The Public Transport Association of Canberra (PTCBR) has responded to the ACT Government’s announcement of a new temporary bus network for 2026, acknowledging the difficult reality facing public transport users due to the Commonwealth Avenue Bridge renewal works.
With the National Capital Authority’s project set to halve lane capacity on a critical arterial link, PTCBR Chair Dr Amy Jelacic said that it’s positive to see the ACT Government deliver a realistic new network that retains as much service and coverage as possible.
“The reality is that losing half the lanes on Commonwealth Avenue Bridge is going to cause significant disruption to our bus network whether we like it or not,” Dr Jelacic said.
“While it’s painful to see frequency reductions, we accept that Transport Canberra has to design a network that it can reliably deliver in heavily congested conditions. We want bus passengers to be able to trust that their bus will show up when it’s supposed to.”
Dr Jelacic welcomed the move to service the R4 route with high-capacity buses, such as articulated and Steer-tag vehicles, to maintain passenger capacity.
“Running higher capacity buses on our busiest routes just makes sense, regardless of the bridge works. We want to see high-capacity vehicles remain a permanent fixture on Canberra’s rapid bus routes once the disruption has ended,” she said.
PTCBR stressed the importance of ensuring these cuts remain temporary, and that future revisions to the timetable are undertaken once further information about the real-world effects of the bridge closures becomes available.
“It is vital that the Government sticks to its commitment to revise the network based on actual travel time data. If there is capacity to improve frequencies sooner, they must do so,” Dr Jelacic said.
“This is a two-year construction project, and we will be watching closely to ensure that temporary cuts do not become the new normal.”
Dr Jelacic added, “This disruption only reinforces the need to deliver light rail to Woden as soon as possible. Commonwealth Avenue is a key arterial route and major potential point of failure in our road network – if something goes wrong there, it profoundly impacts the rest of the city. Having a mode of transport travelling on its own tracks on that route will relieve that pressure and deliver a reliable mode of transport to the southside, regardless of what’s happening on the road.”
Amy Jelacic is the Chair of the Public Transport Association of Canberra, a public transport users group committed to improving public transport in the ACT and surrounding region