Transport Canberra have released a new Bus Network Proposal for discussion and implementation in January 2019. They will present at tonight’s Council meeting.
The proposed changes include:
- a 7 day a week service with the same route number
- Rapid Services R7 [direct to the City] and R6 [direct to Woden and then Canberra Hospital and to the City via Hindmarsh Drive] starting and ending at Cooleman Court. These will run every 15 minutes during weekdays and 30 minutes on weekends and out of hours with a new Rapid from Molonglo R10 to the City [at 30 minutes intervals to start with],
- Expresso services will go,
- current suburban routes 25 and 26 will terminate at Cooleman Court with changes proposed to Route 25 about which Council has already started discussing with Transport Canberra,
- current route 83 will go and be replaced by Route 66/67 which will go to Cooleman Court not Woden and along Eucumbene Drive,
- Route 27 will continue to Woden as it does now
- Route 705, mornings and evenings to Belconnen and Tuggeranong will go
- new Routes 70 and 71 will travel from Woden to Kambah and onto the Tuggeranong South Point via Cooleman Court and Namitjira Drive
- School Services will change with a number of School buses to go and children expected to catch “normal service” buses.
You can also have Your Say by accessing The Survey on Have Your Say Website, e-mailing Transport Canberra or contacting Council with your comments.
Council has met with Transport Canberra and posed a series of Questions to them to which answers have been provided.
There will be a need for more parking at Cooleman Court as I can see to express bus to the city from Weston being popular. Our parking is already stretched at Cooleman Court and this will compound the problem.
I currently catch the 25 from Duffy direct to work in Woden–now I will have to transfer to a rapid at Cooleman Court, which will add travel time, and presumably more on the home route when the connection is from a rapid to the new, less frequent, Duffy ‘local’. Not an improvement, obviously–shouldn’t have to catch 2 buses to traverse the distance from the top of Hindmarsh Drive to Woden. One option is to drive to Coolo and park but hundreds of additional others will now be doing so too–there isn’t enough room for that and it would only be a matter of time before they introduce pay parking. The other, more likely, option is to forget buses, drive to Woden every day and wear the extra cost.
Hi,
I have caught bus 25 for 42 years as I do not drive. A few years back I could also catch bus 28, but they took that away. So it appears that after 42 years of being able to catch one bus to Woden I will now be catching 2.
I noticed in your above comments that you are in consultation with TC about bus 25. Please may I be kept in the loop with any information coming to hand.
Having a look at the route of bus 25 it concerns me greatly that when this bus travels along Mulley Street to Coolo that it will now be crossing over Streeton Drive with two ways of traffic. So a big bus will now try & negotiate this traffic! Unbelievable.
Many thank, Jenny
Hi,
Unfortunately I missed the council meeting, but I strongly oppose the proposed changes to the bus system. I would appreciate it if you could provide any further information in relation to the questions below.
Your summary suggests that the 25 route will continue, yet it doesn’t appear on any of the maps on the ACTION web site. Will the service still exist?
From what I can see, the entire area of Weston has been effectively cut off from direct transport to Woden, forcing people to travel via Weston Creek – i.e. in the opposite direction. Do ACTION acknowledge that this is the case?
Weston is not unique in this regard. what position did the council take in discussions with ACTION about the reduction in access to direct services to Woden.
Was any information provided about current usage of the 25 and 83 routes in peak hours to justify their termination?
And finally, did ACTION at any time explain how the limited space in Weston Creek will meet the demands of a bus interchange – which it sadly isn’t.
Regards
Steven Linton