Bus Stops Are Important Too - but no one wants to pay for them

Jim Glasson, the Director General of the Ministry of Transport, was the guest speaker at the regular Institute for Transport and Logistics Studies (ITLS) transport seminar at Sydney University.

"Local bus stops are largely the responsibility of Local Government and it's true that they have been lagging well behind in their duty to provide bus stop infrastructure, particularly with regard to making the bus stops meet the DDA [Disability Discrimination Act] legislation. The Ministry has funded the bus stop infrastructure on the strategic corridors and that has been going in" said Mr Glasson.

I asked what Mr Glasson thought about the idea that someone like the Transport Infrastructure Development Corporation should be responsible for all bus stop infrastructure but Mr Glasson was unimpressed with that idea. "It doesn't solve the problem of the money. The State won't pay for all those bus stops. They are the responsibility of Local Government".

There are more than 10,300 bus stops in Western Sydney and many of them are indistinguishable from a rubbish bin or a telegraph pole (see our bus stop photos on this blog). And many of them certainly aren't compliant with the disability legislation - they don't have a level 'launch pad' (a flat, concrete kerbside at the correct hieght) from where you can board the bus that is connected to the pavement. A decent bus stop is clearly marked, has shelter, has good timetable and routemap information and a DDA compliant 'launch pad' .

It would also be pretty good if the bus stops had their bus stop numbers on them so that people could take advantage of the 131500 bus stop information services that are already available.

It's clear that a circuit-breaker is needed for this discussion. The State doesn't want to pay for the bus stops and neither does Local Government, even though it is supposedly their responsibility. If we want to develop a well patronised bus system we need to find a way to fund the provision of decent bus stops in Western Sydney. Someone has to pay, but how do we work out who and answer the terrible question "Where's the money coming from?"

Some People Will Just Miss Out.

Jim Glasson, the Director General of the Ministry of Transport, was the guest speaker at the regular Institute for Transport and Logistics Studies (ITLS) transport seminar at Sydney University.

A Community Transport provider who was at the Seminar asked, "There are a number of people disadvantaged by the route changes that are being made as a result of the Bus Network Review. A lot of these people are people with disabilities, frail aged or transport disadvantaged. Why haven't Community Transport been involved in trying to meet the needs of these people?"

"There's no money" said Mr Glasson, without blinking. "It's true that there have been some people that have missed out but we can't justify sending buses down streets with low patronage anymore". And that was the end of the discussion.

This is a very serious social inclusion issue and one in which Sydney is lagging far behind cities in other developed countries who offer a variety of community transport style services to cater for the needs of people unable to access the mainstream mass transit system.

Many community transport providers are interested in expanding the types of services that they can provide but, because of funding issues, are restricted to providing service mostly to people assessed as Home and Community Care clients. The Director General's answer didn't provide any hope for a near term solution to this issue.

We've Come A Long Way.

Jim Glasson, the Director General of the Ministry of Transport, was the guest speaker at the regular Institute for Transport and Logistics Studies (ITLS) transport seminar at Sydney University.

"We've come a long way and I think we now have a viable business model to take into the future" he said as he reflected on the work that the Ministry has done since the Bus Review report of 2004 (the Unsworth Review).

Mr Glasson talked of how the bus service contract areas have been refined down from 87 areas to 13 contract areas focused on coherent regions. "This makes it much more possible to have an integrated system" he said. He pointed out how important the creation of the 43 strategic corridors have been. "I think these corridors will serve us well in the future as we think about building an integrated public transport system" he said.

"We've had incredible interest from the public with the Bus Network Review consultations" he said. "We've had 3,000 submissions or comments given to us for some of the Regions and had hundreds of people attending some of the public forums. I think this reflects how important public transport is to people"

He also talked about how important it was to achieve fare harmonisation. "I remember having to pay more to use a private bus than on the government bus and I questioned what sort of message that was sending to the public and the customers" he said. "As well as making the standard fares the same, customers using the private buses can now access pensioner excursion tickets and weekly tickets at a 20% discount. This is comparable to the Travel Ten discounts available to customers using STA buses. "These weekly tickets are a good interim position until we get integrated ticketing" he said.

Mr Glasson reminded us that Sydney has the highest public transport mode share of all the capital cities. He also reminded us that a lot has been done to improve the bus system in the last few years and that there are still many things, like real time bus location information for passengers, that are not far off. This was good positive message to hear because it can be easy to get focused on the things that aren't right about the system.

Riverstone West Announcement Clouded by Transport Issues

A new development area, the Riverstone West Business Park, was announced by the NSW State Government last week. Like all the Growth Centre developments, the plans and concepts look fantastic but transport was again a key talking point amongst local people. The Riverstone West Business Park plan has gone on exhibition and is part of the North West Growth Centre – see www.gcc.nsw.gov.au .

Here are some comments from the editorial and the letters section of the Rouse Hill Times:

The State Government is again failing the people of the north west by continuing
to increase the growth of the area and refusing to improve the infrastructure
and our transport options, and yet they give a second rail or metro link to
areas which are already well served by rail and light rail. (Northwest
Resident)

Riverstone can really help out Sydney and it needs to be urbanised.
It’s right along the Richmond line and the rail line has enormous benefits to
offer... But now it will be under stress. (Dennis Vossos)

Anyone who lives and works in the northwest will tell you current transport infrastructure is not anywhere near sufficient even before this business park opens ... This business park is destined to become the great white elephant of Sydney unless it is backed by a State Government .... to build rail in Sydney’s northwest. (Rouse
Hill Times editorial, 18 March 2009).

As one of these letter writers says, it seems like a gross misallocation of resources to spend $4.9 billion on the 7klm Metro trip to the inner west, which needs five under-harbour crossings, while huge areas of Western Sydney are not serviced adequately.

Save the date 20th June 09- WSPTU Forum!

Hi all,

just a quick notice to save the date Saturday 20th June 2009 for a the first of a series of meetings to promote better public transport in Western Sydney. We will do this by engaging with experienced public transport advocates, transport experts and academics and people who want to help advocate for a better public transport system.

If you are interested please email wsbustop at gmail dot com.

Bus Users Need to Poo Too!

The Liverpool Transport Taskforce (LTTF), most recent campaign is for toilets at the Liverpool Bus Interchange. The LTTF been working closely with the Liverpool Council’s Transport and Traffic Coordinator on the issue of passenger amenities and we have done some preliminary research around the needs of the community and potential solutions to the problem.

Bus Interchange Toilets

Historically, bus toilets were to be provided when the Liverpool Transport Interchange was designed. Under a previous commercial bus shelter contract with Liverpool Council, the contractor was to supply self cleaning toilets which would provide amenity to bus passengers.

The toilets were never installed. The resultant litigation and the Ministry of Transport’s Bus Review saw the bus toilets along with the bus shelters became less of a priority (as bus route were changing, hence the shelters would need to possibly be moved).

The Problem:

- Lack of access to CityRail Toilets

There is a clear lack of toilet facilities for bus users using Liverpool Bus Interchange. Regular users of the Liverpool Bus Interchange do not have automatic entry into the toilets provided by CityRail. Entry is by ticket only. Entry without a ticket carries a $200.00 on the spot fine. Some station attendants do let bus passengers use toilet facilities, but this policy is not consistently applied, creating uncertainty for members of the travelling public. We believe all passengers should be able to use the toilets regardless of what transport they choose.

Research conducted by the Liverpool Transport Taskforce and Western Sydney Information and Research Service (WESTIR) have indicated that there are close to 8650 people accessing the Liverpool Transport Interchange on a daily basis. This does not include passengers using the terminal for coach services, state bus terminal and other social coach outings.

- Distance from CityRail Toilets

If bus passengers are granted access to CityRail toilets, there is a considerable distance to travel to gain access to these toilets. Passengers, who are incontinent, have limited mobility, find using the bus service very difficult when toileting and change facilities are far away. Many mothers and fathers who need a safe place to change their children would also be able to use the toileting facilities in a safe and convenient manner. This is a significant problem and inconveniences many thousands of people each year.

The Solution

- Self Cleaning Toilets (Vandal and Drug Safe)

Self cleaning toilets are a viable and customisable solution to this problem. The makers of the toilets state that they are self cleaning and low on maintenance, which saves thousands of dollars over the lifetime of the asset.

They can are designed to minimise anti social behaviour and have a timer which can be altered, so that the cubicle doors open after a set period of time. The Toilets are fully accessible and compliant with the Federal Discrimination Disability Act legislation so those with limited mobility or a disability can use the facilities. Council and stakeholders would be meeting their responsibilities under the law.

- Timing

At present, CityRail is re-surfacing the Bus Interchange area, removing paving and resealing the concourse. We believe it is an opportune time to install the bus toilets, as there will be less disruption to the community and the travelling public if the toilets are installed at this time.

Our Request

We need community support to identify the owners of the land to seek permission to build the toilets and are seeking support for this proposal and this campaign.

We believe that this toilet is long overdue and sorely needed. This matter has been raised at a council meeting for discussion and is currently under the deliberation of the Mayor of Liverpool Council, Wendy Waller.

We will be making a video and posting to this blog to highlight the issue.

Dr Garry Glazebrook - 30yr Plan for Sydney

Please find the link to the full 30 year plan prepared by Garry Glazebrook. Just some light bed-time reading!

http://www.dab.uts.edu.au/research/outcomes/garry-glazebrook-main.pdf

The link to the Executive Summary is here: http://www.dab.uts.edu.au/research/outcomes/garry-glazebrook-execsum.pdf