The new services target the Molonglo Valley region. Photo: Transport Canberra.
Canberra’s new bus timetable got off to a somewhat slow start on Monday (28 April) with schools kicking off Term 2 with a “student-free day” to allow staff to catch up on professional development courses.
But on day two, and with students back for term 2, the verdicts are in.
Transport Canberra announced the “new and improved” timetable earlier this year, said to be informed by feedback from both schools and the community.
The key changes include shorter wait times between buses on key Rapid routes during the morning and afternoon weekday peaks, as well as either new school bus routes or adjusted ones to better align with bell times.
In total, there are six additional services on weekdays, two on Saturdays, and new or revised routes for 36 schools across both the public and private sectors.
Covenant Christian School reports “no complaints from our end” in Gordon, in the ACT’s deep south.
Principal Martin Keast said the two new routes the school has received mean shorter, safer trips for students who no longer have to wait at the Tuggeranong Interchange for connecting buses.
“This is an improvement as we have two new routes joining the existing two, which means more areas of our local Tuggeranong area have a bus that can reach our school directly … so a shorter journey time, and a bit safer, as the interchange is a busy place,” he said.
“We had been noticing one of our services last year was getting very full, so this change presumably is helping.”
Nearly smack bang in the middle of the ACT, in Red Hill, Canberra Grammar School stated that, prior to the timetable changes, more than 120 students in the Molonglo Valley were left entirely out of school bus services.
“There was a large section of the school community that was not serviced within the current bus timetable network; in particular, Coombs, Denman Prospect and Wright had no service,” marketing and communications manager Ayesha Shahed said.
More than 120 students at Canberra Grammar School weren’t able to catch buses under the old timetable. Photo: Ian Bushnell.
Both primary and secondary campuses of the school received four new routes, as well as changes or extensions to five other routes.
Ms Shahed said staff at the school initiated conversations with Transport Canberra in February 2024, and also lobbied local MLAs asking for a new route and changes to one of the existing routes that travel along Namatjira Drive in Weston.
“We have received positive feedback from our families,” she told Region on Tuesday (29 April).
“One sent a photo of their son catching the bus at Denman Shops on the first morning, and another has been able to not look at relocating as the new service will provide a much-needed link.
“We would like to thank Transport Canberra for working collaboratively with the schools to enhance the school bus network and, as a result, create less congestion on the roads involved.”
At the Gold Creek Primary and High schools in Nicholls in the far north, students have received two new buses to replace previous “diversions” made by three of the former services.
“These improvements were made based on feedback from schools and the community experiencing high student patronage on the 25, 26 and 28 with a need to accommodate more passengers during the morning peak period,” a Transport Canberra spokesperson told Region.
The Public Transport Association of Canberra (PTCBR) has welcomed the additional services, “particularly on the R2 and R10, which have been very crowded recently”.
“There are also some timetable tweaks which should make connections a lot better,” chair Ryan Hemsley told Region.
“But the next big step is to improve Sunday and public holiday frequency. We heard a lot of people talk about how hard it was to get around over the Easter break when buses only came every two hours. The government promised hourly Sunday services, and they need to deliver on that.”
In April last year, Transport Canberra increased frequencies to hourly during the day on Saturdays, and in a statement to Region, said Sundays aren’t far away either.
“The government has committed to increase the frequency of local services on Sundays during the day later this year,” the spokesperson said this week.
