MP says bus feedback should not be ignored

BUS travellers in the Bellarine and Geelong regions deserve to know if the government intends to respond to negative timetable feedback, Western Victoria MP Simon Ramsay says.

Mr Ramsay, the opposition parliamentary secretary for rural and regional transport, has asked Minister for Transport Jacinta Allan to implement an immediate review of the bus timetables to Victoria (PTV) regional network planning forums.

“The people of Geelong and the Bellarine Peninsula need to know if there is any intention to listen and respond to their feedback on a new bus network,” Mr Ramsay said.

“Last year, Public Transport Victoria promised more extensive, frequent, reliable and direct bus services, and for six months this has not been experienced by commuters.

recently and said that her friends, a group of active seniors, were extremely disappointed with the new bus timetable and the fact that their feedback to PTV has not been acknowledged.

“Since the new loop route was introduced, it has taken her almost an hour, on two separate buses, just to get from her home in Highton to the closest major shopping complex in Belmont, only a few kilometres away; and this is not an isolated example.

“Public Transport Victoria knows about this. PTV knows that long trips are hard on the elderly, but PTV is not listening.”

Mr Ramsay said a petition signed by more than 2,300 Bellarine Peninsula residents has added weight to the timetable’s criticism.

“I have spoken out on the Bellarine bus schedule countless times since it was revealed that commuters would be stranded on the peninsula with 80-minute services from Portarlington, St Leonards and Indented Head,” he said.

“The entire rollout process for this timetable was mismanaged from the start – done through the Christmas holidays – from the initial advertising and communication to public feedback and responses to changes, and, as we feared, no review or consultation for feedback has resulted in better outcomes for our communities.

“The urgent action I seek is that Ms Allan undertakes an immediate review of the timetables and instructs PTV to provide more user-friendly timetables for bus users both in Geelong and on the Bellarine Peninsula.”