The Canberra Liberals have accused the ACT Government of ignoring National Disability Standards by continuing to use the now non-compliant Renault diesel buses as part of the Transport Canberra network.
Shadow Minister for Transport Mark Parton said that despite national law stating these particular buses be retired on the final day of 2022, they have still been in operation during the early stages of 2023.
A government spokesperson stated that supply chain issues had delayed the delivery of 26 leased low emission diesel buses, but these were being received, commissioned, and added to the fleet, allowing the Renaults to be phased out.
Canberra Liberals
“The Transport Minister [Chris Steel] announced in March last year that all 34 of the non-compliant Renault diesel buses would be removed from service at the end of last year, and that promise appears to have been broken,” Mr Parton said.
“This is also a breach of the National Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport, and is yet another example of the Minister saying one thing and then doing the complete opposite.
“Electric buses were supposed to fully replace the old Renaults. Despite the Labor-Greens government making a song and dance about the arrival of the first of those buses, the remaining 11 are yet to materialise or appear on our roads.”
The ACT Government announced in June 2021 that 34 buses (some of them electric) would replace the old Renault diesel buses by the end of that year. In February 2022, Mr Steel said that Canberrans would start using electric buses later that year: 12 would enter the Transport Canberra fleet, and 90 more would be purchased, bringing the total number to 102 this year. In mid-December, Mr Parton asked why the buses were not yet in service; a Transport Canberra spokesperson maintained that they would be delivered by the end of the year.
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Mr Parton also pointed to what he called massive cutbacks in the 2023 term one timetable: a significant reduction of trips on many routes (many cut by 10 or more runs); night services finishing earlier across many routes, meaning that workers cannot catch the bus home after 8pm; and weekend buses continuing to operate every two hours, despite government promises to increase weekend frequency.
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The Canberra Liberals believe this is due to the Labor-Greens government not having enough buses to fulfill the old table.
“That theory is supported by the fact that the government appears to be recklessly breaching the national disability code even during the quiet holiday period to keep the timetable intact,” Mr Parton concluded.
ACT Government response
The ACT Government completed the procurement of 12 battery electric buses and 26 low-emission diesel buses to replace the non-compliant Renault buses in mid-2022, a government spokesperson said.
These buses are being received, commissioned, and added to the fleet, allowing the Renaults to be phased out.
Supply chain issues experienced by the manufacturer disrupted the delivery of the 26 leased low emission diesel buses which were originally due for delivery in the second half of 2022.
They will now be progressively phased into the fleet during the first half of this year.
“Leasing these low emission diesel buses will allow us to retire the ageing fleet and provide a better, cleaner, more accessible ride for our customers in the immediate term while we prepare our existing depots to accommodate more zero emission vehicles.
“These supply chain issues are not unique to the ACT with other operators in similar situations.”
The ACT Government has informed the Human Rights Commission of these impacts, and will update them as it meets its commitments to a DDA compliant fleet.
In the interim, while the new buses are still being delivered, Transport Canberra will allocate buses so the Renaults are used as backups only.
“This will mean they are primarily used to cover unplanned issues such as breakdowns or late running to maintain reliability for our customers.”
Canberrans can use the journey planner and NXTBUS to identify the type of bus running on that service and whether it is compliant with the DDA standards.
The government will also work with customers to ensure that specific buses are allocated to services where users need disability-compliant vehicles.
The ACT Government has started to receive the Yutong E12 battery electric buses; they are going through final commissioning and registration processes required before they can be put into service.
Transport Canberra operates a fleet of 456 buses. The 33 Renault buses remaining in the fleet are the only remaining non DDA compliant vehicles.
Transport Canberra operates with a 10 per cent spare ratio to allow for planned and unplanned maintenance on any particular day. This equates to around 45 buses.
