Only a tiny fraction of bus boardings in the ACT during the week are made after 11pm, Transport Minister Chris Steel has said, defending a decision to reduce late-night services this year.
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"The timetable ensures bus services are scheduled at levels that are responsive to when passengers travel the most," Mr Steel said.
The Transport Minister told the Legislative Assembly about half of all bus boardings during the week are during the peak hours, between 7am and 9am, and 3pm and 6pm.
About 90 per cent of weekday boardings on the bus network are recorded between 7am and 7pm, he said.
Mr Steel said 0.2 per cent of bus boardings on weekdays were made after 11pm, which he said was one in every 500 boardings.
"All changes to the bus network were based on data-informed decisions, with the Transport Canberra bus scheduling team heavily scrutinising network patronage data," Mr Steel said.
"These were customer-focused decisions ... sensitive and responsive to the needs of customers who rely on public transport services to travel between home and work or school or leisure activities."
A new set of bus timetables was introduced on January 30, which included cuts to service frequency and late-night suburban routes.
Four of the ACT's 12 new battery electric buses are already on the roads, with a further two expected to join the fleet by the end of the week, Mr Steel told the Assembly.
"This has allowed us to retire some of the old Renault buses from the fleet, as they are being replaced one for one with the new vehicles," he said.
The Renault buses - which entered service in or before 1993 - no longer meet disability access requirements and were due to be retired by the end of 2022.
However, 26 low-emission diesel buses have been delayed as a result of international supply chain pressures and parts availability, forcing some of the orange-and-blue ACTION-era buses to remain in use.
"Updated delivery schedules provided by the main contractor - Scania - advises vehicles are now expected to be delivered progressively from February 2023 with all buses expected to be in service by mid-2023. I can confirm the first bus has now been delivered and will be put into service this week," Mr Steel said.
The buses had been expected to arrive in Canberra by November 2022.
Mr Steel said the government was working with the Human Rights Commission to minimise the impact the high-floor Renault buses, which require passengers to step up into and are not wheelchair accessible, will have on access to public transport while they remain in service.
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The new bus network includes adjustments to school services, layovers and timing to account for updated stops, the temporary Woden interchange and disruptions into the city centre as a result of light rail related infrastructure work.
The timetable reduces the number of services on some suburban routes by up to 10 runs on weekdays and makes cuts to some late-night services. Light rail services will continue at the same frequency.
Rapid routes will continue to run at least at 15-minute frequency during the day and run every 30 minutes after 7pm.
Local routes will run at least every 30 minutes in peak times, with services to continue at least every hour in off-peak periods.
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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.
