus itself, a Hino Poncho bus, is smaller than a standard bus, Transport Minister Chris Steel said the service would be a start to public transport in the area as the number of residents increase.
"These buses are smaller but they are suitable for the number of people they'll be carrying in the area," Mr Steel said.
"As we see patronage increase, we'll look to provide the larger Transport Canberra buses into the future and expand into further suburbs."
Two new buses will service the suburb, running every 30 minutes during the day and every 15 minutes during peak hour.
The buses, estimated to cost $240,000 each, were supplied by Ginninderry, while the drivers will come from the ACT government.
The first residents of Strathnairn moved into the new suburb on February 20 with another 150 homes to be completed by the end of the year.
Managing director of Riverview Projects David Maxwell said the development aimed to have public transport operating when residents moved in.
"We'll operate the bus for the next two to three years and continue to move the buses through future suburbs," he said.
"We're set to have 11,500 dwellings and 30,000 people living here by 2055.
"If you go into some new suburbs, you only have the choice of a car to get around, and here, public transport will be a choice."
The announcement of the new routes to Strathnairn comes as the ACT recorded the largest patronage of public transport in a single week.
More than 500,000 boardings were recorded between February 17 and 23.
In the weekend of the Multicultural Festival, 60,000 boardings were recorded, compared to 47,000 the year before on the same weekend.
However, at the same period last year, Canberra's light rail network was not yet opened to the public.
For Ginninderry office administration assistant Peter Bartholomew, the new bus routes to Strathnairn would allow him to get to work easier. "The previous buses used to take too long to get to here on time," he said.
Anneliese Rasmus is set to move into Strathnairn in coming months with construction on her future house well under way.
She said she would use public transport in the suburb from the get go when the move was complete.
"Between my husband and I, we only have one car, and we work in two different parts of Canberra," she said.
"To have this here and ready to go will be a good thing, and it will be very good to have the service for residents."
Andrew Brown
I've been part of the Canberra Times since 2016, after reporting at local papers in Sydney's north-west. Since starting at the paper I've had stints on the Sunday Times, on the early morning breaking news round, and now as a general reporter, covering the ins and outs of anything and everything happening in Canberra, with a focus on health.
I've been part of the Canberra Times since 2016, after reporting at local papers in Sydney's north-west. Since starting at the paper I've had stints on the Sunday Times, on the early morning breaking news round, and now as a general reporter, covering the ins and outs of anything and everything happening in Canberra, with a focus on health.
