NO new bus services have been planned to link Point Cook with the Williams Landing train station, the state government has revealed.
In reply to Western Metropolitan Greens MP Colleen Hartland’s questions in State Parliament, Transport Minister Terry Mulder admitted the department hadn’t drawn up any new bus routes or timetable changes.
Mr Mulder said the department would review bus services through Point Cook and Williams Landing when it considered new train timetables prior to the station’s completion later this year.
Ms Hartland said the absence of bus plans was “very concerning”.
“If we’re going to fix the transport problems in Point Cook we need to plan, and we need to plan now,” she said.
“It’s not an option to just add buses to this traffic congestion in an ad-hoc manner.
“The roads in Point Cook are already over capacity and clogged with traffic, at peak hour it can take 30 minutes to drive a couple of kilometres.”
Point Cook resident Millie Zevenbergen said morning traffic was beyond saturation point.
Ms Zevenbergen drives to Laverton station each weekday morning, but congestion on choked arterial roads means the short trip can take more than an hour. She said bus links could improve traffic by cutting commuters’ dependency on cars.
“You can’t even get out of the place in the morning and once you get to Laverton station or Hoppers Crossing station, the car parks fill up so quickly.
“Some mornings it’s so ridiculous that I have to drive all the way into the city,” Ms Zevenbergen said.
“I have a small business up here, and all my clients are in the area, but if it wasn’t for work, I’d leave Point Cook, and go and live somewhere else.”
Public Transport Users Association president Daniel Bowen said frequent bus services from Point Cook’s main roads to the new Williams Landing station were the key to cutting car numbers on roads.
“If people were able to catch a frequent bus from their nearest main road to the station … they would not need the use of a car simply to catch a train, and households able to get rid of one of their cars would end up ahead in dollar terms.”
