The ACT government has spent about $400,000 having bike racks fitted to about 80 per cent of the ACTION fleet but does not monitor their use and therefore does not know whether the cost is justified.
Chief Minister Katy Gallagher said though ACTION did not monitor the use of bike racks, the real time information system to be introduced next year would indicate which buses were fitted with bike racks.
The government, which committed in 2007 to fit bike racks to all buses, has been criticised by cycling group Pedal Power for having bike racks on only about 80 per cent of ACTION buses. Pedal Power spokesman Brendan Nerdal said of particular concern was that intertown and other long routes were increasingly operated by buses without bike racks. These were the routes with the highest demand for bike racks.
Ms Gallagher said the government would continue to explore options to install bike racks on more of its buses. But at this stage this was technically not possible for the articulated and steer-tag buses. Putting bike racks on these buses would mean they did not comply with road rules.
She said cyclists who used high-frequency bus routes could use the bike and ride program, which included storage for bicycles at locations across the city.
Ms Gallagher said more than 80 per cent of ACTION buses had bike racks - the highest proportion of any bus fleet in Australia. Racks could not be fitted to the remainder of the fleet because the steer-tag and articulated buses were too long and with bike racks would not comply with road rules. Further, with bike racks these buses could not manoeuvre on some roads.
Mr Nerdal said if racks could not be fitted to the longer buses, the government should allow bikes to be carried inside buses.
Ms Gallagher said there were no provisions for the safe stowage of bicycles on board ACTION buses. Having bicycles on board had the potential to damage the interior of buses and more importantly to injure passengers. Folding bicycles could be carried inside buses but must be in a case.
"You won't be seeing any meter readers out there in the field once we are fully deployed and fully operational this tie next year," Perez said, adding later: "And that saves money for the utility and the ratepayer -- there is a cost for that. You have (to pay) for gas and personnel."
Sometime next year, GPA also will launch a web portal that will allow customers to go online to read their own power meters at any time. The feature will allow customers to monitor their electricity usage as often as they want, which will be useful for anyone who is looking for ways to keep their power bill down, Perez said.
"You'll be able to communicate with your smart meters (about) exactly how much power you are using on a daily basis," Perez said.
Heidi Ballendorf, a utility spokeswoman, said she believed the web portal would go live in May. GPA purchased the smart meters using money borrowed from the bond market. The modernization project cost more than $20 million, Ballendorf said.
Many of the meters that are being replaced are between 15 and 25 years old, Perez said.
These aging meters may have grown inaccurate over time, Perez said, so anyone who receives a new meter in the coming months should prepare for a adjustment in their power usage. That shift could make bills go up or down, Perez said.
The real-time communication between the smart meters and GPA will also help the agency respond more quickly to blackouts and brownouts, Perez said.
Currently, GPA can't tell which areas have lost power until the outage is reported by local residents, but the smart meters will alert the power company instantly. This will allow the agency to identify the source of a power outage sooner, Perez said.
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