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Transport Canberra's customer satisfaction levels have taken a steep dive since the launch of the new light rail and bus network. Transport Canberra and City Services 2018-19 annual report also showed light rail missed every milestone target that financial year. Canberra's public transport system underwent significant upheaval when the light rail from Gungahlin to Civic was launched in late April. Most controversially, there were sweeping changes to the bus network which introduced more Rapid buses but cut many local services and school buses. The report said its latest customer survey - taken after the new network launched - showed many Canberrans were less than satisfied. Customer satisfaction dropped from 83 per cent in 2017-18 to 62 per cent in 2018-19. According to the report, those poor results were most evident in areas most affected by the bus network changes "that have not suited all patrons". "The survey was also undertaken shortly after the introduction of the changes which have taken time for some customers to get used to," it read. "While more Canberrans are using public transport as a result of the new public network, these increases have been seen in areas that have more readily adopted the new services." The report said Transport Canberra aimed to reach a satisfaction rate of 88 per cent by 2020-21. Transport Canberra exceeded its patronage targets with more than 20 million boardings in 2018-19 - up more than one million from the previous year. Much of this was attributable to the new light rail line. The report also showed light rail failed to meet all its accountability indicators during construction last year. That included missing targets for full network testing, laying the tracks and the start of operations by five to six months each.

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