CHAIR – Minister, just a further question in relation to rapid buses. How are you looking at rapid buses to reduce the issue around congestion? Are the rapid buses solely there to deliver for the stadium project?
Mr VINCENT – Thank you, Chair. As a person who’s mainly lived in regional areas, it’s been interesting to see the flow of information around the Metro transport corridors. We touched on it yesterday, about how a rapid bus can be used to actually move off the rail corridor into other areas to be more effective for people within that 800 metres or so of those corridors. I think it is an important part of Hobart’s future to understand those corridors, the three of them ‑ eastern shore, Kingborough and the Glenorchy area ‑ to understand how we need to actuate them for future volumes of traffic, to take vehicles off the road. Yes, it does help the stadium, but that’s only part of it. It’s more about the future growth of Hobart as a whole.
CHAIR – Many places ‑ I note Sydney, I note Ireland ‑ are expanding their rail network, and they would absolutely kill to have a dedicated rail line which is pretty much intact, so I don’t see this as planning for the future. Wouldn’t it be better to use that to establish light rail to the northern suburbs? I mean, it’s a gift that we have.
Mr VINCENT – It is a fantastic opportunity. When you read all the different data, and I can’t say I’m an expert so I will throw it to the Secretary in a few moments, the situation of being effective to move the volume of people of a morning and of an evening makes it difficult for the crossover on a set corridor. That’s been an interesting fact of how you move in and out and cover the areas. I’ll ask the Secretary for a bit more guidance on that.
Mr LIMKIN – Thank you, minister, and through you. How we’re looking at the rapid bus network is beyond just that rail corridor. We are looking at it as modal shift for our city. We’re looking at it to work as Greater Hobart. I understand that the light rail service can’t deliver this model, because to actually look at modal shift for both the north, the south and our eastern suburbs, light rail will be too difficult. It will be too costly. We could consider it just on the northern corridor, but when we’re looking at modal shift for our cities, not just an area, the advantages are greater from a rapid bus network that would actually deliver that modal shift for our city.
CHAIR – Yesterday we talked with the minister with Housing and Planning on densification of the northern suburbs. Why wouldn’t that be the perfect opportunity to introduce light rail?
Mr LIMKIN – Through you minister, we believe that the rapid buses will enable that densification for the northern suburbs transit corridor. This is about transit orientation development. We can do that transit orientated development around a light rail stop or a rapid bus stop. The work of the strategic business case has identified the ability to deliver that no matter what modal area we use.
