Adelaide City Connector bus could be scaled back with two routes facing the axe

Free public transport around the CBD could be reduced and two routes cut following a review of the City Connector bus.

Free public transport around the CBD could be reduced and two routes cut following a review of the City Connector bus.

The Transport Department this month wrote to the council about potentially reducing the bus’s frequency and removing the 99A and 99C inner city loops because the free tram had similar stops.

Both routes start on Halifax St then stop on streets including Hutt St, North Tce as well as King William, Grote and Morphett streets.

A State Government spokesman said the route might not be needed.

“It doesn’t make sense to have a free bus and tram service operating the same route, providing the same service,” he said. “Any savings will be finalised after the State Government and council have reached an agreement to get the best value for taxpayers.”

The council, which allocated $915,000 towards the service in its 2019/20 budget, wants to work with the State Government to again review the service, which includes the bus routes and frequency. The Government matches the council’s financial contribution to the network, however, it could pull some of its funding for the bus because it is similar to the free tram network in the CBD.

A survey of the City Connector last month showed patronage had dropped from 22,950 in March 2017 to 19,400 passengers last month.

The decline was a result of the relocation of the Royal Adelaide Hospital in September 2017 and the opening of the North Tce tram line in October last year, the report said.

When discussions with the State Government start, Cr Robert Simms said the council needed to “advocate strongly” for the service to remain free.

“If we ‘let the user pay’ genie out of the bottle, there is no putting it back in,” Cr Simms, pictured, said.

Cr Phil Martin agreed because other capital cities have free bus services.

“It has to remain a free service, just like the trams are free within the city boundaries, just as Melbourne has a free bus service and just like Perth has a free service,” Cr Martin said.

“It would put us out of step with our ratepayers and just about every major city in Australia.”

Next week, the council will vote on whether council chief executive Mark Golfstone should write to the State Government asking for a joint review. A report will be presented to the council by September 2019.