Reader LEON ARUNDELL, of Downer, is grumpy that stage one of light rail failed to reduce the proportion of Canberra commuters who drive cars.

TRANSIT lanes and bus rapid transit encourage car drivers to become public-transport passengers.

We can convert an existing traffic lane to a T3 or T2 transit lane for the cost of a few road signs. 

The government estimated that stage one of bus rapid transit would cost $249 million, and would deliver $492 million worth of benefits, for a benefit-to-cost ratio of two. It estimates that stage two of light rail would cost at least $1.5 billion, with a benefit-to-cost ratio of only 0.6.

Population growth is the biggest cause of increases in Canberra’s transport emissions and traffic congestion. The second biggest cause is car passengers becoming car drivers.

Transit lanes encourage car drivers to become car passengers. Neither bus rapid transit nor light rail do that.

Stage one of light rail failed to reduce the proportion of Canberra commuters who drive cars.

The proportion of Canberra commuters who travelled as car passengers fell from 9 per cent in 2011 to 7.3 per cent in 2016, and to 6.7 per cent in 2021. The proportion who drove cars increased from 73 per cent in 2011 to 74 per cent in 2016, and to 75 per cent in 2021.

Stage one of light rail also failed to reduce Canberra’s transport emissions – 2017-18 was the last complete financial year of all-bus local public transport and the ACT caused 1.06 million tonnes CO2-e of transport emissions. That was 2.5 tonnes per capita.

In the first complete financial year of bus and light rail (2019-20), transport emissions increased to 1.15 million tonnes. That was 2.7 tonnes per capita.

The government plans to transition to a fully electric bus fleet by 2040.

We can bring forward that transition, and build bus rapid transit between Civic and Woden, for less than the cost of stage two of light rail.

I recently asked why the ACT Greens do not advocate for bus rapid transit.

Greens MLA Jo Clay told me that the Greens were promoting transit lanes and bus rapid transit. I can’t find evidence to support that claim.

Leon Arundell was a Conservation Council board member between 2010 and 2016 and currently a member of the Conservation Council’s Transport Working Group.