The minister who has been handed the reins of the planning system on top of his responsibility for the road network wants to move past an "us and them" debate on public transport spending.
Chris Steel said investment in public transport benefited everyone, because every person who caught a bus took a car off the road, reducing congestion and freeing up parking.
"The first starting point is, I think, having a conversation with the community about the fact that providing public transport isn't just about public transport users. It's about everyone that uses the road transport network," Mr Steel said.
Mr Steel said his job was also to set out that if Canberra did not change, it would lose the amenity its residents currently enjoyed.
"If we don't actually change what we're doing, then our quality of life will suffer in Canberra because we'll have increased congestion," he said.
"If we're simply just having more homes without the public transport infrastructure, and particularly mass transit, to move more people around more efficiently and take cars off the road, in 20, 30 years' time it's going to be much harder to live in Canberra.
"It won't be the 15-minute city it has been in the past unless we actually make those investments now and have more people living in appropriate areas where they can access that public transport. So I think we've got to continue to discuss that with the community."
Mr Steel has been responsible for the extension of light rail since he became transport minister in July 2019, shortly after the line between Gungahlin and the city started taking passengers.
"I think people have seen along the Northbourne Avenue corridor that people want to live and work near light rail and that it has seen a significant increase in regeneration of buildings along that corridor. And there's further opportunities," he said.
"Even though light rail started operations in 2019, we're still seeing more housing being built."
Mr Steel said the second stage of light rail - planned to eventually reach Woden - will need more deliberate work to ensure the homes and people are better connected to the route.
"It has its own challenges and it is not as dense at the moment. And so I think there's an opportunity there to bring the community on a journey as well about what good quality, well-designed transit oriented development looks like," he said.
The government is committed to continuing the project but the Canberra Liberals have vowed to cancel stage 2B if elected in October.
Mr Steel said it would be a key part of his job - with responsibility for both planning and transport - to ensure the government can provide more housing and improve the quality of life of existing residents and future residents.
That work would take place on other transport corridors, including Haydon Drive in Belconnen and into the Molonglo Valley, he said.
