For all passengers travelling during fare free periods using a single use ticket, please do not scan on and off when using Transport Canberra bus and light rail services until further notice. This is to ensure you do not activate your ticket during these fare free periods. You can still tap or scan on and off using a bank card, MyWay+ card or in-app QR code. No fares will be charged. For more information see using paper tickets during fare free periods.

Summer holiday bus timetable in place over the festive period


A summer holiday bus timetable will be in place from Monday 22 December 2025 to Sunday 1 February 2026. 

When travelling over the school holiday period, please plan ahead and refer to the summer holiday bus timetable.

Bus services

The summer school holiday bus timetable will see the continuation of the existing bus network with the exception of all school-day only services and diversions during the 6-week period.

All local services will operate at a 30-minute frequency up until 7:00 pm. They will then move to hourly thereafter (this is the same frequency as the timetable currently in place).

The standard Saturday and Sunday timetables will be unchanged during the holidays, with a Sunday bus timetable in place for all public holidays, excluding Christmas Day. Transport Canberra will deliver a bespoke Christmas Day bus timetable with free travel on all bus and light rail services on both Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve.

There will be changes to the City bus interchange from Monday 5 January 2026 to Sunday 1 February 2026 to support continued construction of Light Rail Stage 2A. For more information see disruption to bus and light rail services beginning January 2026.

Light rail

Light rail services will continue to run to their regular frequency over the holiday period with a Sunday and public holiday frequency in effect on public holidays.

There will be changes to the City bus interchange from Monday 5 January 2026 to Sunday 1 February 2026 to support continued construction of Light Rail Stage 2A. For more information see disruption to bus and light rail services beginning January 2026.

Christmas Day

Travel on Christmas Day (Thursday 25 December 2025) is free all day on all Transport Canberra light rail and bus services. Please remember to tap on and off to register your $0 trip.

A special Christmas Day bus timetable will be in place with local bus services operating every 2 hours, except for the Ginninderry service which will continue to run every half hour.

Light rail will run to a regular Sunday and public holiday frequency.

New Year’s Eve

To support Canberrans attending New Year’s Eve celebrations, Transport Canberra will provide free all-day travel on all bus and light rail services. Find more information on New Year's Eve travel.

Public holiday timetables

Timetable changes due to public holidays in December and January are listed below.

The summer holiday bus timetable will run as scheduled all other days.

Plan ahead

With construction and changes taking place across Canberra during the festive period, it is important that people plan their travel ahead of time. More information will be available soon. Please refer to our service alerts page to keep up to date with changes to public transport.

Download the MyWay+ app or use the journey planner on our website to plan your best route when travelling through the summer holiday period. The journey planner allows you to select the mode of travel which offers the quickest and most convenient route to your destination. To plan your travel, simply input your location in the starting point and then input your destination point.

Free travel every Friday and Saturday evenings from 6:00 pm is available until Saturday 28 February 2026. The community is encouraged to take advantage of the new initiative to get out and enjoy the festive season with their family and friends, knowing they can enjoy a free ride home at the end of the night. Find out more about the free travel period.

Make sure you stay up to date with traffic changes and road closures on the Built for CBR website.

There are also many great platforms to check traffic conditions, including on Commonwealth Avenue Bridge before you get on the road, such as Waze Navigation and Live Traffic, Google Maps and Apple Maps.

Park and Ride

Passengers are encouraged to take advantage of Park and Ride facilities where possible.

Accessibility

Accessible trips are shown in the Journey Planner with the wheelchair icon. You can select "Wheelchair Accessible" special services from the Journey Options to ensure that you only see accessible services.

Keep up to date

Sign up to receive service alerts via email.

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More information

For public transport enquiries call 13 17 10.

Acknowledgement of Country

We acknowledge the Ngunnawal people as traditional custodians of the ACT and recognise any other people or families with connection to the lands of the ACT and region. We acknowledge and respect their continuing culture and the contribution they make to the life of this city and this region.

To see how we are building stronger relationships with the Traditional Custodians of the ACT view the Reconciliation Action Plan.