Released 22/09/2021
The ACT Government will introduce an interim weekday bus timetable from Wednesday 25 August in response to the evolving COVID-19 public health situation.
Minister for Transport and City Services Chris Steel said the interim timetable would mirror the standard summer holiday timetable, improving reliability by reducing the risk of dropped services.
The interim bus timetable will still provide a high level of frequency with all local services and the Rapid 10 running at least every 30 minutes, and all other Rapids running at least every 15 minutes until 8pm during the week.
Weekend services will remain the same and light rail will continue to run to its regular frequency at this time.
“At the moment we are seeing major impacts to the reliability of bus services because of the growing number of drivers required to comply with ACT Health directions,” said Minister Steel.
“As of this morning there are more than 80 bus drivers in quarantine. Many have been affected due to having children at local schools which have been identified as exposure sites.
“As a result of so many drivers in quarantine, we are enacting our business continuity plan by transitioning to a summer holiday timetable, effective Wednesday. This will ensure that public transport services remain frequent and reliable for those that need them.
“We remind Canberrans to only use public transport for essential reasons during this time, and if you have COVID-19 symptoms please do not travel on public transport.”
The interim timetable will still see 4199 services delivered daily during the week, 1753 services on Saturday and 1205 on Sundays. During the lockdown public transport patronage has reduced to approximately 10 per cent of 2019 levels.
The interim timetable will remain in place until further notice. Work is taking place between now and next Wednesday to update driver rosters and work with schools to understand the travel needs of students who are still attending class.
School services
Dedicated school bus services will not run while the interim timetable is in place. During the lockdown period patronage on dedicated school services has reduced to around 40 daily trips, down from thousands a day prior to the lockdown.
Essential workers whose children use a dedicated school bus service and are continuing to go to school should contact their school to advise of transport requirements.
Transport Canberra will work with ACT Education and Catholic and Independent schools to collate this information and organise tailored transport using the flexible bus fleet.
All children of essential workers who need public transport to get to school will continue to be accommodated during this time.
“Our public transport patronage figures show that Canberrans are clearly doing the right thing and staying home wherever possible, and we’d like to say a huge thank you to the community for that,” said Minister Steel.
“I’d also like to thank our bus drivers and the broader Transport Canberra workforce for their commitment to keeping essential transport services running through this challenging time.”
More information can be found at transport.act.gov.au or by calling 13 17 10.
- Statement ends -
Chris Steel, MLA | Media Releases