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- 27 June 2007
Inner-city Bus Services
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Speakers - Moore Ms Clover
Business - Private Members Statements
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Page: 1969
Ms CLOVER MOORE (Sydney) [5.40 p.m.]: I call on the Government to improve inner-city bus services for Sydney's most densely populated area, where residents currently experience serious traffic congestion and air pollution, particularly as increasing private vehicle use is adding to greenhouse gas emissions. The 311 bus services were reduced following the 2001 Eastern Suburbs Bus Review from a 20-minute to 30-minute service and cut again in 2006 to a 45-minute service. In 2003 I worked with residents to stop State Transit Authority plans to remove the Elizabeth Bay loop. I have repeatedly asked the Minister for Transport to increase services and improve reliability, but the response of the State Transit Authority is that traffic congestion makes the service unreliable, and that services will not be increased until there are more passengers.
The State Transit Authority does not realise that people will continue to desert buses if they do not come on time or, worse still, they do not come at all. That leads to more congestion and less efficient buses, a vicious and frustrating cycle. One constituent waited for an hour in the rain for the 311 bus, her third experience in three weeks when 311 buses ran very late or were cancelled. It has taken months to get a current timetable at one bus stop on this route. I make regular representations on behalf of frustrated and angry constituents and table petitions about this bus service, and it is raised at every local community meeting. I have repeatedly asked for a review of the 311 bus service, including destination surveys, and for shuttle or feeder buses.
Inner-east residents say that the 324, 325 and 326 buses have deteriorated, that buses no longer run to timetable during peak travel times, and are often full when they arrive and do not stop. One constituent says that outbound buses are already full when they reach his stop at Martin Place during peak periods, and what used to be a 10-minute bus trip now takes up to 50 minutes. In response to community pressure and my representations, the Government has responded with extra bus services on the 300 series routes and promised to supply bendy buses to carry more passengers. However, I regularly see groups—sometimes 20, sometimes 30, and I recently counted 40 people—waiting in Baptist and Crown streets bus stops in Redfern and Surry Hills for 300 series buses that arrived, but were already full.
A constituent told me that she depends on the 300 series buses to take her to her evening shift as a nurse, but she regularly has to catch a taxi to avoid being late. On one occasion she arrived 15 minutes early for the bus, which came 25 minutes late. She told me that the Transport Infoline did not respond to her complaints. The limited response to complaints has forced me to prepare "how to complain about late buses" information for constituents, a sad indictment of poor service levels. I have been pushing for years for the 352 and 355 bus hours to be extended into the evening and at weekends for travel across suburbs to get to hospitals, cinemas and education institutions. A recent email from a resident noted that night-time services on these routes would reduce traffic congestion for major events at the sporting stadia and Moore Park. Clearly, that is something we all want.
One 200 bus passenger told me that 50 regular passengers have formed a regular taxi-sharing group because they regularly have to use taxis due to the unreliable buses on that major cross-harbour peak hour route. Outside peak hours that service was cut from 30 minutes to one hour apart, making it harder for older people and those who rely on buses. Residents tell me that the 389 bus service is also regularly late, and they are forced to take taxis and add to traffic congestion. While many are pleased with the new 333 express pre-pay service, this has come at the cost of fewer 380 buses, which are important for people who live between the city and Bondi.
The Ultimo-Pyrmont peninsula has had dramatic increases in its residential population in recent years, yet bus services have been declining. The 441, 442 and 443 services now use the Anzac Bridge and inner-city residents have lost these services. The 501 services have been reduced on weekends, and an invalid pensioner told me about waiting at the Miller Street bus stop for 50 minutes for a bus to Town Hall. I have been asked by that group to meet with the Minister, and I have asked him to receive a delegation. The City of Sydney council does not have responsibility for public transport, but the council has put resources into this vital community service, with a free community bus service on Thursdays and Fridays linking Redfern, Waterloo and Glebe residents to essential services and amenities. I have asked council officers to investigate other routes that need shuttle bus services. Residents are tired of underfunded, badly maintained and poorly managed public transport. The New South Wales Government must increase bus services and provide public transport as a community service rather than a commercial enterprise.
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