Plans unveiled to get more buses in the fast lane

Public transport is set for the biggest overhaul in decades with a promise of better, faster services. But not everyone will be happy.

There’s a promise of faster services but routes will be cut.

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A radical overhaul of bus services in South Australia is aimed at generating a “better, faster and more frequent” network for an extra 250,000 commuters.

Uber-style bus services will also be introduced across metropolitan Adelaide under proposed State Government changes unveiled tomorrow.

The revamped network is designed at getting 700,000 South Australians living within 800m of a Go Zone – a bus services that runs every 15 minutes or less.

But it will come at a cost.

Multiple bus routes will have to be scrapped, reduced or overhauled to make way for more regular and direct services.

In some cases, passengers will be forced to walk up to 300m further for an appropriate bus stop.

Transport Minister Stephan Knoll told the Sunday Mail that the plans, which would be available for community consultation, would require some passengers to rethink how they used public transport.

But he was confident the changes would encourage more people to use public transport.

“These new bus contracts will mean almost a quarter of million more South Australians will have access to better, faster and more frequent bus services,” Mr Knoll said.

“Expansion of our Go Zone network means around 700,000 people will now have access to a bus that operates every 15 minutes or less and 10 minutes or less in peak periods.”

But the trade-off for more Go Zone services would mean some passengers would have to walk further, Mr Knoll confirmed.

“A small percentage of passengers may have to walk up to 300m further to their Go Zone bus stop but this will enable them to have a faster and more frequent service, saving them time overall,” he said.

Bus route map for web

“In order to provide Go Zone services for almost a quarter of a million more people, some changes will be required and mean that some people may have to walk, on average, 100m further to their Go Zone or local service.”

Exact details around timetables, routes and services are being finalised and will be released for community consultation next month.

The shift has only been made possible after bus and tram contracts were awarded last week to private operators – the first time light rail has been placed out of public hands.

The Opposition has vowed to rip up any tram contracts, and consider scrapping bus contracts, if it wins the next state election. Opposition transport spokesman Tom Koutsantonis said any proposal that included consolidating services would not work.

“The Government needs to improve public transport services across the board,” Mr Koutsantonis said.

“The Government should not be picking winners on bus routes.

“They should be expanding services, not consolidating them. If people have to walk further to bus stops, it is a mistake.

“The consequence will be that more people will use their cars.”

Keys aspects of the State Government’s plan include:

A TOTAL OF 45 Go Zone corridors, an increase of 10, to deliver more frequent services.

EXTENDING 20 existing Go Zones.

FIRST ever metropolitan On-Demand services in Seacombe Gardens/Seaview Downs and Blackwood and upgraded in Gawler.

FASTER journey times on various routes.

BUS timetables that are designed to facilitate connections with train and tram networks.

INTRODUCTION of 30 cross-suburban/feeder connector routes.

SIMPLIFIED route numbering.

A consultation period will run from next month to June to seek community feedback on the proposed changes.

The network revamp will be staged following the start of the new contracts in early July, with changes to be implemented from late this year and into 2021 across the different service areas.

The first ever metropolitan On-Demand services, better known as Uber-style buses, will be introduced after what Mr Knoll has dubbed a successful trial in Mount Barker and the Barossa Valley.