CHAIR – Minister, could you just give a bit of an outline as to how the review of the southern regional transport network is going, please?
Mr VINCENT – Yes, I will pass that to the deputy secretary.
Ms HEYDON – As you may be aware, we went out for public consultation earlier this year. We’ve had some feedback from that and that’s informed what we’re doing in phase 1, which is essentially, I will say, the low‑hanging fruit, in relation to improvements and additional services that we can do. We’ve developed that timetable with Metro and other operators, and are working through that to ensure we have the buses and the drivers. That will be rolled out well before mid 2026. We’re also running phase 2 parallel to the phase 1, which is essentially more of a greenfielding of the timetable, looking at where we can do more significant improvements, reviewing potentially more direct services where possible; and essentially a larger reset of the public transport network.
CHAIR – I didn’t quite hear that. Did you say greenfielding?
Ms HEYDON – Yes, essentially. What we are doing in phase 1, is where we can, putting in some additional services and adjusting existing services so that they run better. The second phase is more of a greenfield approach to revising some of those fundamentals of the timetable and the services.
CHAIR – I was pleased to see, but also a little bemused, if you like, to identify that there’s some disability access upgrades to bus stops. It’s very good to see that that’s been a dedicated fund. I can’t remember seeing it in the budget this time, but perhaps you will be able to correct me. The Glenorchy upgrade was on a bus route near the Derwent Entertainment Centre, near the Jack Jumpers’ home on the Brooker. How many Metro services use that bus stop, or how often is that bus stop utilised?
Ms HEYDON – I will have to come back in the session with that level of detail, I don’t have that on hand.
CHAIR – Thank you.
CHAIR – Minister, I want to go back to the review of the Southern Transport Network. We’ve heard it’s going to be rolled out, so I’m sure the committee will be very interested to see the work. I’m curious to know if you, or the department, has set targets of modal shift; so getting people out of cars and into public transport, or perhaps even using active transport modalities?
Mr VINCENT – That’s a pretty good question, Chair. A lot of the data that is being collected now is quite fascinating, when you see some of the numbers involved in the cyclists or people using the ferries. I haven’t got all that data in front of me, so I will ask the deputy secretary for a bit more information in that area, please.
Ms HEYDON – We don’t have a formal KPI in relation to mode shift, but it is something we are definitely chasing. We do have the most recent figures as part of our household survey of Greater Hobart that was released earlier this year. It is not as good as we would like it, particularly in relation to public transport, but it is actually quite positive in relation to active transport.
CHAIR – It brings a point to this committee ‑ how do you get people using public transport if it’s not frequent, it’s not reliable, and you can’t rely on the app to identify when buses might be coming. How do you make that change, minister?
Ms HEYDON – Through you, minister. They’re the things that we actually do need to change – it is that frequency, it is that reliability. The arrangement we have in relation to telling you where the bus is, is an interim arrangement. That will be an improvement as part of the common ticketing system when that rolls out, but you’re right, and part of what we’re looking at in the Greater Hobart Bus Review is the improvement to the reliability, is the improvement to the frequency. That definitely sits behind the work we’re doing around what the future network for public transport needs to look like in Greater Hobart.
Mr VINCENT – I’ve said a couple of times that being from mainly regional areas, it’s been fascinating trying to get my head around some of these concentrations of numbers. Even as a mayor, and now as a minister, watching old habits struggle to change with a lot of us moving in and out of Hobart. We all complain about the funnel effect of Hobart as our major city, but we still all add to it every day.
CHAIR – Not all of us, if we can help it.
Mr VINCENT – I’m talking about the regional areas coming into it, mainly. There is a slight shift, but we have to accelerate that shift. I haven’t got all the answers to that at the moment, but it is at the forefront of my mind to understand that, because it has to change. As we talked about yesterday with planning and other issues, it’s a lot of different things that are going to add up to a change in our culture towards transport and how we move around metro areas, especially Hobart.
CHAIR – I’m sure you wouldn’t want to be known as the ‘minister for congestion’, rather than the minister for Transport.
