Liam McNally
If a resident on Wiltshire Boulevard in Thornhill Park enters Southern Cross Station as their destination on Google Maps, and selects the public transport option, they are recommended a trip that begins with an hour-long walk.
This is because there are no regular bus services for the suburb of more than 3000 people, despite their being built bus stops on their street.
Currently the only Public Transport Victoria (PTV) service is FlexiRide, an on-demand bus service that has no fixed route and only operates when booked.
However, Thornhill Park resident and Working Group member Matt Pearse said the service reaches capacity each day resulting in cancelled trips and long delays.
“Something as simple as using the bus to get to the nearby Cobblebank Train station is a necessity that residents can’t access,” he said.
“The bus stops are ready, we just need the buses and a timetable.”
Mr Pearse said residents rely on goodwill to get themselves around, or use more expensive rideshare providers and taxis.
Mr Pearse raised the issue at a Melton council meeting on August 28, calling on council to seek the urgent rerouting of City of Melton bus routes as per the Moving Melton Strategy so “all residents have some degree of reliable public transport coverage”.
Moving Melton is a 2022 online transport prospectus set up by Melton council, which identifies solutions to a number of public transport issues in the municipality including bus routes.
Moving Melton identifies that bus travel time in Melton is often close to twice that of travelling by car and only one per cent of trips made in the area are by bus.
Only five of the 47 bus routes in the City of Melton meet the minimum service level criteria and lack of access to effective public transport from where people live increases financial hardship, impairs health and wellbeing outcomes, and reduces people’s equity of access to services, community, jobs, education and opportunity.
A recent report on Melbourne’s bus network by the Committee for Melbourne also found the bus system in the west is exacerbating inequality and called for reconfiguration.
Melton council City Futures Director Sam Romaszko said council wrote to Public Transport Minister Ben Carroll in June, and his reply stated that the department of transport and planning is undertaking planning of the network, of which the outcomes of council’s Moving Melton strategy will be considered. Ben Carroll was contacted for comment.
