You know it's an election year when money starts appearing for services you've needed since, well, forever.

So it was this week.

Chief Minister Andrew Barr and his Labor team are hoping that, before the October election, ACT voters will see improvements in public transport and hospital emergency rooms.

The latter issue is a long-festering sore in Canberra — more on that in a moment.

But first, public transport: a tale of two vessels (light rail and buses) across two regions (north and south).

Commuting in a divided city

Work on the first leg of the Civic-to-Woden light rail route will likely begin this year. ( Supplied: ACT Government )

On the northside, the Government says light rail has been a smash hit. Transport Minister Chris Steel told ABC Radio Canberra's Mornings the Civic-Gungahlin network far exceeded expectations.

The Government will spend about an extra $1 million a year to extend peak-hour services. Trams will run past stops every five minutes as opposed to six minutes.

Meanwhile, work on the initial leg of the long-awaited route to Woden is likely to begin this year. The caveat here is that it will only go to Commonwealth Park, while the full route to Woden won't be finished until at least 2024.

The extra peak-hour services will begin at the start of the second school term, which, coincidentally, is when Mr Steel will oversee a substantial reboot of the infamous "Network 19" for buses.

Since it was introduced a year ago, Network 19 has been at best a varied experience for commuters, and at worst a big pain in the MyWay card.

Southsiders in particular have complained of longer trips, time-wasting connections, fewer or cancelled routes and, on weekends, buses not arriving at all because drivers are unavailable or unwilling to work.

During the new network's early weeks, one in five scheduled weekend services didn't show up — hardly something to plan your work and life around.

Canberra's bus network has attracted complaints about ditched services, especially on weekends. ( ABC News: Greg Nelson )

There are also concerns that some school bus services were dropped in favour of students taking a public bus, often via a town centre interchange.

Whether the network's redesign was overambitious or the Government was simply trying to save money, Network 19 isn't up to the job for many.

Hence Transport Canberra's first-aid treatment announced on Wednesday, which focuses on improving services in the south, with a dose of northside upgrades thrown in.

We'll soon find out if this is what commuters need and whether most of the dumped school routes will also be resuscitated, which Transport Minister Chris Steel hinted may happen.

Resuscitating the hospitals' reputations

A quick fix is unlikely for Canberra's comparatively long emergency department waiting times. ( ABC News: Franklin Hood )

But Canberra's hospital emergency departments seem to be the political headache that most needs treatment.

On Thursday, Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith put up an extra $60 million for what she described as an exceptionally busy Christmas/New Year's period for the city's hospitals.

The ACT's healthcare system has long been compared unfavourably with those elsewhere in Australia, and the Barr Government will be anxious to show it is improving its hospitals, given the amount of time Labor has been in office.

It has spent big on emergency rooms, nurse-led walk-in centres and elective surgery. While some areas have improved, results in others have been poor.

The latest example, from Productivity Commission data, shows Canberra's urgent and semi-urgent emergency patients wait far longer than anyone else in Australia for treatment.

Cultural and bullying problems have also plagued the ACT's hospitals. After several inquiries, industry groups, including the Australian Medical Association, now say the Government has appointed the right leaders and the cultural malaise is lifting. One would hope so, given how entrenched some of these problems were.

An expansion of Calvary Hospital's emergency department is also under way, as well as an even bigger extension of Canberra Hospital, but these won't be ready for some time.

Through it all, the Liberal opposition will likely try to convince Canberrans that, despite all of Labor's plans and spending, ACT residents remain short-changed on services in a city where bulk-billed GPs are rare.

Expect a fair bit more coin in Mr Barr's kitty to be thrown at health as the election campaign gets going.