PRIORITY BUS LANES

The Hon. S.W. KEY (Ashford) (14:55): My question is directed to the Minister for Transport Services. Minister, can you inform the house on the trial of the new priority bus lanes in the CBD and whether the bus lane initiative has been a success since its implementation in July this year?

The Hon. C.C. FOX (Bright—Minister for Transport Services) (14:56): Thank you, member for Ashford, and I note your deep interest in buses.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. C.C. FOX: She uses them.

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. C.C. FOX: Exactly. I am pleased to announce the new priority bus lanes have been established on Anzac Highway and West Terrace, and they became operational as of this Monday. The new priority bus lanes were intended to build onto the bus lanes currently operating along Currie and Grenfell streets, which were installed in July this year and have proven to be extremely successful.

The priority bus lanes form part of an ongoing initiative to improve public transport services into and out of the city centre and have contributed to the improvement of on-time running for our bus network, which has improved significantly. More than 40,000 bus commuters have benefited from the installation of the Currie and Grenfell streets bus lanes in the CBD. This result gave impetus to the trial—and I should add that it is a trial—of the new bus lanes on Anzac Highway and West Terrace, and they will function in the same way as those on Currie and Grenfell streets.

The benefits of these priority lanes reach further than just increasing bus on-time running. Taxis, cyclists and emergency vehicles are also permitted to travel in these lanes, which has the additional benefit of making emergency response times a little easier. I encourage the increased use of bicycles as well as a part of the daily commute, and the new priority lanes will give cyclists more road space to ride in safety.

As the priority bus lane initiative is still in a trial phase I will continue to work with South Australia Police and the Adelaide City Council to monitor the operation of the priority bus lanes and the impacts of those lanes on all commuters. This will determine the effectiveness of the initiative and inform any future enhancements of the bus lanes, if needed.