route 694 questioned in parliament

It was good to hear Greens MLC and spokesperson for Public Transport, Greg Barber, raise the issue of Route 694 in parliament this week.

Mr Barber asked a question without notice to the Minister for Public Transport, Martin Pakula.

Regular readers will know there’s been a question mark over the future of Route 694 as it has been recommended for removal in the Yarra Ranges Bus Review.

Mr Barber directly asked the Minister “Can the minister confirm that the recommendation of the bus review that route 694 be removed is not going to be followed?”

The Minister’s response, “ I am advised -- and I will advise Mr Barber further if this is not the case, but I imagine that he would not expect me to have encyclopaedic knowledge of every bus route in Melbourne -- and my advice to him and to the Parliament is that despite that recommendation there are no changes envisaged to bus route 694 at the current time.”

No changes envisaged...at the current time....What does this mean, not before the election? How long is “the current time” and can residents truly feel reassured?

Of concern is another part of the Minister’s response “Equally there are other recommendations in the bus reviews that are not now or in the future ultimately accepted by the department.” This leads to more questions, what other recommendations outlined in the bus review might not be “ultimately accepted by the department”?

The bus reviews set a lot of expectations in our community that we would get improved services throughout the shire, it’s up to us to make sure those expectations are fulfilled.

If you’d like to read the entire transcript of the question without notice click here.

route 694 – we need to be reassured

report from the roundtable – 13 jul

At the last council meeting I raised the issue of bus route 694. There are some inconsistencies between what our local MP is saying and what the recently released Yarra Ranges Bus Service review is recommending. Whilst a newspaper article reports the route is staying the bus review is clear in its intent that the route will be removed.

Route 694 - staying or going?

In order to get some clarity and assurances for our community I moved the following motion.

That council write to the Minister for Public Transport, Martin Pakula, to confirm

1) Whether the Yarra Ranges Bus Service Review recommendation to remove Route 694 is correct;
2) Should Route 694 be removed, clarify the timelines for the removal of the service;
3) Clarify what is meant in real time by short, medium and long term timeframes as referred to in the review.

In April 2010 the government released the findings of the Yarra Ranges Bus Service Review. The review was extensive and detailed changes to bus services throughout the Shire of Yarra Ranges. Most of the recommendations included enhancement of services and new services over the short, medium and long term throughout the Yarra Ranges Shire. However in one case the recommendation was to delete a service, being Route 694, Olinda to Belgrave via Sherbrooke Road.

I had further concerns around the timing of recommendations. The Implementation plan refers to a short timeframe for changes to route 694 (and route 688), although the implementation plan refers to a short timeframe, the implementation table indicates it is a medium need.

This is currently the only public transport option offered along Sherbrooke Road, from Kallista through to Ferny Creek, and its cancellation would disenfranchise residents along this road, residents travelling between the two townships, students who utilise the service to get to Sherbrooke Community School and tourists. Should the recommended changes be implemented per the bus service review, residents who want to travel from Belgrave to Olinda via bus would have to do so via Upper Ferntree Gully, adding many kilometres and minutes to the journey.

I moved the motion to seek council's endorsement to ask for clarification from the Minister for Transport, our community needs some surety about this one because what our local MP is saying is in direct conflict with what the bus review is saying.

Councillors supported the motion unanimously.

where did route 694 go?

Is it right that the community has to wait till the end of the year to know the fate of route 694? NO. At the recent bus review this service was proposed to be deleted due to lack of patronage.

If we had a service that was frequent and well connected the patronage numbers would be much higher. This route provides a key orbital link between Belgrave and Olinda, to suggest that in the future Belgrave commuters travel to Olinda via Upper Ferntree Gully defies any logic and makes for a very cumbersome journey.

I read in the local papers that one girl cried to learn that her only access to public transport was to be taken away. These decisions have long lasting significant effects on our local community and their ability to fully participate in society.

What happens to those who have limited transport options? How do they get to school, to work, to medical appointments, to shops, to socialise? It is unacceptable to lose this service in the Dandenongs.

At a time when we should be encouraging take up of public transport this mooted ‘improvement’ seeks to turn even more people off using public transport.

Why should we be denied access to fast, frequent and well connected public transport? I want to see serious investment in our bus services, not juggling the books of the current budget which will never deliver significant improvements to services in the hills.