AUSTRALIA
Adelaide’s O-Bahn bus rapid transit system is to benefit from a $160m upgrade over the next three years
South Australia Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis revealed the figure while announcing the 2014-15 State Budget.
The budget also includes $2.1m to crack down on fare evaders at the Salisbury and Noarlunga stations, including new ticket barriers and increased CCTV and $7.5m from 2015-16 for extra car parking spaces and facilities at Park & Ride sites. The latter will be sourced from revenue raised by the Transport Development Levy (TDL). Tom said the TDL is vital to building world-class public transport infrastructure that encourages more people onto buses, trains and trams, freeing up our roads into the city.
An agreement has been reached with Parafield Airport Limited to lease land for a major extension of the Parafield station Park & Ride, with construction to start next year – according to Australasia Bus & Coach magazine.
Tom commented: “More than 1,000 bus services use the O-Bahn system each day. This project will take these buses off one of the most heavily congested parts of our city, improving traffic flows and slashing travel times for commuters.
“As our population grows, we are experiencing increasing congestion.”
