What's Up West? - Youth Transport Issues Prioritised

A workshop about transport was held recently at the 'What's Up West' conference with the Youth Action And Policy Association (YAPA) Western Sydney. In the workshop a group of young people developed a list of their three top priorities on how to improve transport in Western Sydney. The group was 8 young people, under 20 years, who live in a variety of areas in Western Sydney and go to different schools. Here is their list:

Top 3 Priorities For Young People To Improve Public Transport In Western Sydney.

1. Safety
Safety on buses and trains and in public spaces, like when riding your bike or walking. How can we get home at night if we aren’t safe on the buses and trains (or if our parents don’t think we are safe)? How can we promote a healthy lifestyle if we are not safe cycling on the street or walking home?

2. The Availability of Transport and Information
We’d like to catch the bus but if it only comes every hour it’s not very helpful - this happens a lot in Western Sydney. We need more frequent services. Some places in the North West don’t even have a train. We also need better information at bus stops. We need to know when the bus is coming and where it’s going - pretty basic.

3. The Cost of Public Transport
If you have to make a change between trains and buses or between two buses it can be pretty expensive. Buses can be more expensive than trains when you compare the distance travelled. We need a ticket system which works between buses and trains and the fare is calculated on where you are going not by how many changes you make. Why can’t we have what other places have, like in Melbourne, or what the pensioners have with the Pensioner Excusion Ticket? This would make public transport cheaper and we would be more likely to use it.

You can find out more about YAPA at www.yapa.org.au

New Posts By Mt Druitt Save Our Buses

The Save Our Buses group in Mt Druitt have posted several new items on their blog talking about their experiences of the changes to the local bus services in Mt Druitt and the surrounding areas. To see these articles click on the links below:
Save Our Bus Services - The Story so far!
Are buses Straighter?
Safety Issues affecting
Unanswered questions
Community members not Informed!

New Timetables and Buses For Region 13

New buses and timetables were announced and will be starting on December 14. There appears to be some new services and some improvements to the services in Region 13.
To find out more from Veolia (the bus company), click here: Veolia

Public Transport Is "Safe, Easy and Convenient"

Results of the "Community Pulse" survey by Cumberland-Courier newspapers have given an interesting result for public transport.

"Almost half the people who responded to the Cumberland-Courier Newspapers Community Pulse Survey said public transport in Sydney was usually on time, and worth paying for.

Sixty per cent said public transport was safe, 73 per cent said it was easy to use and 62 per cent said it was convenient.

Almost 20 per cent said public transport in their suburb was very good, 33 per cent said it was good and 27 per cent said it was average. Just 10 per cent said it was poor while 6 per cent said it was very poor" reported the Fairfield newspaper.

This is reasonably consistent with the survey done by the Independent Transport Safety and Reliability Regulator (ITSRR) earlier this year - (see a previous WSPTU blog entry).

Given the current level of public debate and the controversy around public transport issues, this is particularly interesting.

Here is a link to the full story in the Fairfield Advance.

Rail Prices On The Wrong Track - APT

Action For Public Transport (APT) has released an analysis of the rail fare increases that are about to happen and developed a strong argument about how public transport ticketing needs to be changed to a zone/time based system.

"From 1st January 2010," said Mr Miles, a spokesman for APT, "Sydney will be the only capital in Australia where you can still buy a train ticket for suburban travel. Everywhere else," said Mr Miles, "passengers just buy a zone ticket for use on any tram, train, bus or ferry."

APT also question the role of IPART in the price rise process.

Mr Miles said that IPART is more concerned with whether its actions will drive away existing passengers rather than finding a price structure that will attract new ones.

"The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) has stuck doggedly to its cost accountant's approach," Mr Miles said, "and has ignored or over-ruled calls for a broader approach to pricing public transport."

APT also provide some handy advice for commuters.

Mr Miles said that users of weekly TravelPasses can still make savings by stocking up now. "The price of these tickets does not increase until 3rd January," he said, "but undated tickets bought now can be used at any time in the future".

In their release they also provide a breakdown of all the price increases.

To see the full release click here: Action For Public Transport

Save Our Buses - Mt Druitt and Surrounding Suburbs

Save Our Buses (Sobs) is a new group in Mt Druitt which is advocating to fix some of the problems that local people are experiencing as a result of changes to the bus routes which came in as part of the Bus Network Review on October 11.

They now have a website which is linked to the WSPTU site (check links on the left side of this site). http://sobsmtdruittasa.blogspot.com/ Check their site for new information and information about how to contact them.
You can email them here: sobs_mtdruittasa@hotmail.com

PLEA FOR BUS SERVICES TO BE RESTORED TO MT DRUITT

This is an excerpt from a press release from The Greens.

Residents of Shalvey, Lethbridge Park. Emerton and Whalan have been left high and dry by the recent cuts to the 755 bus service. Older residents are particularly affected by the long walk to the new bus route, which sees them have to walk up to 800 metres to Luxford Rd.

For the full release click here