Cade Lucas
Protesters endured 40 degree heat on Saturday to demand better bus services in Wyndham.
The protest organised by the Sustainable Cities Collective, took place outside Werribee station on the morning of March 9 to mark 1000 days since the release of ‘Victoria’s Bus Plan’ a blueprint for improved bus services that protesters claim the state government hasn’t acted upon.
Sustainable Cities spokesperson Elyse Cunningham said despite the oppressive conditions, they had people running over to sign their petition for a bus reform pilot in Wyndham.
“We managed to get almost 50 signatures,” said Ms Cunningham, adding that feedback they received again highlighted the need for bus reforms in Wyndham.
“We heard countless stories of people who are dependent on unreliable and unsafe buses to get to work, school and around the community- meaning they are often penalised for being late to work, and are spending hours of precious time on long, winding buses that run down smaller roads, weaving through heavy car traffic.”
Released in 2021, Victoria’s Bus Plan was designed to alleviate some of these problems with reforms such as simplifying the bus network, moving to a cleaner and smarter bus fleet and improving accessibility.
But Elyse Cunningham said the implementation of these reforms was supposed to begin in 2023 and with it now 2024, the government had to stop dragging their feet.
“They’ve been sitting on this plan for 1000 days, but the people of Melbourne’s West are still stuck waiting for better buses, and taking hours to get to uni, work or the shops. In a cost of living crisis, families in the west are spending hundreds of dollars more on petrol just to get where they need to go”
The need for better bus services in Wyndham was underlined last year in a report by Infrastructure Victoria which found Tarneit, Point Cook and Werribee among Melbourne suburbs that would benefit the most from reforms like lower fares, extended operating hours, more frequent services and priority bus lanes.
The sustainable cities collective will continue their campaign on Thursday March 14, with a forum ‘Better Buses for the West: Why are we still waiting for bus reform in 2024?’ at 111 Overton Rd, Williams Landing.
Werribee MP Tim Pallas was contacted for comment.
