Governing the City State - Chief Minister and Treasury Directorate ...

suggests that it may not be so. Convenience, amenity, and ease of use are all relevant toindividual decisions to leave the car at home and catch the bus.There are also equity arguments which ultimately rest on matters of policy in making aservice available free to those who can afford to pay. Because the ACT Budget and revenuebase is as narrow as it is, a loss in revenue from one source will need to be made upsomewhere else (in additional revenue or reduced expenditures), and in this context therewould seem to be merit in retaining some form of user pays system for public transport.Free bus travel at peak times would probably result in overcrowding at those times (oroverinvestment in capacity for those times that is unused through the rest of the day). Thesize of the Canberra population may again prove to be a limiting factor in this regard.It is also necessary to consider other levers available to the Government in encouragingmodal shift in transport choices. These include the costs of parking, and availability ofparking around town centres and employment hubs, congestion charging and so on.Industrial ReformThe current industrial framework at ACTION is a significant obstacle to flexible andpassenger centred management of the public transport system. Deeply ingrained workpractices including in relation to the ratio of full time and part time drivers, prohibition of aseven day roster, and restrictions on workshop operations add significantly to ACTION’s costand inefficiency. Deanes Buslines, the privately owned Queanbeyan based operator employs1.4 people per bus, while ACTION currently has over 4 people per bus.If the public transport system in Canberra is to evolve into a service that passengers want touse because it meets their needs, significant redrawing of the industrial framework and workpractices will be required. If that proves impossible in a reasonable timeframe, privatisationseems inevitable – either altogether or by the Government retaining fleet ownership, buthaving one commercial operator of the fleet on the South side and another on the North side.Other Service OptionsA number of suggestions were made to the Review of options for delivering public transportand focusing ACTION on the delivery of core services. These suggestions included differentmodels of service delivery for:• school bus services;• weekend bus services; and• integration of services with other public transport providers in the region.The Government is already working with NSW authorities, Queanbeyan City Council andDeanes on a cross border taskforce. Issues in this context include easing of restrictions onboth sides of the border on buses picking up and dropping off passengers. At present, aTransborder bus travelling from Yass to Canberra is not permitted to pick up passengers as ittravels down Northbourne Avenue, just as ACTION buses are not permitted to enterSustainability, Housing Affordability and Transport: 316