Ms McKay's media release says that Labor's newly announced expansion of free shuttle bus services to Sydney and the Central Coast should be extended to Newcastle.
Labor's strategy of having local Labor members (even Ministers) implicitly criticising the Labor state government says a lot in itself about Labor's re-election strategy.
However, Ms McKay says that her advocacy for a Newcastle bus loop is based on "a recommendation of the Newcastle City Centre Renewal Transport Management and Accessibility Plan".
This plan (the AECOM Transport Management and Accessibility Plan (TMAP) commissioned by Transport NSW and released in October last year) advocated a bi-directional bus route around the CBD, starting from Stewart Avenue/Industrial Highway, and going along Honeysuckle Drive - Merewether Street - Wharf Road - Watt Street - King Street - Stewart Avenue (see map below from the plan). It would operate at 10 minute intervals at peak periods.
It would replace the current highly successful fare-free zone which uses existing spare bus capacity, and thus doesn't cost anything extra to run.
Confusingly, whilst citing the TMAP bus loop proposal as the basis for her media release, Ms McKay says the fare-free zone "is limited to Newcastle's CBD". In fact, the TMAP bus loop is also limited to the Newcastle CBD, and would actually service a smaller area than the fare-free zone it would replace (missing, for example, Newcastle beach and the Gordon Avenue park and ride facility, which are within the fare-free zone).
The proposed TMAP city centre loop is uncosted and its feasibility and comparative cost effectiveness (with the fare free zone) are untested. It's certain to cost millions of dollars, since it involves new buses and new associated operating costs.
The city bus loop proposal was proposed in the TMAP in the context of the proposed loss of the current Wickham to Newcastle rail service that would result from Ms McKay's previous proposal to terminate these rail services at Wickham.
The effect of the city bus loop proposal on total public transport patronage is uncertain, but - taken in the context of the loss of rail patronage and the loss of patronage that would ensue from abolishing the fare-free zone service - it is more likely to reduce than increase total public transport patronage.
Essentially, it's an unfunded and untested proposal, that will be very expensive, and might actually take us backwards in terms of achieving state public transport patronage targets.
From what I heard on 1233, I understand that the Liberal candidate for Newcastle, Tim Owen, is also supporting this loop service proposal.
