Mark Parton, Shadow Minister for Transport, will call today on the ACT Labor-Greens government to guarantee that direct bus routes from southern suburbs to Civic will be maintained when the tram to Woden commences.

Mr Parton said Gungahlin lost numerous direct bus services, including the 200 rapid bus, the 202 express bus, the 251, 252, 254, 255 and 259 Xpresso routes, when the Gungahlin tram commenced, as commuters were forced onto the tram.

“Canberrans living in suburbs south of the Lake don’t want to suffer the same fate; they want to keep their direct buses to Civic, and they want to keep their quick travel time,” Mr Parton said.

“When stage 1 of the tram commenced, travel time from many suburbs that once had direct bus routes increased.

“The Government ignored its own 2016 travel survey which indicated that the majority of Canberrans wanted direct buses to the city, by redirecting most of those services to terminate at the tramline.

“The only thing commuters have, after the Government has spent $1 billion on public transport, is a much slower indirect journey.

“This Government often leaves behind the southern suburbs, and now they are trying to leave them behind with longer travel times.

“You can’t trust this government when it comes to supporting Canberrans with effective services.”