A continuous bus lane linking the city and Woden is the Canberra Liberals' light rail alternative, with the opposition promising faster and cheaper improvements to public transport.
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Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee said bringing the bus fleet into the 21st century, including making improvements to stops, would go a long way to incentivise Canberrans to leave their cars at home and catch public transport.
"The Canberra Liberals are committed to ensuring that we provide real and genuine public transport options that are available to us now," Ms Lee said.
Improved bus services would be the centrepiece of the Liberals' plan to deliver "genuine public transport outcomes", she said.
The city to the Woden bus corridor would be completed by 2027 and cost about $70 million, the party believes. The proposal would be completed before work is scheduled to begin on the Woden light rail extension, and include intersection priority for bus traffic, the Liberals said.
Light rail to Woden is due to be completed in 2033, the government announced last month. The Canberra Liberals have claimed the project would cost more than $4 billion.
The Canberra Liberals will today release a detailed transport policy, outlining its plans for the capital's public transport network if the party forms government for the first time in more than 20 years after the October 19 election.
The opposition believes the policy would cost $450 million to implement, but would not commit to the figures until the budget is handed down in June. Ms Lee confirmed the policy would be independently costed before the election.
Express services aimed at commuters and dedicated school services would be reintroduced after they were cut in 2019, while weekend bus frequencies would be increased to remove two-hour waits for local weekend services.
Local buses would run every 30 minutes during the day, seven days a week, the opposition's policy says, while rapid services would run at least every 15 minutes between 7am and 7pm all week and at least every 7 minutes during peak periods.
The policy does not specify how many extra buses would be required in the fleet or how many additional drivers were needed.
The plan includes completing the busway between Belconnen and the city, a new city interchange, introducing bus priority at more intersections, building a new bus depot in the city's north, expanding the bus fleet and supporting a local bus manufacturing site.
Free bus trips would be available for short trips in the city centre and adults would pay no more than $25 a week on the network with fare caps to be introduced under the Liberals' plan. Current daily caps mean an adult could spend no more than $59.74 a week.
The party believes the cap would encourage passengers to take weekend trips, because they would cost no extra if that person's weekday travel had already reached the cap.
A Liberal government would also investigate high-capacity electric buses, including double-decker models, to boost the number of passengers each service can carry.
New park-and-ride facilities - which allow motorists to park their cars and catch frequent bus services - would be built across the ACT.
On-demand public transport services would be trialled in parts of Canberra, along with new dedicated airport services with vehicles better suited to passengers travelling with luggage to catch flights.
The Canberra Liberals would also also introduce legislated public transport performance guarantees and commission a transport taskforce to produce a snap eight-month review of the network.
Ms Lee said a Liberal government would not pre-empt the findings of the taskforce - its policy priorities were clear.
"This is a very comprehensive public transport policy that we're putting out there, so we want to make sure that we have a taskforce that is robust and is able to work hand in hand with us to deliver the best public transport outcomes for Canberra," she said.
Talks would also begin to increase bus services between Canberra and nearby regional centres, including Queanbeyan, Batemans Bay, Bungendore, Murrumbateman and Yass.
Mark Parton, the opposition transport spokesman, said a Liberal government would have an "extreme focus" on incentivising people to become bus drivers.
"My message to anyone that drives a bus, or who is considering driving a bus, in the ACT is that bus drivers are an extremely important part of what we're doing," Mr Parton said.
"They will be much more important for a Liberal government than they are for a Labor-Greens government, because they will continue to form the absolute centrepiece of our transport network."
Volunteer weekend work provisions in the enterprise agreement between the ACT government and bus drivers has long stifled efforts to improve Saturday and Sunday services.
Mr Parton said the Liberals would work with the Transport Workers' Union to deliver an improved bus timetable.
"The current government's public transport priorities are not about public transport. They're about development," he said.
"We're about actually providing public transport outcomes, and everything is on the table. And we will move heaven and earth to make sure that we achieve these outcomes," he said.
Ms Lee said a Liberal government would not privatise any part of Canberra's bus network.
The Canberra Liberals in December 2022 announced they would not support extending light rail from Commonwealth Park to Woden. The party had opposed light rail at the 2012 and 2016 elections, before backing it at the 2020 poll.
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.
