Commuters in the western suburbs are being fooled by so-called ‘ghost buses’ that appear on the Public Transport Victoria (PTV) app, but never arrive.
The bizarre practice was uncovered in responses to a survey on bus services Western Metropolitan MP David Ettershank conducted with his constituents earlier this year.
Almost 240 residents responded to the Legalise Cannabis MP’s survey, with many claiming they’d been left waiting for buses that the PTV app said were coming, but which didn’t actually exist.
“Ghost buses!” said one respondent who coined the phrase describing the practice.
“Countless times buses just don’t show up, but the apps to track them don’t reflect the bus service has been cancelled,” the respondent said.
“This happens almost weekly… Real time tracking of buses is a reasonable thing to expect and when services are cancelled for operational or whatever reason, just update the app!”
Another respondent said the reverse happened too.
“I’ve seen the app showing no bus available, but then an empty bus rocked up taking two passengers to the train station.”
Mr Ettershank said it was a bad joke on the western suburbs.
“Who are you not going to call? Ghost buses, but the people relying on public transport are not laughing and Public Transport Victoria needs to take responsibility and invest in installing trackers on buses so the PTV app can accurately track their journey.”
A Department of Transport and Planning spokesperson said traffic disruptions were to blame.
“We always try to inform bus passengers with the most up to date information and the PTV app incorporates live data from each vehicle – however these times can be impacted by unexpected delays on our road network,“ the spokesperson said.
Public Transport Users Association spokesperson Daniel Bowen said public transport apps and websites had be better at highlighting disruptions, particularly in areas like Melbourne’s west that lack services.
“If you know exactly where you’re going and your service is frequent and on time every time, then it’s easy.
“But for unfamiliar trips, or services that are less frequent and not reliable – including in many parts of the western suburbs – high quality real-time information is a must.”
