Fw: Sun.30.10.22 daily digest archive part 2
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Roderick Smith
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16.8.17 Melbourne named world’s most liveable city for a record seven years in a row. JOHN MASANAUSKAS August 16, 2017
MELBOURNE has retained its standing as the world’s most liveable city. See why Sydney didn’t even make the top 10 and how Victoria’s capital kept the title for a record seventh year.
MELBOURNE has been named world’s most liveable city for a record seventh year in a row.
It’s the first time a city has held the title in its own right over that number of wins, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global Liveability Report 2017.
Melbourne scored an overall rating of 97.5 out of 100 on the liveability index this year, narrowly pipping the Austrian capital Vienna at the post.
In a repeat of last year’s result, the Canadian cities of Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary took the next positions, with Adelaide in a tie with Calgary for fifth place.
The only other Australian city in the top 10 was Perth in seventh place, while Sydney came in at 11, “reflecting growing concerns over possible terror attacks”.
Melbourne scored a perfect 100 in healthcare, education and infrastructure.
It scored 95.1 for culture and environment and 95 for stability.
The scores were identical to last year’s liveability index results.
The report said that although the top five cities remain unchanged, “the past few years have seen increasing instability across the world, causing volatility in the scores of many cities”.
“In Europe, cities have been affected by the spreading perceived threat of terrorism in the region,” it said.
“Sydney in Australia is another city that has seen a decline in its ranking, reflecting growing concerns over possible terror attacks in the past three years.”
Lord Mayor Robert Doyle hailed Melbourne’s dominance by surpassing Vancouver’s previous record of six wins on the trot in its own right.
“The world record is an amazing feat that all Melburnians should be extremely proud of today,” he said.
“The EIU measures factors that make cities great places to live and again we achieved outstanding results in the areas of stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.”
Cr Doyle said every city in the world had problems but the issue was whether you paid attention to them.
“That doesn’t mean we are a perfect city by any means ... I would hope that a city like ours would keep a focus on those who are most vulnerable, those who are worried about housing affordability, young people trying to get into education or a job, those who are vulnerable and homeless,” he said.
Speaking after the announcement was made official this morning, Cr Doyle said it was a remarkable achievement.
“I want to thank the people of Melbourne, the institutions of Melbourne, it’s an act where we all come together,” he said.
“We will use that as part of our branding — never underestimate the importance of marketing that, particularly into our Asian market, into Asia and how important it is.”
Transport Minister Jacinta Allen said Melburnians would never tire of having their city honoured this way so many times.
“We won’t get sick of this because it recognises all those great attributes that we already know,” she said.
“Those of us who live and work in and around Melbourne really know that Melbourne’s a wonderful place to live and work.”
“We’re home to the strongest population growth, we’re home to the strongest job growth of any state in the nation.
“We have to work really, really hard to keep this position and to keep this momentum going and that’s why you’re seeing us invest in those big infrastructure projects like the Metro tunnel, getting rid of dangerous and congested level crossings, building the Westgate Tunnel.”
Premier Daniel Andrews dubbed it a win for all Victorians, “who contribute so much to making Melbourne the best place to live in the world”.
“We’ll continue working hard every day to make Melbourne even better, and create a fairer, safer and stronger state for all Victorians,” he said.
Opposition Leader Matthew Guy said Melbourne was one of the world’s great cities.
“But we now also have some of the world’s most expensive electricity, crippling traffic congestion, a surge in violent crime rates and an out of control population growth, which puts our liveability at risk,” he said.
Committee for Melbourne CEO Martine Letts said the award was great news for the city, but Melbourne’s appeal as an international city was under threat “from the profound forces of innovation and disruption brought about by the fourth industrial revolution”.
“Liveability is a key component our city’s ability to attract and retain top global and local talent,” she said.
“We need to be bold, ambitious and clear in our vision for Melbourne’s progress if we are to make the most of our advantages.”
video: Melbourne and Surrounds Discover Melbourne and its wonderful surrounds. Melbourne has been named the Most Liveable City...
RMIT planning expert Professor Michael Buxton said the EIU’s liveability index was aimed at global professionals who lived in the best part of town.
“The ranking that comes up is not really saying anything about life for the vast majority of people in Melbourne, who are facing housing affordability and congestion issues” he said.
Prof Buxton said that Melbourne’s huge population growth was putting strain on infrastructure and services, but state governments had failed to keep up with demand.
“Turning Melbourne into a high rise city dependent on cars and wrecking our heritage is a really big issue that government wants to ignore,” he said.
The Lord Mayor said there will always be “naysayers and whingers, and of course we are not perfect”.
“No great world city is, but we should be very proud of the work we all do together to make Melbourne the best city in the world,” he said.
The report said the world’s least liveable cities were the Syrian capital Damascus, Lagos in Nigeria, Tripoli in Libya and the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka.
Under the liveability index each city is assigned a rating of relative comfort across 30 factors involving stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.
video: A day In Melbourne Experience a day in Melbourne. Melbourne has been named the Most Liveable City in the World for a record seventh year in a row!...
Balloon passengers get a stunning view of Melbourne’s beautiful skyline. Picture: Eugene Hyland
The best and worst cities to live in the world, according to The Economist.
Sunrise at Port Melbourne. Picture: Nicole Garmston
The win was the seventh for Melbourne, a record. Picture: Nicole Garmston
7.07am, Collins St. Picture: Nicole Garmston
Melburnians on their way to work in the city. Picture. Nicole Garmston
Every city was assigned a rating of relative comfort across 30 factors involving stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure. Picture: Jake Nowakowski
Vienna came in second on the list. Picture: Istock
Canadian city Vancouver was third. Picture: istock
Most liveable:
Melbourne: 97.5
Wien: 97.4
Vancouver: 97.3
Toronto: 97.2
Calgary: 96.6
Adelaide: 96.6
Perth: 95.9
Auckland: 95.7
Helsinki: 95.6
Hamburg: 95
Least liveable:
Damascus: 30.2
Lagos: 36
Tripoli: 36.6
Dhaka: 38.7
Port Moresby: 39.6
Algiers: 40.9
Karachi: 40.9
Harare: 42.6
Doual: 44
Kiev: 47.8
30.10.17 MELBOURNE, THE CONGESTION CITY. John Masanauskas and Jack Price October 30, 2017
Melbourne ranks poorly on transport efficiency amid call for congestion tax
MELBOURNE’S livability crown is slipping — the city has performed badly in a global survey, falling behind Brisbane, Sydney and Canberra.
MELBOURNE has ranked poorly on its transport efficiency in a global survey of cities.
The city’s car-dependent culture has been blamed for the lacklustre showing amid a call for an inner city congestion tax on vehicles to be considered.
Separate census data reveal that car use is rising in the outer suburbs while the share of people riding bikes to work in inner areas has barely increased over the last five years.
Melbourne was ranked number 55 out of 100 urban centres surveyed for the Arcadis Sustainable Cities Mobility Index 2017 to be released today (MOND).
Hong Kong was rated number one, followed by Zurich, Paris, Seoul, Prague, Vienna and London, said the index compiled by global design consultancy Arcadis.
Brisbane, Sydney and Canberra performed better than Melbourne, despite the city boasting one of the world’s biggest tram systems and winning the Economist Intelligence Unit’s world’s most liveable city title for seven years in a row.
Melbourne was pipped at the post by Toronto and was also outperformed by Brazil’s Sao Paulo and Chinese cities Chengdu and Guangzhou.
The Arcadis report said that Melbourne’s rapid population growth was affecting its mobility but the Metro Tunnel project would help free up the train network.
Arcadis city executive Melbourne Pru Sanderson said that the city was still paying for decades of urban sprawl driven by car use.
“Low density urban form makes it very hard for governments to have an economically viable public transport system to serve such a low density city,” she said.
Ms Sanderson, a former CEO of state development agency VicUrban, said that policies like Plan Melbourne were addressing the density issue but the problem would take decades to turn around.
“We need to get smart buses better on the agenda, we need to get better bicycle routes better on the agenda and safer pedestrian routes in certain neighbourhoods too,” she said.
Ms Sanderson said that a car congestion tax for the inner city should be considered, but only as part of a suite of congestion-busting measures.
A Herald Sun analysis of 2016 census data on how people get to work has revealed that car use is rising in the outer suburbs.
In City of Casey, which includes Narre Warren, Berwick and Cranbourne, 79.2% of workers went to work by car in 2016, up from 76.5% in 2011, while the corresponding figures for City of Frankston were 71.9% and 69.2%.
Frankston South resident Rob Liebelt, project manager for a glass and aluminium firm, said he had to travel all over Melbourne for his job and the car was his only option.
“Unless I caught a train to the city and used Uber everywhere, but that would just be ridiculous,” he said.
Mr Liebelt said he was frustrated by congestion on freeways, especially the Monash.
In 2016, 8.6 per cent of workers in the Yarra Council area, which includes Collingwood and Fitzroy, rode bikes to their jobs, up from 8.5 per cent in 2011.
The share of Stonnington workers who took trains increased from 13.7 per cent to 16.6 per cent over the five-year period, while 18 per cent of City of Melbourne workers took the tram last year, up from 14 per cent in 2011.
Meanwhile, Victorian Transport Association CEO Peter Anderson will tell a conference today (MOND) that the state government should prioritise the safe and seamless movement of trucks when considering route options for the proposed North East Link project.
Punt Road traffic jam. Picture: Sarah Matray
Frankston South resident Rob Liebelt is forced to drive to work on a daily basis. Picture: Jake Nowakowski
Montague St no longer most-hit bridge in Melbourne. Ian Royall January 28, 2022. 23 Comments. [four photos, all repeats]
Forget the Montague St bridge in South Melbourne, the city has a new overhead blackspot claiming the highest number of trucks crashes.
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Melbourne has a new location for the unenviable record of most bridge strikes, new four-year data reveals.
The railway bridge over Napier St in Footscray has been struck 37 times by heavy vehicles since 2018, including eight times last year.
The Newmarket bridge over Racecourse Rd meanwhile has been struck 24 times in four years, nine of those last year, and already another three in the first three weeks of 2022.
Remarkably, the notorious Montague St bridge in South Melbourne was only hit once in 2021.
Montague St has the lowest clearance in Melbourne of just 3m for the light rail structure and has signs and an electronic warning system to alert drivers.
The rail bridge over Merri Parade in Northcote has 3.3m of room for motorists to drive under. Trucks crashed into the bridge five times last year.
The department of transport says the economic cost could be as high as $100,00 for each bridge strike because of delays, traffic jams and repair costs.
Gantries built in front of the bridges absorb most of the impact from trucks and semi-trailers, and also prevent more serious structural damage.
Incidents on Racecourse Rd often involve overhead tram wires being brought down as well, further disrupting the public transport network.
A department spokeswoman said a moment’s inattention affected thousands of people.
“For every 45-minute delay caused by a bridge strike our economy loses about $100,000.”“Too often, drivers being unaware of their height limit results in a collision.’’
The fine for failing to obey a low clearance or clearance sign is just $806, as well as a bill for any damages.
VicRoads has a map of bridge height clearances for drivers to check locations all around the state.
Victorian Transport Association chief executive Peter Anderson blamed the high number of bridge strikes in inner Melbourne on poor driver training, bad signage and the lack of alternative routes.
“We simply don’t train our drivers and don’t train people properly to work in our industry,’’ he said.
Mr Anderson said just five hours of training, including 45 minutes behind the wheel, to gain a truck licence was insufficient and dangerous.
Many drivers were also caught out by higher volume containers which were taller than standard ones, he said.
After a peak of 65 strikes in 2019, the number of incidents across Melbourne fell during the pandemic when roads were quieter.
Transport department data also revealed that the number of small trucks and vans on the road had risen by nearly 12 per cent since 2018.
Trucks often get stuck under the bridge on Napier St, Footscray.
The rail bridge over Napier St in Footscray has been hit 37 times since 2018.
Bridge damage at the Newmarket rail bridge often also involve tram wire damage.
* Napier St was cheapskated when the level crossing was removed in the late 1950s: the rail was raised a little; the road was lowered a little. That matched truck heights of the era. When the road authority raised truck heights, it did so on the cheap, by not raising bridges to match. Fixing the clearances is straightforward engineering, but today's engineers can't cope without closing both modes for months. The projects don't provide photo opportunities for politicians, and so don't get funded.
I'd love to see the stat's on commercial vehicles vs non (eg budget rental trucks)
Next time it's on the news check out the actual truck...
I call the one in Montague Street Gina...as it's a Low-la Bridge-ida.
More stringent truck driver testing is need. No more ‘we teach you we test you’ driving schools.Testing is should only be done by VicRoads.
While all truck drivers should be careful driving under the bridges, the state governments have the mentality “out of sight - out of mind” and prefer to just ignore the problem and fine the drivers instead. Yes there is infrastructure under the roads and above the bridges but surely maintenance/repairs/fixes should be budgeted for over the years.
I love these councils that spend millions on making all minority groups inclusive but can’t address the simple issue of a bridge/overpass being too low. We spend millions on making multiple railroads go over or under roads but can’t address known problem areas for tens of years!
Truck drivers should know the height of their trucks. Numeracy skills should be mandatory.
Napier St has been a problem for many years but in recent years even more so ........
I'm guessing if you interviewed the offending drivers you would find the vast majority have NOT held a truck licence for very long and also not been living in this country all that long either
Maybe these bridge crossings should be upgraded to level crossings. There must be plenty of spare boom gates lying around.
This type of story has to be the road most travelled, miscalculations will always be a part of life.Perhaps,people need to build a bridge and get over it...
Hitting a bridge with any over height vehicle should be an instant, an permanent loss of licence.
If these buffoons, posing as licensed drivers don’t know the dimensions of THEIR vehicle they should never be allowed on our roads, period.
Make it an $8,000 dollar fine, instead of $800 !
You can't change the height of the bridge but surely they could dig the road out underneath and resurface - dig out 50 cm on each of these roads and that would make a big difference and if necessary have a warning about steepness or use low gear etc
After all this time why has the government not had the issue fixed. They spend money on various stupid things and leave these old bridges alone that are on busy roads. No issue found in giving public servants generous pay rises or employing more public servants.
I don’t see Dan behind the wheel. Everyone quick to blame the government state and federal for everything. How about massive fines for stupidity. You get behind the wheel of a 40 tonne truck you should know how high it is. Massive fines and loss of license for hitting a bridge.
up to the drivers to take the right route
You will probably find they have looked at options to address it but any elimination option is likely too expensive for the benefits. Particularly at Napier St with its location
It's the infrastructure under the road that sometimes makes it impossible to lower the road their are numerous pipes under all roads that sometimes can't be moved. Drivers need to take more care while driving
The blame is not the bridge but the truck drivers who ignore the warnings.
If you don't know the height of your truck or bus/commercial vehicle then you shouldn't have a licence.
Melbourne's roads are a joke.
Not the roads. The idiots “driving” on them.
“5 hours training with 45 behind the wheel” you forget the 457 visa. A common saying in the industry is “everyone was too worried about the cowboys to see the Indians coming”
Chris Steel defends federal government's light rail investment after opposition casts doubt on timing Lucy Bladen 26.10.22 (updated 6.10.23)
An artist's impression of light rail after London Circuit is raised following a period of signifcant disruption in the city. Picture supplied
Discussions between the federal and ACT government around the timing and delivery of light rail are ongoing, as the $85 million set aside for the project in the federal budget will not be fully handed over until 2030.
The ACT's opposition has cast doubt on the timing of the light rail extension from Alinga Street to Commonwealth Park following the budget announcement.
The ACT's Transport Minister has dismissed suggestions it would not be finished for another eight years, saying the money reflected the financial completion of the project not the completion of construction.
But the ACT government has not said when the project is expected to be completed citing the procurement process currently underway for the project.
The federal government's latest investment for the extension, dubbed stage 2a, will be delivered over a six-year period starting in 2024-25.
Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee said she was concerned about the timeline for the funding and questioned whether this meant the project would not be finished until 2030.
"The funding that's been announced for light rail stage 2a we see no detail.
We know that there's going to be about $85 million and we know the start will be $15 million from the 2024-25 financial year and it will be spread across six years," she said.
"There are so many questions about the timing of this funding announcement, including whether it is going to be 2030 by the time we'll see the completion of stage 2a."
ACT Transport Minister Chris Steel rejected this and accused the opposition of being against light rail.
"The Canberra Liberals don't support light rail.
They never have and they never will.
This is just another failed attempt to jeopardise the project," he said.
"The funding profile reflects the financial completion of the project not the completion of construction.
"The timing of stage 2A operations will be determined through the procurement process underway."
The ACT and federal government are having ongoing discussions about the roll out of the funding.
Initial works have already started on the raising of London Circuit, which needs to be completed before construction of the light rail can begin.
The new funding is on top of the $132 million which had been allocated under the former Coalition government, taking the Commonwealth's contribution to $218 million.
Once the extension to Commonwealth Park is completed, work will begin to extend the light rail across Commonwealth Avenue bridge and into Woden.
There was no money allocated to this in the federal budget.
Tuggeranong Parkway, Kings Highway projects axed, but officials deny link to light rail budget funds. Dan Jervis-Bardy & Harley Dennett October 28 2022
...Officials denied swap was made to prioritise Labor projects, insisting the cuts were about moderating the construction market.
Three projects lost their funding in this week's budget, and the savings of $85.9 million is precisely the amount allocated for stage 2A of the ACT light rail project, extending the line to Commonwealth Park.
The ACT was consulted on the changes, and a spokesman for the Barr government said it had volunteered the project funding for "reallocating" to the light rail extension.
...A spokesman for the ACT government said the Commonwealth checked to ensure the delivery of jointly funded infrastructure projects was "realistic, achievable and sustainable" in the current construction market.
"There was a particular focus on projects that were likely the result of pork-barrelling efforts from the previous government," the spokesman said.
"As a result of issues identified with certain projects, the ACT government was willing to work with the Commonwealth on the reallocation of infrastructure funding for the ACT."
But federal officials denied any projects were cut in a "one-for-one" swap to prioritise Labor's preferred projects at the expense of those announced by the previous government.
Infrastructure department deputy secretary David Hallinan revealed the list of projects cut in the ACT under questioning from Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie, but insisted the changes were about moderating the construction market.
He rejected the senator's suggestion the government had made cuts to instead fund different projects.
"I wouldn't describe the budget working that way.
We would have a list of reductions or deferrals and list of spends and we tend not to link one to the other across the portfolio or across government," he responded.
"We consolidate it all at the end, we don't tend to identify a one-for-one change in project priorities."
The Commonwealth wrote to states and territories in the lead up to the budget to identify projects that could deferred or were no longer a priority from which the final lists were derived, Mr Hallinan said.
Senator Gallagher said that "constructive" approach with state and territory governments was an improvement over how projects were announced by former Liberal ACT senator Zed Seselja, who "splashed around public money" on political priority projects.
"It was clear that the infrastructure projects that were announced by former senator Seselja had little evidence to show that they stacked up, nor had he bothered to check whether they were priorities of the government that would need to deliver them," she said.
"We consulted with the ACT government which made clear that the priority project for the ACT was stage 2A of the light rail project and that is why we have redirected funding in this budget."
She said Canberrans expected the "best bang for buck" for their taxpayer money, which is what they would get from the Albanese government.
Canberra Liberals leader Elizabeth Lee said the revelations highlighted the ACT government negotiated to cut funding from important road upgrades and diverted the money to light rail.
"Once again, we see money being ripped out of other important areas in the ACT to pay for the tram and we still don't know how much the project will cost Canberra taxpayers and when it will arrive at Commonwealth Park, yet alone Woden," she said.
"We have now seen millions and millions of taxpayer dollars pulled out of our health system, public housing and important road upgrades to pay for the tram."
She said the ACT Transport Minister Chris Steel needed to be upfront with Canberrans about the costs of the stage 2A light rail extension and when the line will reach Woden.
Infrastructure officials said they were not aware of any funding requests for stage 2B or beyond.
The three projects axed were road upgrades...
28.10.22 www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7960160/canberra-road-projects-axed-to-pay-for-tram-extension
* Ms Gallagher must be living in la la land if she believes that her light rail support is not political and delivers "bang for your buck". The support for the project in the context of many unmet needs reduces the credibility of the Albanese government
* Sounds like a sensible move. The more you invest in public transport, the less you need to waste building and maintaining roads that are mostly clogged up with single occupant cars.
* You have the theory right and I would normally agree with you. But the problem is the ACT Government did invest more in public transport for the 2019 network redesign, they removed 700 odd bus stops across the city, switched to Rapid bus lines and it actually made the bus network worse for Tuggeranong residents. Tuggeranong, Woden and Belconnen bus use dropped 5% before Covid hit and then bus use dropped even more.
* Agree - streamlining of services works against greater utility. The streamlining is done no doubt to make the transport networks easier to maintain and run.
* Absolutely - if we have to pick between road funding and PT funding, I pick PT funding almost every time. That said - it's very frustrating that even with an ACT senator as our Finance Minister and our other senator as a crucial crossbencher, we're not getting our fair share of total infrastructure funding.
* Without reaching any conclusions on the merits of any particular road projects, it's entirely appropriate that less funding go to roads and more to other forms of transport. Endless tarmac and pollution just isn't tenable any more.
* Maybe, but the tram is a poor use of funds. Using the funds to improve the bus system would be more appropriate
Canberra community responds to axed Tuggeranong Parkway, Pialligo Avenue and Boboyan Road upgrades. Hannah Neale October 29 2022
Labor's decision to scrap three federally supported road projects in the ACT has been labelled "disappointing" and "disgraceful" by community members.
The $85.9 million in savings exactly adds up to the amount allocated for stage 2A of the light rail project, extending the line to Commonwealth Park.
..."Some people are trying to say the light rail in the long run will benefit all if it comes all the way through.
..."There is nothing wrong with the federal government committing funding to the light rail, but the reality is that Canberra is rapidly expanding and we also need more transport infrastructure and cycle lanes to accommodate those Canberrans who cannot directly benefit from the light rail."
29.10.22 www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7960998/disgraceful-call-to-axe-three-key-road-projects-creates-anger
* Interesting to read Saturday's Canberra Times readers Survey. 71% said they don't support the re-direction of Tuggeranong Parkway budget money to Light Rail stage 2A. That's a very strong community result against the government's budget decision.
* We could have had a lot of unnecessary things instead of a tram to nowhere. Like a new hospital, better roads, more police, maybe even a few basic services other states take for granted. I know I'm in the minority, but just saying.
* I know it's triggering for the light rail obsessively in the CT comments section, but the comments the transport minister made about these changes surely should be mentioned in this article.
I don't know what the ACT Government is doing with Stage 2B of the light rail. It really needs to get moving. But the people who say silly things like "it serves 2% of the population" need to recognise that it's unsustainable in a growing city for everyone to drive everywhere. There just isn't room. And yes, the bus network undoubtedly needs to improve.
But buses just don't provide the qualitative or quantitative change that light rail enables. People will catch the smooth, comfortable, predictable light rail who would never consider a bumpy, rattle bus. I've caught both recently — the difference is like night and day.
* Whilst the "light rail line can carry more people per hour...." - does it actually do that in the ACT?
Dedicating a corridor to buses would have not-only allowed faster bus-travel from Gungahlin (including faster than the light-rail" - but it would have facilitated buses from other routes sharing that lane and so also deriving benefit from the allocation of that corridor.
From that - the dedication of the middle of Northbourne (and other roads) to light-rail actually prevents other routes from getting the benefit and so disadvantages everyone else whilst playing favorite to a slower and less flexible system that still can't equal a bus in travel-time.
The light-rail carriages are extremely noisy when negotiating breaks in the rail.
For now, that happens only when they "change sides" but will happen increasingly should multiple lines need to merge/separate (i.e.
a "points" system).
Also - should the network be adapted to have an "express" service (as has been pushed by some) - then either there will have to be a duplication of the rail lines (at-least doubling the investment cost) or "points" (and therefore noise) to facilitate overtaking all-along the route.
The trains are also harder to stop and so less able to avoid accidents, plus they suffer from single-point failure (e.g.
a traffic accident can disable the whole network) which has much less to zero) impact on buses (which can detour around problems).
Buses can be "electric" too......
* Nice to see some comments from someone who isn't obsessive about single route trams. Electrifying the bus network would have been a much more cost effective solution for the Canberra taxpayer than this "pet project" of Barr and Rattenbury.
* I think that self government was the BIGGEST waste of ACT taxpayers money, with the Green's Train Set (supported by Labor for no other reason than to hold power), a close second!
* You may all recall just over a week ago, when the pre budget announcement of infrastructure spend for everywhere but the ACT was announced, there was a lot of huffing and puffing about how we were being treated.
Very quickly, Labor (including ACT MLA's) sprouted there was more to come in the budget (and hasn't that proven to be correct).
The budget then provided lots of dollars for the Green/Labor 'train set' but key local government staff and Minister's weren't able to put their finger on specific dates.
Now we find the dollars are those already committed to roads in and around the ACT but are now being repurposed and in addition, the fed's are able to provide dates (that the ACT government couldn't/wouldn't?) for Stage 2a.
Metro Tasmania's 2021-22 annual report released. Matt Maloney October 30 2022
Metro Tasmania's ticketing income decreased to $11.2 million in 2021-22 as a result of COVID-19, the bus company's recent annual report states.
This equated to 16.2% of Metro's income.
Despite the reduction, the state-owned company was able to turn around its loss from the previous year to an after-tax profit of $2.4 million.
The State Growth Department provided $56.1 million last financial year in contract payments to Metro to operate bus services in Hobart, Launceston and Burnie.
The contract payment included a top-up payment of $4 million, partially in recognition of decreased patronage as a result of COVID-19.
The annual report stated Metro had achieved its best ever result in its annual customer satisfaction survey in 2021 with four in five respondents reporting that they were satisfied with its services.
This was an increase of 6% from last survey.
The bus company provided 6.9 million customer journeys in 2021-22, which was 18.8% lower than the last full year prior to COVID-19.
As for reasons for travel on Metro buses, 42% of passengers did so for shopping, 36% work and school, and 18% for health and welfare.
Photo: The bus company provided 6.9 million customer journeys in 2021-22.
30.10.22 www.examiner.com.au/story/7961730/passenger-numbers-on-metro-buses-remain-low-due-to-covid-19
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