Budget 2024-25

[Barry Drive]

ACT Budget was yesterday. Here's a quick look at some highlights. More details later.

• Public Transport fares to rise from 1 January 2025.

• Safety improvements at interchanges - includes CCTV upgrades, which interchanges is not stated. Completion by Jun 2025.

• On-bus CCTV replacement rescheduled for 2025-26. Completion Jun 2026.

• Radio upgrade program. No detail about what it entails. Completion Jun 2027.

• MyWay+ education campaign. $525,000 in 2024-25

• MyWay+ implementation still listed for completion Dec 2024.

• Woden Depot construction listed for completion Dec 2024.

• "Supporting the transition to a zero emissions bus fleet": $6m over two years ending Jun 2026. Presumably this relates to the installation of new chargers at Tuggeranong Depot.

[Barry Drive]

The Select Committee on Budget Estimates commenced public hearings yesterday. This year's committee comprises MLAs Lawder, Orr and Nuttall.

Minister for Transport is scheduled to appear on the final day, 3 August. Hearings are open to the public and also live streamed on the Assembly website.

[Barry Drive]

Budget Estimates hearing was yesterday. (It's available to view by video on demand only at this time - transcript is due next week.)

After much useless conversation about Light Rail, there was some useful detail.

• The work on the high voltage line to Woden Depot is mostly complete. But work "inside the fence" (presumably the chargers and other electrical infrastructure) is not yet ready. It sounds like they won't install the actual cables until there's something to connect it to. Woden Depot will open in 2025, but no one asked "what month".

• Tuggeranong Depot connection was not mentioned.

• While he doesn't believe it himself (so he says), Mark Parton receives many reports that Tuggeranong Depot uses a diesel generator to charge the electric buses. Despite asking in the Assembly previously, this time he asked Ben McHugh (TC) to confirm this wasn't the case.

• There were questions about the "56 zero emissions buses" target referred to in the budget papers. Questions about bus replacements and electrification will be addressed in the forthcoming Bus Strategy which will be published soon.

• Mark Parton was again fishing about CNG bus withdrawals. He asked how many buses were withdrawn during 2024/25, and also a bizarre question about "reliability rates" for the CNG buses: both Scania and MANs - without actually defining what that means.

• LR Stage 2A will commence around December 2024, but the raising London Circuit project should be complete by April 2025.

• The bus advertising contract with Go Transit has been on a month to month basis. The new contract has been finalised and should be made public soon.

• Jo Clay asked about MyWay+ and Seniors Cards in particular. Ben McHugh repeated the details already published on the TC website, but added that Seniors will be able to request a replacement MyWay+ card "free of charge".

Once the transcript is published, I'll add anything further of relevance.

[triumph]

.....

• While he doesn't believe it himself (so he says), Mark Parton receives many reports that Tuggeranong Depot uses a diesel generator to charge the electric buses. Despite asking in the Assembly previously, this time he asked Ben McHugh (TC) to confirm this wasn't the case.

....

Not surprised that one was tried again, but to what purpose ....! There are on-going claims in media article comments by various apparent climate change deniers and anti-EV folk that charging is done this way.
Goodness knows how that rumour started. The false claims, (especially when politically reinforced by asking questions in public with known answers) by these commenters are not going away any time soon.

Thanks are due to Barry Drive for the effort put in to bring us these interesting reports.