Regional leaders seek public transport overhaul, funding guarantees

Public transport reliability may be a growing headache in the city but in the bush it can be the difference between life and death, or a vital link to work and education. And regional communities agree it has a long way to go.

• READ MORE: Fair Go for our Regions

• READ BELOW: Funding call to save vital link

• READ BELOW: Stranded patients ‘should be paid rebates’

• Crucial corridor to the city is crumbling

A lack of affordable, frequent, buses is leaving Fleurieu Peninsula residents stranded — making it difficult for them to find work and get to university or medical appointments.

Community leaders will lobby the State Government for help to overhaul the region’s public transport system.

Victor Harbor Council chief executive Victoria MacKirdy said the region’s poor bus services were the number one thing locals wanted addressed.

“Young people can’t get around unless they’ve got their licence,” Ms MacKirdy said.

“It’s $10 either way if you’re coming from Victor Harbor into Adelaide and those trips are very irregular.”

Some South Coast residents reported that the region’s scant bus services were hampering their searches for work.

Victor Harbor’s mayor, Moira Jenkins, said it was also a big issue for older residents and stifling the region’s ability to draw more tourists.

Regional Development Australia Adelaide Hills, Fleurieu & Kangaroo Island — a board advocating for business and community growth in the region — is running a study on shortfalls in the area’s transport system.

Young Mayo member Isabella Cook at near her home in Hindmarsh Island. Picture: Tom Huntley

It aims to find out which areas need the most improvement, and how councils and the State Government can work together to improve transport.

More than 1300 people have responded to the RDA’s recent survey on the issue, the RDA’s regional development manager Steve Shotton said.

Hindmarsh Island woman Isabella Cook, 18, is among those calling for better transport in the region through local MP Rebekha Sharkie’s Young Mayo group.

Public buses in Goolwa are few and far between, she says, and the nearest bus stop is an hour’s walk from her home.

“My parents both work full time, so there’s not really a possibility of us getting dropped off during the day,” Miss Cook says.

“If my sister wants to catch up with her mates that live in the city she has to catch the bus on her own and she’s only 14 years old — it’s not particularly safe.

“For kids who live on the island, you can walk to the bus stop but if it’s a 40C day, there’s snakes everywhere, and if it’s raining, you get sick.”

The taxi fare from Hindmarsh Island to Goolwa was about $15, Miss Cook said, which was out of reach for many young residents.

Transport Minister Stephan Knoll commended Regional Development Australia for its work on the study.

Mr Knoll said the Government was forming its South Australian Public Transport Authority (SAPTA) to improve transport’s reliability.

“SAPTA will look at South Australia’s public transport system overall including where improvements can be made at the Adelaide Hills, Fleurieu Peninsula and Kangaroo Island,” he said.

Northern Passenger Transport, Volunteer Transport driver Janet Ridge with clients Pam Baty from Peterborough and Margaret Rowe Oodlawirra. Picture: Tricia Watkinson

Funding call to secure ‘vital’ link for elderly and isolated residents

Hundreds of people — mostly elderly or isolated residents — would be left stranded if a transport service in the Mid North and Southern Flinders Ranges regions lost its funding, locals say.

For almost two decades, the Northern Passenger Transport Network has been providing a lifeline to people who would otherwise struggle to travel to medical appointments hours away from home.

They are calling for assurances that the $194,000 in yearly state and federal government funding they regularly fight for is here to stay — ideally through a five-year agreement rather than short-term contracts covering as little as three months.

Among them is Oodla Wirra resident Margaret Rowe, 81, who is partially blind and regularly uses the service to get to eye and diabetic clinics in Adelaide.

She says without access to the transport network’s cars and buses, she would likely end up in a nursing home.

“My late husband (Lyall) said to me, ‘You’ll still be driving at 80’, but it will be four years in June since I gave up my licence,” Mrs Rowe says.

She started using the network more than 15 years ago, when Lyall needed to get to Adelaide for appointments. Like many elderly couples, they were overwhelmed with the idea of driving in Adelaide.

Volunteer Janet Ridge, of Peterborough, says the service is also a vital way to battle social isolation — particularly for older residents.

“We have people living on their own and they don’t see anybody until they have an appointment and see their driver,” Mrs Ridge says.

Volunteer transport manager Lyn Forster, based at Melrose, says the organisation has about 1300 people on its books. Its car service did almost 3300 trips last financial year, and more than 3100 bookings were made for the service’s buses.

“We’re funded until 2020 and what happens after that we’re really not sure — it’s in the lap of the gods,” she says.

“We won’t know whether that’s going to be extended right up until 2020. That has been a major issue for the last few years — whether we’ll be able to continue or not.”

Ms Forster said a five-year funding extension would “put everybody’s minds at rest”.

Mt Remarkable Council chief executive Wayne Hart said: “The question is, how does the NDIS work in with this transport network and whether the funding will be extended?” “If it’s extended, that’s fine, but if it stops, what transport is available for these people to get to medical appointments?”

Human Services Minister Michelle Lensink said the State Government provided $1.23 million to SA Community Passenger Networks this financial year, which included money for the Northern service.

Ms Lensink said community passenger networks could also apply for a share in an additional $50 million of Commonwealth Home Support Program Growth Funding, to increase services.

— Michelle Etheridge

Stranded patients ‘should be paid rebates’

A Riverland mayor says State Government-funded rebates should be offered to local residents who are forced to take taxis or be driven by another person to medical appointments in the region due to a lack of public transport options.

Renmark-Paringa Mayor Neil Martinson says the Riverland has limited public transport options and it is causing problems for local patients.

“We have a ring route (bus service) which leaves Renmark, goes through to Berri, over to Loxton, through Moorook, Barmera and back to Renmark,” he said.

“That heads (one) way in the morning and then comes back again in the afternoon.

“But if someone needs to go to the regional hospital at Berri, for example, from Renmark or from Loxton or Barmera, unless their appointments really match up well, they’ve got to make other arrangements.

“It certainly needs to be looked at.”

While Mr Martinson said the population of the Riverland may not be able to sustain extra bus services, other options, such as a rebate scheme, should be considered.

He said those who have to take a taxi or use private transport to attend medical appointments because the bus service is not a viable option should have their transport costs reimbursed.

Mr Martinson said the initiative could be a localised version of the government’s Patient Assistance Transport Scheme, which is run by SA Health and provides travel and accommodation subsidies to rural and remote South Australians who have to travel more than 100km to see their nearest medical specialist.

When asked if the State Government would consider funding such a scheme within the Riverland, an SA Health spokeswoman said: “The Department for Transport and Infrastructure manage a number of community transport services in the regions, and the Australian Red Cross also runs a medical bus that operates in the Riverland area”.

— Elizabeth Henson