WYNDHAM needs more direct and frequent bus services to reduce traffic and make it easier for residents to move around the municipality, according to Cr Glenn Goodfellow.
Cr Goodfellow, who is a member of the Metropolitan Transport Forum, is calling on bus operators and the state government to improve bus services in Wyndham by changing how the services run.
His calls follow a recent Public Transport Users Association report which labels Wyndham’s bus services as the worst in metropolitan Melbourne.
The report states that Wyndham buses take the least direct routes, adding unnecessary time to journeys.
The PTUA recommends that bus route directness ratios should not exceed 1.3.
The ratios are calculated by dividing the distance covered by a bus route by the direct distance between the start and finish points.
Wyndham’s average directness ratio was 2.1, with 83 per cent of the city’s services above 1.3.
Cr Goodfellow wants the government and bus operators to realise that buses do not need to visit every street, but rather should run along main roads and key transport routes.
“If we have more direct routes, people in Truganina, Point Cook, Williams Landing and Laverton North will benefit from it. It will be easier for them to cross the municipality.
“If we make routes more direct, we could run services more frequently. It will help older people, kids and people facing isolation.
“Buses are the only means of transport in some of our suburbs but they are not used because of slow, infrequent services and inconvenient operating times.”
Cr Goodfellow said the MTF would meet with Transport Minister Terry Mulder to raise the problems with bus services in growth areas and ask him to commit to reviewing routes every two years.
Truganina resident Joh Bauch said residents should not have to wait longer than 20 minutes between buses.
Mr Bauch said many of Truganina’s bus routes ran at 40-minute intervals, making it difficult for people to use them.
“If you miss one bus sometimes you would rather walk to your destination than wait for the next bus.
“Anything that results in more frequent routes has to be good because for some people buses are the only way to get about Wyndham.”
PTUA president Daniel Bowen said rapid population growth had made Wyndham’s problems with buses worse.
He called on the government to restructure routes to include short diversions to interchanges or major destinations.
A spokeswoman for Public Transport Victoria said Wyndham’s bus operations would be reviewed as part of planning for the new Williams Landing railway station and the Regional Rail Link.
