Wave Rider disappointed by shire’s shuttle bus plan

A TORQUAY commercial bus operator is frustrated and disappointed it did not get the chance to put itself forward to run the Surf Coast Shire’s proposed free summer shuttle bus.

As reported by this newspaper last week, councillors resolved at their December 8 meeting to seek to establish the two-bus service, which would run on a loop between Torquay and Jan Juc seven days a week between Boxing Day this year and January 26, 2021.

The resolution also authorised the shire’s general manager of culture and community, Chris Pike, to “negotiate the best possible service” with $95,000 from the shire’s COVID-19 Support Allocation.

The report to councillors notes “there is insufficient time to seek interest from businesses to co-contribute and this would be against the COVID-19 recovery intention of the initiative”.

After seeing the article about the proposal in this newspaper, Wave Rider’s Shaun Phillips said he contacted the shire to express his interest but learned that Breakwater-based business McHarrys Buslines would provide the service.

In an email to Mr Phillips seen by this newspaper, Mr Pike said the shire’s normal approach to establishing a service such as this had been “severely compromised by the short timeframe we have to set it up”, and he was sorry if the initiative had disappointed Mr Phillips, “especially given the difficulties of 2020”.

“But I must reiterate that we are working extremely quickly without the luxury time to explore options,” Mr Pike said.

“We’ve been guided by Public Transport Victoria’s requirements to work with a particular service provider to have any chance of getting the service that the council has asked for set up in time and with their approval.”

In his reply email, Mr Phillips said the contract for the free shuttle bus and its relevant grants “would have been a welcome leg-up for our business – which operates exclusively on the Surf Coast, and like many other local businesses, have been doing it tough during the COVID-19 pandemic”.

“With all due respect, the tight timeframe in which you have to organise this initiative shouldn’t then mean that standard tender processes, should they be required in this case, are ignored. Whether or not the council had to, no other local companies were approached in any way by the council (by phone/email etc. which takes very little time). Typically you’d need to provide multiple quotes, however it seems in this instance the council has awarded the tender to one of the biggest bus companies in the Geelong region, whose registered business address is in Geelong.”

Mr Phillips said the stated purpose of the shuttle bus was to “aid COVID-19 recovery of the Torquay/Jan Juc community”, but “local businesses who are on the verge of collapse were not even given the chance to express interest”.

“It’s also very intriguing that you mention you were guided by PTV, of whom to my knowledge, has not had anyone from the council approach them. Wave Rider meets all PTV service provider requirements, and has all of the current accreditations, permits and insurances.”

Mr Phillips said it was not too late for the shire to change its mind.