Save our bus

By Lachlan Ellis

Parents are banding together to protest the ceasing of a local school bus service, calling on the State Government to provide funding to ensure the service continues.

Annette Stone, Jess Wall, and Pete Smith are among at least a dozen families in the Dales Creek and Greendale area affected by the removal of the local Christians Bus Co service, which they say they were told was “to accommodate children in Bacchus Marsh, as they have too many children needing the bus service there”.

Ms Stone said the company told her they had been advised by the Director of Regional Public Transport on 15 December they could end the service, but didn’t relay this to parents until 18 December, 10 days after most of the schools they take the children to had already closed for the year.

“This means that parents are unable to source any alternatives. Parents who work are now faced with an issue, as the children cannot walk home from the central stop in Myrniong – it is 13 kilometres to Dales Creek from there,” she told the Moorabool News.

“We have all obviously complained to Christians with little to no empathy. Their response was: ‘Our Bus 4 route is now 100 per cent locked-in and approved by the Department of Transport and Planning with the adjustment in 2024 (with the removal of the section of route between Dales Creek and Myrniong). Any parent not wishing to continue with us has alternative bus services from Ballan, so we understand if you do not wish to keep your registration with us.’”

The service cost between $800 to $1000 a year per child according to Ms Wall.

“Kids were finally getting back to school after COVID, and now here’s another barrier. My husband and I both work full-time, and our kids can’t catch public transport to get home.” she said.

Mr Smith said it was a tough pill to swallow, especially in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis.

“It’s very disappointing for regional folks. The position I take is, Christians is just pushing the cost on regional folks. We’re the ones now who have to re-arrange schedules to get our kids to a bus stop that’s 10 to 15 kilometres away…I know a lot of families where both parents are working or they’re single families. I think it’s created a lot of anxiety and cost burden,” he said.

“People are already struggling, and now we can’t rely on a service they’ve been providing for years. I don’t know how they do their numbers and what funding they get from the government, but there’s more than a dozen families I’d say, that are affected by this.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Transport and Planning (DTP) said the route was privately operated, and the Department had been notified late last year of the planned alteration.

“The Blackwood to Ballarat service is a privately operated bus route conceived and run by Christians Bus Company which the bus operator self-funds directly through ticket sales – as the service is not part of the Victorian School Bus Program, the bus operator is responsible for the operation of the service including notifying customers of any service changes,” the DTP spokesperson said.

“Operators must inform customers of any service changes as soon as possible.”

The DTP provides subsidised school bus services from Dales Creek to Ballan and Bacchus Marsh, but as the students travelling to Ballarat for school are “bypassing their nearest schools”, the Christians Ballarat service isn’t funded and is not part of the DTP’s School Bus Program.

The DTP suggests that families using chartered bus services may be eligible for the distance-based based Conveyance Allowance to offset private transport costs.

Christians Bus Co was contacted for comment, but did not respond by the Moorabool News’ deadline.