Planning is to begin on a complete overhaul of Hobart’s bus service to make it more functional, coordinated and user-friendly.
The project is being funded with a $125,000 investment from the Federal Labor Government’s Liveable Cities program, which is designed to make our major cities more productive, sustainable and liveable.
Hobart has one of the lowest rates of public transport use in Australia and this plan will seek to overhaul the city’s disjointed and ageing public transport interchange arrangements to make bus travel a more attractive transport option for families and commuters.
This new plan will focus on building Hobart’s public transport capacity in line with the Federal Government’s National Urban Policy.
The work will be undertaken by the Hobart City Council in partnership with Metro Tasmania, TasBus and Tasmania’s Department of Infrastructure, Energy and Resources.
In this way, more people will choose to leave their cars at home, cutting carbon emissions and urban congestion.
From a national perspective, it’s a great example of the kind of planning at the local and citywide level which will be required to address the big challenges facing our cities such as climate change, a lack of affordable housing, traffic congestion and a growing, ageing population.
That’s why Federal Labor has ended the Commonwealth’s self-imposed, decade long exile from our major cities and is again engaging with the states and territories and local councils to bring about a much needed urban renaissance.
As one of the most urbanised societies on the planet, Australia’s future economic prosperity and social cohesion will depend largely on how successful we are at making our cities more productive, sustainable and liveable.