❓ The Minister for Transport provides an update on the government's efforts to build electric buses and river ferries in WA, highlighting the economic and environmental benefits. The Minister also criticises the opposition's stance on public transport affordability.
AnsweredQoN 595Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
TRANSPORT —
ELECTRIC BUSES AND RIVER FERRIES
595. Mr G. BAKER to the Minister for Transport:
I
refer to the Cook Labor government's efforts to enhance public
transport services and create local manufacturing jobs .
(1) Can the
minister update the house on the government's efforts to build new
electric buses and river ferries here in Western Australia?
(2) Is the minister aware of anyone who does not
support Western Australians having access to world-standard quality
public transport?
ELECTRIC BUSES AND RIVER FERRIES
595. Mr G. BAKER to the Minister for Transport:
I
refer to the Cook Labor government's efforts to enhance public
transport services and create local manufacturing jobs .
(1) Can the
minister update the house on the government's efforts to build new
electric buses and river ferries here in Western Australia?
(2) Is the minister aware of anyone who does not
support Western Australians having access to world-standard quality
public transport?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) I
thank the member for South Perth for the question. Of course, it has been a busy
few weeks of talking about new buses and new ferries on the river. On Saturday,
we jumped onboard the first WA-made electric CAT bus to roam our streets. As
members would know, we undertook a successful trial of electric buses in
Joondalup, with the Joondalup CAT and the normal bus services. That trial
proved very successful. As part of moving forward, we have modernised and
changed our Malaga facility, where we work with Volgren and Volvo to build our
buses. We have now converted one depot into an electric bus facility and are
now producing our own electric buses in Western Australia.
The buses have already proven to be
very successful in the Joondalup trial. Importantly, first of all, it saves a lot
of diesel fuel, which equates to around 40 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions
for each bus each year. That is a massive change. The other point is that over
time it will be cheaper because the cost of diesel has increased significantly
and is forecast to increase. Across the 18-year service life of these buses we
expect to save up to $1 million on their operating costs, which is incredible.
We are converting our depots to have infrastructure charging stations to ensure
that we can deploy these buses on not only CAT services, but also other
Transperth bus services. Our Elizabeth Quay depot and bus station now has 18 electric
chargers at that site. The new Malaga depot will have 40, and that contract has
been set. We will be rolling them out in the next few places including Malaga
station, Karrinyup, Whiteman Park and also Claisebrook. They are the next
stages of the rollout. This is an incredibly exciting milestone and we are back
to producing and building here in Western Australia. We now have young people
working in this depot, getting familiar with
and across not only the whole charging infrastructure, but also the building of buses here. They will have new skills and techniques they can roll out
across the state.
Another key announcement was to go
out to the market to have our new ferries built in Western Australia. As we
know, the debate about bringing our river more alive with new ferries has been
going on for many years. That is one of the reasons I have committed to
expanding the ferry service. Last week, there was a session with WA industry
telling them about our requirements for the new system and having those ferries
built in WA. I cannot wait to see how the market responds. This is part of our
overall package of improving public transport.
We are a government that supports
cost-of-living initiatives through affordable public transport. The other side
has said that we are spending too much on subsidising public transport. This
means that opposition members would increase
the price of public transport in Western Australia. They would remove the two-zone capped fare, and we will be telling
everybody that a Liberal–National government would remove it. A
Liberal–National government would remove free public transport for
children travelling to school. It would remove free public transport on Sundays
and cut the many, many different concessions that are available through
regional WA. There is a side that is committed to efficient, affordable public
transport and another side that is committed to increasing public transport
fares for Western Australians.
thank the member for South Perth for the question. Of course, it has been a busy
few weeks of talking about new buses and new ferries on the river. On Saturday,
we jumped onboard the first WA-made electric CAT bus to roam our streets. As
members would know, we undertook a successful trial of electric buses in
Joondalup, with the Joondalup CAT and the normal bus services. That trial
proved very successful. As part of moving forward, we have modernised and
changed our Malaga facility, where we work with Volgren and Volvo to build our
buses. We have now converted one depot into an electric bus facility and are
now producing our own electric buses in Western Australia.
The buses have already proven to be
very successful in the Joondalup trial. Importantly, first of all, it saves a lot
of diesel fuel, which equates to around 40 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions
for each bus each year. That is a massive change. The other point is that over
time it will be cheaper because the cost of diesel has increased significantly
and is forecast to increase. Across the 18-year service life of these buses we
expect to save up to $1 million on their operating costs, which is incredible.
We are converting our depots to have infrastructure charging stations to ensure
that we can deploy these buses on not only CAT services, but also other
Transperth bus services. Our Elizabeth Quay depot and bus station now has 18 electric
chargers at that site. The new Malaga depot will have 40, and that contract has
been set. We will be rolling them out in the next few places including Malaga
station, Karrinyup, Whiteman Park and also Claisebrook. They are the next
stages of the rollout. This is an incredibly exciting milestone and we are back
to producing and building here in Western Australia. We now have young people
working in this depot, getting familiar with
and across not only the whole charging infrastructure, but also the building of buses here. They will have new skills and techniques they can roll out
across the state.
Another key announcement was to go
out to the market to have our new ferries built in Western Australia. As we
know, the debate about bringing our river more alive with new ferries has been
going on for many years. That is one of the reasons I have committed to
expanding the ferry service. Last week, there was a session with WA industry
telling them about our requirements for the new system and having those ferries
built in WA. I cannot wait to see how the market responds. This is part of our
overall package of improving public transport.
We are a government that supports
cost-of-living initiatives through affordable public transport. The other side
has said that we are spending too much on subsidising public transport. This
means that opposition members would increase
the price of public transport in Western Australia. They would remove the two-zone capped fare, and we will be telling
everybody that a Liberal–National government would remove it. A
Liberal–National government would remove free public transport for
children travelling to school. It would remove free public transport on Sundays
and cut the many, many different concessions that are available through
regional WA. There is a side that is committed to efficient, affordable public
transport and another side that is committed to increasing public transport
fares for Western Australians.
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