From ‘The Chronicle‘, 1 December 2009 (Page 7)
Author: MEREDITH CLISBY
The REDEX bus service trial has been deemed a success going into the third week of its operation.
The fast bus service, which will be trialled until 30 June 2010, operates every fifteen minutes between Gungahlin Marketplace and Canberra Railway Station via Mitchell, Northbourne Avenue, the City, Russell and Barton.
ACTION Business Manager Liz Clarke said they had not noticed a big difference in patronage between the free first week of the trial and the first week travellers had to pay.
“There were 7,319 passengers who used the service during the first week and 7,259 during the second. We’re getting new people on the bus – which is great.”
Ms Clarke said ACTION had been very surprised by the amount of positive feedback from the community. “It’s very unusual to get so much customer email telling us how fantastic the service is – we get good feedback from the drivers as well,” she said.
Ms Clarke added some people had not understood the limited stops on the service, but once it was explained it was a high frequency service, they were happy to use it.
She said during the first four weeks of operation the timetable for the service would only be approximate. This was so ACTION could take trip timings and determine an accurate timetable for use in the new year.
Ms Clarke said the willingness of Canberrans to use this service was a great indication of future public transport trends.
“It shows that people do want to be part of a rapid service,” she said. “We certainly encourage Canberrans to get on board.”
Ms Clarke said if this trial was deemed successful upon its completion it would be run in other areas.
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