BUS users in Point Cook and Hoppers Crossing are among the state’s least satisfied commuters, a new survey has revealed.
More than a third of the responses to a survey on suburban bus services were from Point Cook and Hoppers Crossing residents, who labelled services “unusable”.
Other common complaints were that buses ran too infrequently, did not take direct routes and failed to connect with trains.
The survey, which will be used by the Metropolitan Transport Forum to lobby the state government for improved services in growth areas, also revealed few Point Cook residents took the bus because services were unreliable.
Point Cook resident Leah Shin took part in the survey because she felt the poor bus service was contributing to traffic problems.
“We need to fix the traffic problems we have by fixing the bus services so there are fewer cars on the road.”
Ms Shin, a member of the Point Cook Action Group, said many people refused to use the bus because it ran at 40-minute intervals and was not guaranteed to arrive on time. “Many people from Point Cook are from other countries where bus services are developed and reliable, so they want to be able to take the bus.”
A Public Transport Users Association report released in July labelled Wyndham’s bus services as the worst in the metropolitan Melbourne, saying the buses took the least direct routes, adding unnecessary time to journeys.
Association president Tony Morton last week said Wyndham’s services had become a “chronic” problem.
“You need to have main Point Cook supported by a proper network of feeder buses.
“At the moment the bus service is stretched as thinly as possible. They have tried to get the one route to go everywhere but that doesn’t work and you end up with one bus doing loops of residential subdivision after residential subdivision.”
Public Transport Victoria spokesman David Stockman said services would improve when Williams Landing station opened.
