More bus drivers should be employed in the ACT to allow transport authorities to run a full bus timetable as soon as possible, the ACT Greens have said.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But the call comes despite the ACT having the highest number of bus drivers in more than a decade, with the number of drivers increasing by nearly a third since 2009.
The Greens' plan does not address how to resolve long-standing issues in the industrial agreement between drivers and the government, which makes weekend work voluntary and is due for renegotiation this year.
As flagged in The Canberra Times last week, the Greens' spokeswoman on transport, Jo Clay, will on Wednesday move a motion in the Legislative Assembly calling on the government to expand the Transport Canberra workforce as part of the enterprise bargaining process.
The motion, which acknowledges the enterprise agreement needs to change but does not say how to achieve this, will also call on the government to set a target to increase the number of women driving buses in the ACT.
Ms Clay said she understood the current reduced timetable was a result of COVID-related staff absences, but said not enough people were catching the bus in the territory before the onset of the pandemic.
"I want Canberrans to have a bus service that gets them where they need to go, when they need to get there," Ms Clay said.
"This means Canberrans need confidence in our public transport. We need to trust that our buses will run often, turn up on time and take us to our destination, whether it's a Sunday, Monday, Tuesday or any other day."
Ms Clay told ABC radio on Monday the bus driving workforce in the territory should reflect the community it serviced.
"We definitely need a targeted program [to attract more women]. We need a really good strategy to deal with this and work out the barriers. We definitely need some better permanent part time options," she said.
More drivers were needed to deliver hourly weekend services, which the government had committed to, she said.
There were 957 drivers on the Transport Canberra payroll at the end of February 2022, an answer to a question on notice in the Legislative Assembly said.
There were 740 bus operators in 2017-18, 801 in 2018-19, and 809 in 2019-20, annual reports show. There were 610 bus drivers in 2008-09.
Transport Minister Chris Steel told the Assembly last month there were 101 female bus drivers in February 2022, including 18 casual and 82 permanent staff.
"Whilst COVID-19 has affected the recruitment of a number of positions across the ACT government, it has also affected the recruitment of bus drivers - and particularly the efforts of Transport Canberra in trying to attract a more diverse workforce," Mr Steel said, in answer to a question from Ms Clay.
"As a result, we have seen an increase of only 1 per cent in the number of female staff members at Transport Canberra, but we have a recruitment campaign that is underway to attract more drivers and particularly drivers who are women."
Mr Steel told a Legislative Assembly inquiry earlier this year there had been detailed work completed on an improved rostering system ahead of enterprise bargaining negotiations.
"We certainly welcome recruits from all different backgrounds and we are seeing a much more diverse workforce as a result of those recruitment rounds, which has changed the face of the workforce considerably," Mr Steel said at the time.
Mr Steel has previously said he would take a conservative approach to dropping the interim timetable, as it was designed to allow the network greater flexibility in managing COVID-related driver absences. The interim timetable was introduced in August last year.
Industrial negotiations between the Transport Workers Union and the ACT government have stalled when the government has attempted to overhaul rostering requirements.
A "hardline" approach in 2010 led nowhere, with the government eventually yielding to the union, which has long argued drivers have a five-day-a-week job.
MORE A.C.T. POLITICS NEWS:
The ACT government again sought to introduce seven-day rosters in the 2018 agreement, but instead rolled over the existing agreement terms.
Transport Canberra deputy director-general Ben McHugh in March told the standing committee on planning, transport and city services work hours for bus drivers was not as flexible as authorities wanted.
"In our future negotiations as part of our enterprise bargaining agreement we will be exploring how to make it a more attractive workplace for people who have different personal circumstances," Mr McHugh said.
A shortage of drivers volunteering for shifts forced the ACT government to adjust its weekend timetable in 2019 after it attempted to introduce more frequent services.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark canberratimes.com.au
- Download our app
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
Jasper Lindell
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
