❓ Ms. Freeman questions the Minister for Transport's decision to replace the Metro Area Express light rail with a bus service, citing concerns about road capacity raised by the Department of Transport. The Minister defends the decision by stating that new analysis suggests a bus solution is viable and more cost-effective.
AnsweredQoN 120Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
METRO AREA EXPRESS LIGHT RAIL
120. Ms J.M. FREEMAN to the Minister
for Transport:
I refer to the minister's recent announcement that he
will be breaking another key election promise by scrapping the Metro Area
Express light rail in favour of a bus service, and comments in 2012 by the
director general of the Department of Transport, Reece Waldock, that the
department believed that light rail, because of the constrained road reserves,
would be by far the best option. How can the minister commit to or speculate
about a dedicated bus service when his own director general says that the road
reserve cannot handle it?
120. Ms J.M. FREEMAN to the Minister
for Transport:
I refer to the minister's recent announcement that he
will be breaking another key election promise by scrapping the Metro Area
Express light rail in favour of a bus service, and comments in 2012 by the
director general of the Department of Transport, Reece Waldock, that the
department believed that light rail, because of the constrained road reserves,
would be by far the best option. How can the minister commit to or speculate
about a dedicated bus service when his own director general says that the road
reserve cannot handle it?
AnswerView source ↗
The original review suggested that light rail was a better
solution, but well over a year ago, in 2013, the government announced that it
was in a position in which it needed to defer the MAX light rail project. We
have been open and honest about that. One of the things that becoming Minister
for Transport afforded me—I have been in this position for less than a
year—was the opportunity to ensure that I applied rigour to the
underlying assumptions in the original review. One of the issues was around
capacity. I found that, in the report, the department had taken our existing
fleet into consideration. There have been a lot of advances in technology. As
Alannah MacTiernan said in 2008, it has been progressing.
An opposition member interjected.
Mr D.C. NALDER :
She is a visionary. With the passage of time, and the fact that I wanted to
apply greater rigour to the underlying assumptions, the Department of Transport
decided to commission a study to review it. Preliminary analysis suggests that
there are alternatives, and we can increase the capacity on a bus solution. We have
not confirmed that that is definitely what we are going to do. We need to do
more work on this, because I want to ensure that we provide a like-for-like
experience. The advice suggests that we can do so at 50 per cent of the cost.
It would be remiss of me not to progress that analysis and the validation of
that argument. I believe that that is what my responsibility is, and I will do
it.
solution, but well over a year ago, in 2013, the government announced that it
was in a position in which it needed to defer the MAX light rail project. We
have been open and honest about that. One of the things that becoming Minister
for Transport afforded me—I have been in this position for less than a
year—was the opportunity to ensure that I applied rigour to the
underlying assumptions in the original review. One of the issues was around
capacity. I found that, in the report, the department had taken our existing
fleet into consideration. There have been a lot of advances in technology. As
Alannah MacTiernan said in 2008, it has been progressing.
An opposition member interjected.
Mr D.C. NALDER :
She is a visionary. With the passage of time, and the fact that I wanted to
apply greater rigour to the underlying assumptions, the Department of Transport
decided to commission a study to review it. Preliminary analysis suggests that
there are alternatives, and we can increase the capacity on a bus solution. We have
not confirmed that that is definitely what we are going to do. We need to do
more work on this, because I want to ensure that we provide a like-for-like
experience. The advice suggests that we can do so at 50 per cent of the cost.
It would be remiss of me not to progress that analysis and the validation of
that argument. I believe that that is what my responsibility is, and I will do
it.
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