Two-year fight delivers Avalon bus service

A LONG-awaited public transport link between Lara train station and Avalon Airport will be delivered within months, in a major breakthrough for workers in the northern suburbs who have for years called for a connection to the growing employment precinct.

The Victorian government last week announced that a new seven-day bus service – Route 18 – will be established by March.

It will run between Lara train station and Avalon Airport and the surrounding employment precinct, providing the first direct public transport link to the site.

At present, what should be an eight-minute trip between the two sites is instead a two-hour public transport maze.

Workers must catch a Melbourne-bound train, which travels past Avalon, to Wyndham Vale.

There, they must transfer to a bus to Werribee Station and then board a Skybus back to Avalon Airport.

Many resort to taxis and other rideshare services to bridge the gap, sometimes spending up to $60 a day during a time when many jobseekers are already battling rising living costs.

The bus service commitment follows more than two years of community campaigning, led by the Real Deal Geelong Alliance.

The alliance has been working to raise awareness of the significant financial and logistical barriers caused by the absence of a direct public transport link.

Unemployed workers supported by Northern Futures – which is now part of Meli – first identified transport as a critical factor preventing people from taking up jobs at Avalon.

More than 400 signed Real Deal Geelong’s petition calling for action.

The alliance’s community organiser, Sally Fisher, said the decision would have an immediate impact on jobseekers and workers across Corio, Norlane and Lara.

“This will make a big difference for a lot of people and help more people access jobs in Geelong,” she said.

“This result shows how our community can win solutions to problems we are facing by advocating together for just outcomes which benefit everyone.”

Alongside the new bus service, the state government announced that international flights would return to Avalon Airport for the first time in about six years.

Jetstar is planning to launch a new route to Bali in March, with the airline operating five return flights per week.