By Alesha Capone
The Bus Association Victoria is calling on the state government to plan and fund a Bus Rapid Transit route from Werribee to Caroline Springs.
The association, which is also known as BusVic, has made a submission to the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee’s Inquiry into the Victorian government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The submission recommended introducing a route from Werribee to Caroline Springs as part of a new Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system in Melbourne’s growth corridors.
The submission said this, along with a suite of other bus infrastructure investment projects, would help the industry and wider community “in the short to medium term as part of government recovery plans post COVID-19”.
The BusVic document also said that the BRT should include routes from Frankston to Narre Warren via Cranbourne, South Morang to Latrobe University via RMIT and Rosebud to Baxter.
“BRT services are best implemented in Melbourne’s outer and middle suburbs, in particular where rail services are not available, and to assist in managing the growing issue of road network congestion in car-dependent areas,” the submission said.
“The high capacity bus network should not be at the expense of local bus services, rather, should be an addition so that people can rely on a fully integrated and efficient public transport network across all modes.”
The BusVic submission said that to help create jobs and assist in the recovery from the pandemic, the government could also install “smart, sheltered and accessible bus stops” across Melbourne which comply with the Disability Discrimination Act 2002 and provide ‘smart’ real-time information for passengers.
The submission also said the coach section of the bus industry “has been decimated by the COVID-19 pandemic” due to the cancellation of school charters, day tours and tourism work.
“As a result, there are many operators who only do tour and charter work (i.e. operators with no government contracts) that have become, or are close to, insolvency and thousands of drivers have been stood down,” the submission said.
The Public Accounts and Estimates Committee’s Inquiry into the Victorian government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic is accepting written submissions until October 1.
