The Recent Public Transportation System in Canberra and Government Plans to improve

In early 60s Canberra was identified as a ‘car city’ owing to its low population density (ATRF, 2012). This principle was adopted by the ACT’s 2012 transport strategy, Transport for Canberra. According to the plan, most Canberra will be served by bus services operating every half hour (ATRF, 2012). In fact, buses have been the primary mode of public transport for the last 90 years in Canberra (ACT Government, 2015). Today, ‘ACTION achieves approximately 17.5 million boardings every year across a network of over 400 buses’ (ACT Government, 2015). However, the growth of population has caused the shortage of infrastructure in Canberra. ACT government noted that more than 45,600 people moved to Canberra in 2011 (ACT Government, 2015). As a result of this movement, the ACT government has been starting to improve public transportation facilities. In addition to improvement in ACTION Bus Network, Transport Canberra, in cooperation with Capital Metro, is also working on a light rail project which is expected to fully operate by the end of this year (ACT Government, 2015). It is obvious that the ACT government is particularly concerned that an upgrade in the quality and quantity of transportation is necessary in order to satisfy society’s demand. Moreover, ACT government released Public Transport Improvement Plan in 2015. Firstly, the ACT government planned to add new light rail corridors. The addition of light rail is expected to improve inter-modal connectivity issue in combined mode trips and means a greater number of the bus in suburb areas (Farahani, Miandoabchi, & W.Y. Szeto, 2013). Secondly, Transport Canberra is aspiring to create better bus and light rail scheduling so they can work together to give passenger minimum transition time. Lastly, ACT government plan to introduce a simplified ticketing system under ACT ‘one ticket, one fare, one network’ in order to realize transport integration for the efficiency of the mobility that citizens need (ACT Government, 2015).

Bibliography

ACT Government. (2015). Public Transport Improvement Plan. Canberra: Transport Canberra.

ATRF. (2012). Fifty Years of Public Transport Planning in Canberra. Canberra: ATRF Info Papers.

Farahani, R. Z., Miandoabchi, E., & W.Y. Szeto, H. R. (2013). A Review of Urban Transportation Network Design Problem. European Journal of Operational Research, 281-301.Hildago, D., Lleras, G., & Hernandez, E. (2013). Methodology for Calculating Passenger Capacity in Bus Rapid Transit