Presentation to the Woden Valley Community Council where I discuss the cost of light rail in Canberra and falling per capita public transport boardings and suggest electric buses as a means of improving transport outcomes while reducing CO2 emissions.

1. Transport Options for South
Canberra
Light rail vs. electric buses
Dr Michael de Percy FRSA FCILT MRSN

2. Story of the Tram
• Burley Griffin and the tram narrative
• Light rail as urban renewal
• Light rail as a superior green technology
• High-density living and housing choice
• Perverse outcomes – Yass, Palmerston
• Infrastructure debt $8bn to $16bn in ‘26
• $1-2m interest expense per day

4. Why were buses better before?
• Investment in frequency/service model
• Rapid transfers approx. 4 minutes per transfer
• Disproved assumption that people did not like
transfers – no impact if they were fast and reliable
• Moved to a welfare model in the 1990s
• Tram has increased bus travel times in many areas

5. Transport CBR in June 2022:
• Bus journeys 9,830,134
• Tram journeys 2,403,625
• Subsidy per journey = $6.08, in 2023 $ = $6.51
• Total journeys = 12,233,759
• Therefore, total subsidy = $74,381,255
• But total expenses for Transport CBR = $261,900,000
• Subsidy in 2018 (pre-tram) in 2023 $ = $9.38
• So where did the other $187,518,745 go?
• New reporting measures = % of overall cost, opaque actual cost

6. Electric Buses

7. Electric Bus Option
•Adopt a service/frequency model
• Adopt electric buses to reduce emissions
• Option to use Australian-made electric buses
• Potential to develop skills/service/assembly/manufacture in ACT
• Integrate the welfare model into the frequency model
• Redirect investment to frequent suburban routes
• Integrate transfers to BRT, move from timetables to frequency

8. Questions?
Thank you
Conclusion:
All roads don’t
lead to Civic