ACTION

Custom Coaches bodied MAN 18.320 in January 2011
Founded	1926 (1926) by Federal Capital Commission as Canberra City Omnibus Service
Commenced operation	19 July 1926
Headquarters	Macarthur House, 12 Wattle St, Lyneham ACT
Locale	Canberra
Service area	Belconnen Canberra Central Gungahlin Tuggeranong Weston Creek Woden Valley
Service type	Bus services
Stops	ANU Bus Station Barton Bus Station Belconnen Community Bus Station City Bus Station City West Bus Station Cohen St Bus Station Erindale Centre Gungahlin Bus Station Kippax Centre Tuggeranong Bus Station Westfield Belconnen Bus Station Woden Bus Station
Lounge	Westfield Belconnen
Depots	Belconnen Tuggeranong Woden
Fleet	420 (January 2015)
Annual ridership	18m (2012/13)[1]
Operator	Territory and Municipal Services Directorate
Director	James Roncon
Website	www.action.act.gov.au

ACTION is a bus service operator in Canberra, Australia.

History

On 19 July 1926, the Federal Capital Commission commenced operating public bus services between Eastlake (now Kingston) in the south and Ainslie in the north.^[2]

The service was first known as "Canberra City Omnibus Service", but it has had a number of names over the years, including "Canberra City Bus Service", "Canberra Omnibus Service" and "Canberra Bus Service". On 14 February 1977, it was renamed as the "Australian Capital Territory Internal Omnibus Network", or ACTION for short.^[2]

As part of the move to ACT self-government, responsibility for ACTION passed from the Federal Government to the ACT Government in 1989.

Today the service is officially known as ACTION^[3] and is a division of the Territory and Municipal Services Directorate. The minister responsible for ACTION is Shane Rattenbury and the Public Transport Director is James Roncon.^[4]

Current routes

ACTION operates two separate networks of bus routes; one on weekdays and the other on weekends and public holidays. The latest major change to routes and timetables occurred on 1 September 2014. This will incorporate with the new Network '14 which will include more direct routes, better connections, increased frequency, improved weekend services and new school services.

Blue Rapid

Blue Rapid services provide a high-frequency link between the City and the bus stations at Belconnen, Woden and Tuggeranong Town Centres. Blue Rapid services consist of the 300 series routes (300, 313, 314, 315, 318, 319 and 343) on weekdays and route 900 on weekends and public holidays.

During weekday daytime and nighttime Blue Rapid routes 300, 313 and 343 commence from suburbs in Belconnen or Tuggeranong then travel through all bus stations along the trunk (or common) route and terminate at either the last station with routes 313 and 343 servicing the Kippax Centre. Routes 314, 315, 318 and 319 operates as Blue Rapid routes only during peak hours.

On weekends and public holidays, route 900 travels between all stations as well as the Erindale Centre. Some route 900 services on Saturday service only Woden, City and Belconnen.

Red Rapid

Red Rapid Route 200 is a limited stop service between Gungahlin Town Centre, Northbourne Avenue, City, Russell Offices, Barton and Iron Knob Street, Fyshwick (at the Canberra Outlet Centre). Since the 1st September it changed to an all day route.

Regular route services

ACTION's regular weekday services are identified by a one or two digit route numbers. These routes operate either as feeder services to a single town centre or connect two or three town centres via suburban streets.

During weekends and public holidays, all bus services use a three-digit route number in the 9** range. These services generally do not provide the same level of service as the weekday services.

Xpresso

Xpresso routes operate during weekday peak hours to provide direct links to the City, Russell Offices, Barton and Airport Business Parks or direct services between Town Centres bypassing the City. These services are designed to reduce the travel time for commuters. Xpresso services are numbered 701 - 799.

Other peak services

Other weekday peak hour services operate as an extension to existing route services. These routes are numbered in the 1** and 2** series (where the ** represents the regular route service number). The 100 series routes travel along the Blue Rapid trunk route between Woden and City Bus Stations. The 200 series routes travel along the Red Rapid trunk route between Gunghalin Bus Station and Canberra Railway Station.

School services

School services are provided by ACTION to schools and colleges throughout the ACT. These are numbered in the 401 - 699 and 800 - 899 ranges.

Special needs transport

ACTION also operates the special needs transport division which provides free transport for school students with a disability. This division is operated using a dedicated fleet of wheelchair-accessible minibuses.

MyWay

MyWay is the pre-purchased ticketing system operated by the ACT Government for use on ACTION buses.^[5] It uses contactless smart cards with MIFARE-Technology onto which credit is loaded. Passengers are required to 'tag on' when boarding the bus and 'tag off' when exiting, at which point the appropriate fare is calculated and, if required, deducted from the stored value on the MyWay card. MyWay cards were made available to ACT Seniors Card-holders on 21 February 2011 and released to the remainder of the community on 7 March 2011.

The MyWay system uses Parkeon software and equipment including Wayfarer 200 consoles^[6] and Axio card readers.^[7] The system was built and installed by Parkeon's Australian distributor, Downer EDI.^[8] Instead of being developed from scratch, MyWay was adapted from Transperth's SmartRider system which also uses Parkeon hardware and software.^[9]

A further 5% discount (for single trip fares) applies if a MyWay card is topped-up using direct debit or BPAY.^[10]

Current fleet

As at March 2-15, ACTION's route service fleet consisted of 420 buses.^[11]

Bicycle racks have been fitted to the front of 80% of the buses in the fleet.^[11] Each rack can hold two bicycles. Passengers may load a bicycle onto the rack for free, but must pay a regular fare to travel on the bus.^[12]

Apart from buses with all over advertising or special designs, ACTION's fleet sport either a blue, orange and white livery (Renault and Dennis buses) or a green, orange and white livery (all other buses).

The ACT Government has ordered 77 Custom Coaches CB80-bodied Scania K320UB 4x2 buses which are being delivered over a three-year period from May 2014.^[13][14]

ACTION's Special Needs Transport division operates a fleet of eighteen minibuses (Hino AC140Ks (2) and Fuso Rosas (16)).^[11] These buses are white in colour and do not operate on route services.

ACTION also operate Toyota HiAce Commuter and Hyundai iMax vans which can be used to transport passengers, Hino Dutro trucks used by mechanics to attend broken down buses and a single Mack tow truck.

ACTION's heritage fleet consists of a 1949 AEC Regal III^[15] and a 1961 AEC Reliance.

Current infrastructure

Depots

ACTION operates three depots:

• Woden Transport Depot, Prospect Court, Phillip opened 16 April 1974,^[2] closing in February 1997^[16] before reopening in 2009.^[17] It currently houses the Special Needs Transport minibus fleet and buses which are not in service.

• Belconnen Bus Depot, Cohen Street, Belconnen opened 3 September 1979,^[2] includes a bus wash, workshop, undercover bus parking, diesel refill, drivers amenities and administrative area.

• Tuggeranong Bus Depot, Scollay Street, Greenway opened in August 1989,^[18] includes a bus wash, workshop, undercover bus parking, CNG and diesel fuelling facilities, drivers amenities and administrative area.

Bus Stations

ACTION operates five bus stations, which act as hubs for the districts of Canberra.

• City Bus Station (opened 23 November 1982^[19] and remodelled 2000) serves Gungahlin and Canberra Central
• Woden Bus Station (opened 4 December 1972,^[20] second stage opened 1982^[2]) serves Woden Valley, Weston Creek and Tuggeranong
• Tuggeranong Bus Station (opened 12 August 1991^[21]) serves Tuggeranong
• Located in Belconnen Town Centre are two bus stations - Cohen Street (opened 2009) and Belconnen Community Station (opened November 2010) - which serve Belconnen and Gungahlin

City Bus Station is located on East Row, Mort Street and Alinga Street with peak services departing from Northbourne Avenue. Limited local access is permitted on Mort and Alinga Streets, while East Row is a bus-only street. Woden and Tuggeranong Bus Stations are off street stations which permit access only to buses, essential traffic and emergency vehicles.

Belconnen Town Centre is serviced by two bus stations located along Cohen Street: Cohen Street Bus Station (located outside the Belconnen Bus Depot near the intersection with Josephson Street, opened in May 2009)^[22][23] and Belconnen Community Bus Station (located between Benjamin Way and Emu Bank, at the site of the former Belconnen Interchange, opened in November 2010).^[24] In addition, a major stop is located outside Westfield Belconnen, near the intersection of Cohen and Lathlain Streets. All bus routes travelling to or through Belconnen Town Centre service all three locations. Additional stops are located on Emu Bank and Eastern Valley Way which are serviced by most routes which travel through Belconnen Town Centre.^[25]

Bus shelters

Bus shelters installed at stops include what is referred to as a "concrete bunker" which were first installed in May 1975.^[26] More modern shelters include glass-sided Adshel shelters (both with and without advertising) which were first installed in 2007^[27] and CAM (Community Asset Management NZ Limited) shelters which were first installed in 2012.^[28]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to ACTION.

• ACTION homepage
• MyWay homepage
• Bus Australia gallery

Public transport in Canberra Bus Operators ACTION Qcity Transit Royale Limousines Transborder Express Ticketing MyWay Interstate coach Operators Greyhound Australia Murrays NSW TrainLink V/Line Rail Operators NSW TrainLink Air Operators Qantas QantasLink Virgin Australia Virgin Australia Regional Airlines Infrastructure Belconnen Bus Depot Belconnen Community Bus Station Canberra International Airport Canberra railway station City Bus Station Cohen Street Bus Station Jolimont Coach Terminal Tuggeranong Bus Depot Tuggeranong Bus Station Woden Bus Depot Woden Bus Station Proposed additions Capital Metro Government Territory & Municipal Services Directorate