The ACT Greens have called on the ACT Government to release public transport patronage data following cuts to rapid bus services in West Belconnen and the continued “bungled” rollout of MyWay+.
Greens transport spokesperson Andrew Braddock blamed “major gaps in the public transport system” on the government’s “substandard management”.
“Service cuts are being made with outdated data, limited — if any — consultation, and a lack of regard for the current and future impact on Canberrans,” Mr Braddock said.
“Service changes have a real impact on the everyday lives of Canberrans. It is essential that the Government is open with the community about on what data it is basing these decisions on.
“There is newer data from the MyWay+ system that the Government could and should be using to determine service changes.
“I have been asking the Transport Minister where this data is for months, but so far they have only given me excuses for why it’s not ready. It’s been 15 months since MyWay+ launched. I am calling on the ACT Government to show us what data they have.”
The Greens have backed a petition signed by more than a thousand people calling for rapid bus routes to be restored to West Belconnen (Spence and Fraser); however, this week, transport minister Chris Steel said West Belconnen would not have rapid buses again for another two years.
“Labor is taking the people of West Belconnen for granted by cutting off public transport routes they’ve planned their lives around,” Greens deputy leader Jo Clay MLA said. “This is not how you encourage more people to use public transport.
“Canberrans need and deserve a public transport system they can rely on. There is nothing reliable about cutting all rapid services for one in 10 Canberrans. Before the election, Labor promised to increase rapid bus services to West Belconnen. Now they have cut off the only two existing ones. This is simply not good enough. The government failed to plan ahead for known closures to the Commonwealth Bridge, and they’re making every day Canberrans pay the price.”
Independent MLA Fiona Carrick supports Mr Braddock’s call for the government to release transport usage data.
“It is critical that Canberrans have access to transport usage data to see what is actually happening across our public transport network, particularly while major changes to routes and capacity are happening,” Ms Carrick said.
“I understand that the decision not to install MyWay Plus readers on many older buses leads to gaps in the data, gaps that are exacerbated by widespread reliability issues with card readers. These gaps in the data make it even more critical that the government release the data that they do have.”
An updated bus network began this week — but the data feed supplying real-time bus information did not transmit properly, so buses were not viewable or trackable in the MyWay+ app, the Transport Canberra journey planner, or third-party platforms such as Google Maps and Apple Maps. As a result, passengers could not access live arrival times or track services in real time. The ACT Government later said this was caused by a “data transmission” glitch; the timetable and real-time information had been restored across all platforms by the afternoon.
Amy Jelacic, chair of the Public Transport Association of Canberra, said: “The events of today with regard to virtual timetables were entirely foreseeable. I have talked with the Minister and his office, and with Transport Canberra, about MyWay+ issues with timetable changes on various occasions. I am dismayed to see these issues persisting.
“I love public transport and devote much of my free time to helping to improve Canberra’s public transport. Events like today’s undermine public trust and confidence in our public transport system – and can even effectively cancel out positives like the recent improvements to MyWay+ and progress with Light Rail Stage 2A. I’m deeply disappointed about this timetabling issue and will continue to push to have it resolved.”
Canberra Liberals leader Mark Parton MLA described MyWay+ as “a complete and utter disaster”. “It took so long to get the system going because we gravitated towards option A and then went onto option B, finally got it rolled out — it’s cost us a fortune, and it’s not delivering.” In his opinion, the government should have adopted NSW’s Opal Card.
The ACT Government was contacted for a response.
