Opposition to the government's proposed new bus network is heating up with Tuggeranong residents airing their anger at a heated meeting with Transport Canberra.
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The government announced the new bus network earlier this month which is set to go live in January following the completion of the Gungahlin to Civic leg of light rail in December.
There will be 10 rapid routes, but the peak-hour Xpresso services have been dumped to make way for them.
Residents are angry the Xpresso routes would be dumped, saying peak hour commutes will more than double in time.
Transport Canberra director general Duncan Edghill met with about 100 Tuggeranong residents on Tuesday night at an information session.
Tuggeranong resident and daily bus user Reg Butler said he was not impressed by the presentation and does not believe their concerns will be listened to.
"It means I'll be spending an extra five to seven hours away from home per week," he said.
"It will mean walking to and from the bus in pitch black so there's also safety issues.
"A lot of people at the meeting said they would just drive, they won't spend the extra time sitting on a bus."
Mr Butler said the proposed changes would mean his commute to the city would increase from half an hour to one hour and 15 minutes.
"There was a lot of angst, anger, derision about the stupid points being made at the meeting,"
"He did not go beyond set talking points.
"No one was confident we would be listened to, it sounded like they have committed to this."
Tuggeranong Community Council president Glenys Patulny said adequate transport was one of the biggest issues facing residents.
"We are further away from anything than anyone else," she said.
"We really are hoping they will agree to re-evaluate the decision to stop the express buses.
"There was also a lot of concern about the changes to school buses."
A Transport Canberra spokeswoman said it was expected community consultation will result in changes to the proposed network.
But she said the 19 Xpresso routes carried less than four per cent of Canberra's bus commuters.
"By converting Xpresso routes to rapid services, we can carry more passengers and provide greater travel flexibility," she said.
"The current Xpressos have drawbacks – if you happen to miss your Xpresso the choices to get to or from where you’re going may be quite constrained.
"There are also only a limited number of Xpressos – they aren’t a ‘turn-up and go’ service.
"More rapids means you can travel at different times of the day knowing that if you miss one, another will be right behind.
"Rapids operate for longer hours, are more frequent, and will operate on the same route seven days a week."
The spokeswoman said the more frequent network would cut commuting time across the network.
She said while some commuting times would change, the introduction of frequent Rapid services would reduce waiting times at stops and provide more flexible travel options throughout the day.
"In designing the new network, we are considering both the 8 per cent of Canberrans who already catch the bus to work as well as the 92 per cent who don’t catch the bus to work," she said.
"Our aim is to increase bus patronage, which will benefit all Canberrans through reduced road congestion and greater transport choice."
People can share their feedback about the planned network by visiting yoursay.act.gov.au.
