The Way Ahead

The Mees Principle

Similar service standards must exist across an entire city to create an integrated public transport network that mimics the ‘go anywhere, anytime’ convenience of the car.
As a corollary the hybrid mode of park-and-ride should not be a major platform of a future transit system.

ACTION is the Starting Point

The shortcomings of ACTION, an important operational system, have to be addressed. Any venture into a separate new transit system for Canberra is an irresponsible cop-out. If the proposal for a light rail network is based on a public-private partnership, why not ACTION? One of ACTION's shortcomings is that there is no integration with other existing public transport services and no effort to exploit this potential.

Besides Rapid Transit - Enabling Technology

The urban design of town centres and second level key centres dictates the topology of the rapid-transit network for Canberra. The challenges lies in adapting information technology to enable the feeder local services based on a range of transit vehicles.

The Long Term - Heavy Rail

A future heavy rail network, most likely in the form of a north-south and east-west cross with connections to the national rail network must underly all planning. The task of identifying right-of-way for heavy rail should be undertaken now. Parts of these corridors could be used for bus rapid transit in the medium term.