Source: Australasian Bus and Coach
A survey has shown more than 65 percent of Canberra residents want a rapid transit corridor between Gungahlin and Civic, according to government.
Environment and Sustainable Development Minister Simon Corbell says the survey, which sampled 1000 residents, shows about two thirds of the population want Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) or Light Rail Transit (LRT).
«While Light Rail Transit was chosen over Bus Rapid Transit by 68.5 percent of people surveyed before knowing the cost of each project, this figure fell to just under half (45.8 percent) with the preference for Bus Rapid Transit rising to about the same level (46.5 percent) once the likely costs were revealed,” Corbell says.
Corbell says the survey shows about 12.5 percent of respondents believe current public transport is acceptable.
Corbell says 32.3 percent of respondents cite environmental benefits as the main reason for prefering LRT, while 26.8 percent of people largely prefer BRT because of familiarity with bus transport.
Corbell says 14.9 percent of respondents believe BRT will be cheaper to build and maintain, 14.3 percent think it will be quicker to build and implement, and 10.3 percent believe it will be compatible with existing systems.
He says 9.7 percent also think buses could move around obstructions more easily, and 8.5 percent believe a BRT will be less intrusive.
«The survey also found that public transport improvements in the City to Gungahlin corridor were supported across the whole city – Inner South (60.6 percent), Woden-Weston (61.2 percent), Tuggeranong (61.9 percent), Inner North (65 percent), Gungahlin (70.0 percent), and Belconnen (70.3 percent),” Corbell says.
Corbell says more than 750 people attended information sessions about the project during the past three weekends at Dickson, Civic and Gungahlin and a further 560 people had completed an online survey.
Corbell says the survey was conducted by an independent consultant.
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