Ms BURNET – Minister, just to go back to the bus rapid transit. The cost estimate is $445 million, so I am just curious as –
Mr ABETZ – Sorry, what is $445 million?
Ms BURNET – The bus rapid transit all up. Maybe you could confirm that, but I didn’t really get much of an answer as to what –
Mr ABETZ – Can you assist me with that figure?
Ms BURNET – I think it was part of the WSP report. I am not sure; I’ll have to get advice on that. Regardless, I have your mind focused on the bus rapid transit with that figure. Can you describe that first tranche of the bus rapid transit – where it is going from, the route and where it might land passengers who are coming into Hobart?
Mr ABETZ – There is a current strategic business case being developed. It is considering the staged implementation of a rapid bus network which could involve a two-lane busway on the transit corridor as well as transit lanes and stations on transport corridors to the south and east of Hobart. These are matters that are still under consideration.
Ms BURNET – It’s about as elusive as that ticketing system, I think. It might take quite a long time to actually arrive. Is the point of the bus rapid transit system to move people into Hobart? Tell me what the thinking is behind it.
Mr ABETZ – What people want, and I think you indicated that earlier, is the certainty of transport and timeliness of it. That is why you have these transit lanes. In Adelaide, they have the O‑Bahn which seems to work quite effectively. If we can have an efficient bus system for service, then that will encourage greater usage. What is the purpose of it? It is to get people as efficiently as possible from wherever they are to the point of destination, which one would think would be mainly in the city of Hobart, and then conversely, at the end of the day, mainly getting them back out of the city of Hobart back to where they came from. That is the purpose of these.
Ms BURNET – But we do not have any sort of delivery time as to when it might be completed?
Mr ABETZ – No, we don’t, because what we need to do is get together a good strategic plan, work these things out and then partner with the federal government and deliver.
