By Alesha Capone
A petition calling for more bus routes and more buses in Tarneit has been signed by hundreds of people.
Community advocate Arnav Sati, who stood as an independent candidate in the last Victorian election, has submitted an e-petition on the issue to the state Parliament’s upper and lower houses.
The petition, which has attracted more than 350 signatures, calls for attention to be paid to “escalating commuting issues caused by a lack of new bus routes and poor bus frequency in Tarneit”.
“With patronage at Tarneit train station increasing at an exponential rate, there is an immediate need for more bus routes to cover residential estates like Habitat, The Grove, Haven, Newhaven, Little Green, Riverdale Village, Allura, Elements, Albright and Rothwell,” the petition states.
“The Western Rail Plan project that includes electrification of the Wyndham Vale train line, as part of Victoria’s Big Build project, could easily take a decade or more to complete and is not expected to start before 2022. Residents are not ready to wait another 10 to 12 years to solve the current commuting issues.
“The petitioners therefore request that the Legislative Council call on the government to prioritise pedestrian safety, review existing bus routes in Tarneit and increase their frequency to every 15 to 20 minutes and prioritise new bus routes to and from Tarneit train station, especially for estates that have experienced large population growth.”
In July this year, the state government announced it would be introducing more than 20 new and extended bus services for Wyndham. The changes, described by the state government as providing “better access to public transport”, were introduced on July 28 and covered links to Werribee, Tarneit, Williams Landing and Hoppers Crossing train stations and new estates.
The changes included the addition of seven extra bus services on route 167 across morning and afternoon peak times between Tarneit station and Bethany Street; and an evening bus service between Tarneit and Hoppers Crossing stations.
A state government spokesperson said: “Just last week we added more bus services at peak times and we’ll continue to look at options to get more Tarneit locals where they need to go sooner and easier.”
“We welcome any ideas to improve public transport for locals and will continue working with communities to deliver better services and more travel options.”
