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Canberra Today 15°/17° | Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

The tram that ate Canberra

MEEGAN Fitzharris says Transport Canberra will join with Territory and Municipal Services (TAMS) to form a new ACT government directorate from 1 July 2016, seizing the opportunity to combine ACTION buses, light rail and active travel, with Canberra’s vital local services.

emma thomas
Emma Thomas

The new directorate will be called Transport Canberra and City Services and will be headed by Capital Metro’s Emma Thomas.

“Transport and our city’s local services are crucial to Canberra’s future growth, and this new directorate will have a strong focus on ensuring Canberra remains the world’s most liveable city,” Meegan said.

“As Canberra approaches a population of 500,000 our city needs an integrated transport network and city services that are people-focused and innovative.

“There are many synergies between TAMS and Transport Canberra, and by aligning light rail, ACTION buses and active travel with roads, community paths, traffic management and other municipal services we can create a directorate that is even more focused on the infrastructure needs of our growing city.

“Transport Canberra and City Services will build on the outstanding services that TAMS consistently delivers, and it will ensure the new Transport Canberra agency is at the heart of Canberra’s essential services.

“The new directorate will focus on the customer experience, and deliver high quality local and transport services with a focus on business improvement. It will be led by Emma Thomas, previously announced as the Director-General of Transport Canberra.

“The customer and community service focus of Transport Canberra aligns well with the day to day service delivery in TAMS. It made sense to bring the two together for the benefit of the Canberra community and I’m pleased Emma Thomas will lead the new Transport Canberra and City Services directorate from 1 July.

“The directorate will continue to manage and deliver Canberra’s vital local services, including our libraries, recycling and waste services, road management, graffiti removal, shop upgrades, playgrounds, animal welfare and grass mowing services, but the ACT Parks and Conservation Service will move to the Environment and Planning Directorate from 1 July as part of the plan to create one conservation agency.

“TAMS consistently scores well when it comes to community satisfaction, with an overall satisfaction rating of 90 per cent seeing us ranked higher than 87 per cent of benchmarked governments around Australia last year. Our TAMS staff are renowned and respected for their day to day interaction with the Canberra community, and really do keep Canberra running.

“I’m looking forward to a new directorate on 1 July that is clearly focused on customer service and innovation across our city, a city that is like no other that is nestled in a bush, beautiful, liveable, and easy to move around.

“Last month Gary Byles announced his retirement as the Director-General of TAMS, to take effect on 29 April. A decision about who will be Acting Director?General of TAMS between 29 April and 1 July will be made in coming weeks.”

But who is Emma Thomas?

In February Meegan had this to say about her:

Prior to moving to Canberra, Ms Thomas was the State Rail Commissioner for South Australia and Deputy Chief Executive of Public Transport. Her previous experience also includes Vice President roles at Boeing, senior roles in Transport and Main Roads, Queensland and she started her career as an engineer serving in the Royal Australian Air Force

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Thank you,

Ian Meikle, editor

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