FW: Sat.21.7.18 daily digest
  Roderick Smith

-----Original Message-----
From: Roderick Smith [mailto:rodsmith@werple.net.au]
Sent: Sunday, 22 July 2018 11:02 AM
To: 'transportdownunder@yahoogroups.com'
Subject: Sat.21.7.18 daily digest

The airport railway plan was announced at 23.50. It will appear in the
Sun.22.7 digest.

Attached:

180721Sa Melbourne 'Herald Sun':
- letters, Metro.
- energy, PNG gas. with tdu.
- electricity costs. with tdu.

180721Sa 'Canberra Times' - bus stop.

Roderick.

Sat.21.7.18 Metro Twitter
Pakenham/Cranbourne lines: During work, trains will not run between Flinders
Street and Caulfield.
To City From 9.48am to 5.58pm, change at Caulfield Station to the Frankston
line.
From City From 10.50am to 6.48pm, take a Frankston line train and change at
Caulfield Station. Change at Caulfield for connecting services.
16.24 Richmond Station: All entrances are open for AFL return traffic.
- 16.37 Current waiting times leading in to the station are 2-3 minutes.
- 16.49 Minimal crowding at all entrances.

What will Canberra's new bus network mean for students? 20 July 2018. 7
comments.
10000 school students travel by bus every weekday.
42% of students use dedicated school buses.
58% of students use the public network.
55% of the ACT population will be within walking distance of a bus stop
under the new plan.
47 dedicated school bus routes will remain out of the current 109 running.
Fifty-nine schools, including 49 primary schools, will lose all their
dedicated bus services under the ACT government's overhaul of public
transport, The Canberra Times can confirm.
Amid safety concerns from parent and school groups, Transport Canberra and
City Services has provided Fairfax Media with a detailed look into its new
school transport plan that will see more kids catching public buses as
mainstream services expand to about 30 per cent more schools.
There will be less school stops but more buses travelling past schools in
the ACT's new bus network. Photo: Jamila Toderas.
The government says it's part of a vision for a faster, more efficient
network with more frequent runs but fewer stops, meaning students won't be
left stranded at school stops if they miss a bus or stay back late and buses
won't be taken out of the public network to carry only small numbers of
students.
As enrolments continue to climb in the ACT, the spokesman said it was
critical Transport Canberra looked at school travel now to ensure it could
meet demand into the future.
"It's simply not efficient or a good use of our road network to operate more
and more buses - that will just clog up the system," he said.
"We need to be smarter about how we use our resources to meet the public
transport needs of our growing city."
But, while the new model will increase the number of school trips running in
total when it launches in January, it will also more than halve the current
number of dedicated school routes, from 109 to 47.
As a result, some suburbs will lose their services altogether, leaving
students to walk further or change buses more often to get to class.
Related Article 'It's just gone': Parents sound alarm over Canberra school
bus cuts.
About 51 public routes will make diversions or 'S-trips' to schools during
morning and afternoon peak times, while hub-and-spoke services will ferry
students directly from interchanges to schools where demand is high.
School and parent associations in both the public and independent sector say
S-trips are no substitute for the "peace of mind" of a dedicated school
service that starts and ends at the school gate.
Right now, about 13 per cent of ACT school students take the bus to and from
school, with most travelling by car. Of those catching a bus, about 42 per
cent use a dedicated school service and most are high school or college
students.
But transport spokeswoman for the Canberra Liberals Candice Burch said she
had long heard calls from the community for more dedicated school buses, not
less.
"Many parents have said they will have no choice but to drive their children
to school because there is no safe alternative," Ms Burch said.
"These cuts are not fair."
Jennifer Hartcher only recently taught her nine-year-old daughter how to
catch a dedicated bus home from her primary school so she could return to
work full-time.
But, with the service axed under the new network, Ms Hartcher said she would
now have to consider cutting back her hours again so she could pick Emily up
every afternoon.
"She'd have to walk up a hill and out of sight of the school to get a bus in
the afternoon, then change at an interchange, I can't let her do that by
herself every day, she's too young."
Related Article New public transport network 'discourages' current users.
A spokesman said Transport Canberra was taking on board a record influx of
community feedback regarding the new network, including ideas about where it
could make improvements for schools such as moving bus stops, adding
pedestrian crossings or installing new school gates.
Two dedicated safety officers would be at every major interchange during
peak school times in the morning and afternoon, and the government was still
considering if officers might also be deployed at other transport hubs such
as Erindale and Kippax shopping centres.
A spokesman for the ACT education directorate advised parents to plan ahead
for the changes and to give feedback to Transport Canberra on the proposed
network.
Related Article No deal yet with bus drivers but weekend services to ramp up
in Canberra.
"Prior to the release of the new network, [we] provided advice to [Transport
Canberra] that any planned change to the dedicated school bus service and
the bus networks needed to ensure that students will still be able to easily
and safely use public transport," the spokesman said.
Plans to ramp up evening and weekend services on the public network have
been largely welcomed, including among youth groups.
But a spokesman for the ANU student association said some students had
raised concerns that the current bus, which travels through the university's
Acton campus, had also been cut in the changes.
"We've had students with mobility issues reach out and say 'hey this is
going to really affect me' or people concerned about getting around campus
at night now without that bus," he said.
"It's a big campus and it's tricky to get around at the best of times."
Total bus coverage across the ACT will slightly reduce under the new network
but remain in excess of its target of 95 per cent, with about 1000 more
trips in total running during a typical week day.
Schools which will be serviced only by public buses or light rail from 2019:
Amaroo School, Arawang Primary, Bonython Primary, Burgmann Anglican School
Forde Campus, Burgmann Anglican School Valley Campus, Calwell High, Calwell
Primary, Canberra Grammar School - Northside early childhood campus,
Caroline Chisholm School, Chapman Primary, Charles Conder Primary, Covenant
Christian School, Curtin Primary, Dickson College, Duffy Primary, Evatt
Primary, Florey Primary, Garran Primary, Good Shepherd Primary, Gordon
Primary, Harrison School, Hawker Primary, Holy Trinity Primary, Kaleen
Primary, Kingsford Smith School, Lanyon High, Latham Primary, Lyneham High,
Macquarie Primary, Majura Primary, Monash Primary, Mother Teresa School,
Namadgi School, Narrabundah College, Narrabundah Early Childhood School,
Neville Bonner Primary School, Ngunnawal Primary, Palmerston District
Primary, Red Hill Primary, Rosary Primary, Sacred Heart Primary, St Bede's
Primary, St Benedict's Primary, St Clare of Assisi Primary, St Francis of
Assisi Primary, St John Vianney's Primary, St Joseph's Primary, St Matthew's
Primary, St Michael's Primary, St Thomas Aquinas Primary, St Vincent's
Primary, Sts Peter & Paul Primary, Theodore Primary, Torrens Primary, Turner
School, University of Canberra High School, Kaleen, Wanniassa Primary and
Weetangera Primary.
Find more information about school buses or give feedback on the new bus
network until August 12: yoursay.act.gov.au/rapid-bus-network
<www.canberratimes.com.au/national/act/what-will-canberra-s-new-bus-network-
mean-for-students-20180720-p4zsl0.html>

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