ELLENBROOK will get a $49 million Bus Rapid Transit system, as revealed by The Sunday Times.

But Treasurer Mike Nahan admitted residents of the community in Perth’s northeast had been left “confused” by past transport promises.

A standard two-zone public transport fare will go up by 2.1 per cent while student fares will remain at last year’s levels.

Ellenbrook Bus Rapid Transit, a nine-kilometre connection for buses between Ellenbrook town centre and Marshall Rd, is WA’s first dedicated bus corridor.

Transport Minister Dean Nalder said the “EBRT” project would be delivered through separate dedicated lanes via bridges and underpasses at Gnangara Rd, Park St and Youle-Dean Rd, as well as bus priority at Marshall Rd.

“It will reduce the average bus journey time between Ellenbrook and Bassendean Station by up to 10 minutes in morning peak hour, with three new bus stations along the route to provide an important public transport connection and lessen commuters’ reliance on cars,” Mr Nalder said.

“A total of 400 Park ‘n’ Ride bays will be provided at the Gnangara Road and Marshall Road bus stations to further encourage use of the new service.”

Two sections of single carriageway road – dubbed New Lord St – will be constructed alongside Lord St, as will a two kilometre stretch between Gnangara Rd and Park St and a 2.8km stretch between Youle-Dean and Marshall roads.

A further 700 metres of dual carriageway road will be constructed linking to Reid Highway.

“This is one of those things that has confused the good people of Ellenbrook,” Dr Nahan said.

“At the 2008 election, the Labor govt promised rail, we matched them.

“We came into government, found out there was no business case. (We) did a business case and it’s not needed for a long period of time. It would be a huge waste of money.

“So then we came up with the idea of a rapid bus transit system, budgeted at $110 million. Too high.

“So we’ve had another go at it and we’re now doing the same thing for just shy of $50 million. We will start that soon.”

Dr Nahan said the project was part of the $1.8 billion budget for building roads and public transport infrastructure in 2016-17.

But Dr Nahan acknowledged the Government has a “problem” with its pricing and usage of public transport.

“Cost recovery in public transport is declining. It’s now about 28 per cent of operating costs. That’s compared to our 40 per cent target,” Dr Nahan said.

“The numbers of people using public transport is actually shrinking. We have our problem with our pricing and usage of public transport.

“Overall, it (pricing) is 2.9 per cent higher than inflation but we’ve kept it as low as we can.”

Other major road and transport projects in the State Budget include:

-$192.6 million for the Swan Valley Bypass

-$104 million for the Forrestfield-Airport Link project

-$95 million on the Mitchell Freeway Extension project

-$93 million on the Great Northern Highway

-$60.2 million for WA’s cycling network

-$326 million for Winterfold Road tunnel for Stage 2 of the Perth Freight Link (Roe 8 and the Fremantle Tunnel, with 80 per cent Commonwealth funding)

-$29 million State funding for the Armadale Road dual carriageway

-$11.5 million over six years to continue the Fremantle Container Rail Service subsidy

-$5.3 million over the next two years for the Public Transport Authority to construct the Northbridge Bus Layover.

The RAC says this year’s budget confirms an urgent need for a transport plan to guide infrastructure priorities, manage congestion, invest in regional transport and roads, and deliver more mobility options for Western Australians.

RAC General Manager corporate affairs Will Golsby said by 2031 seven of the 10 most congested roads in the country will be in Perth, including the top four roads, and the cost of congestion is estimated to be more than $16 billion a year.

“Congestion continues to impact the community including the time it is taking away from their daily lives. Unless an integrated transport plan with adequate funding is implemented, this impact will only worsen,” he said. “One of the concerns is the lack of long-term investment in the Traffic Congestion Management Program. The State needs increased investment in technology solutions to squeeze more out of existing infrastructure.”

While the RAC welcomes the introduction of No Fault Compulsory Third Party Insurance scheme, Mr Golsby said there needs to be further clarity about how the scheme will be administered.

“In addition to the cost of the No Fault Compulsory Third Party Insurance scheme, motorists will also feel the further increase of 2.45 per cent in registration fees in 2016/17,” he said.

“This is an average of 9.9 per cent a year over the past three years; three increases for motorists in three consecutive budgets.”