Damning report uncovers a Sydney bus system in tatters

Passengers are waiting for “ghost buses” that never arrive, while filthy “third world” toilets are fuelling a driver shortage crippling a public transport network that is being run like “an episode of Utopia”.

The kind of toilets being used by bus drivers in a brand new layover station built to replace old facilities in Seven Hills. Picture: Supplied

Passengers are waiting for “ghost buses” that never arrive, while filthy “third world” toilets are fuelling a driver shortage crippling a public transport network that is being run like “an episode of Utopia”.

They are among the damning interim findings of the government’s Bus Industry Taskforce, which also found that privatisation of the State Transit Authority has failed to deliver funding that was supposed to improve and expand services.

Transport Minister Jo Haylen will release the task-force’s interim findings on Monday, and give “in-principle” support for seven key recommendations.

That includes appointing a high-powered “co-ordinator general” responsible for buses, ferries, and light rail.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal that Ms Haylen will appoint bureaucrat Howard Collins to the co-ordinator general role, after the Transport for NSW bureaucrat was overlooked for the department’s top job.

Toilet facilities at a driver layover station in Seven Hills. Picture: supplied

Messy portaloos for bus drivers in Parramatta. Picture: supplied

The inquiry into Sydney’s bus network found that more than 10 per cent of buses are invisible to public transport phone apps, creating confusion for passengers and eroding trust in the network.

Other services that have been cancelled due to driver shortages still appear in trip planning apps, leading passengers to wait for a bus that never arrives.

Chair John Lee, a former State Transit Authority and private bus company CEO, blamed the prevalence of so-called “ghost buses” on bureaucrats failing to upgrade the system which tracks buses while they are running.

The report has recommended an urgent overhaul to the tracking system.

“It is disgraceful that we have spent billions upon billions of dollars for new Metros (and) magnificent train stations, but could not put the bloody $4 million into seeing where the buses were,” Mr Lee told Telegraph.

John Lee blamed “ghost buses” on bureaucrats failing to upgrade the system which tracks buses while they are running. Picture David Clark

Mr Lee also found that there is an increasing shortage in bus drivers, with 500 vacancies across NSW as of April.

He said shortages are being made worse by “unacceptable” facilities and “unusable” toilets drivers are forced to use at some break areas, particularly in Western Sydney.

“They were something that you might find in New Delhi or in a third world country,” Mr Lee told The Daily Telegraph. 

At one facility in Seven Hills, a hand dryer was taped to the wall of a filthy toilet, while rubbish was overflowing outside.

“Two rats foraging around. It stunk, it smelled, it was just unusable,” Mr Lee said.

The inquiry found that while buses move for 40 per cent of public transport passengers, the network gets just two per cent of the capital budget.

“To take matter worse the former Government failed to reinvest the millions of dollars made from privatising Sydney Buses back into vital services, especially in underserviced areas,” he said.

John Lee compared the situation to a third world country. Picture David Clark

Mr Lee said the bus network is being run “nearly like from an episode of Utopia,” and needs to “return to the basics” of providing a reliable service for passengers.

Ms Haylen said the task-force’s first report is a “clear road map” of how to fix the bus network.

“The Taskforce report is clear that on-time running and reliability has deteriorated over recent years and passengers expect and demand a better service,’ she said.

Mr Collins is set to be announced as the new co-ordinator-general for buses, ferries and light rail in coming days.

The announcement comes as Ms Haylen faces increasing pressure to explain why her office intervened in a recruitment process designed to fill the role of Transport for NSW Secretary.

Mr Collins had applied for that job but was overlooked for former Labor staffer Josh Murray.

Ministers can pick whoever they want to serve as their departmental heads, but the government had hired an executive recruitment firm to fill the job.

Ms Haylen told 2GB that she had put in place a “proper process” to appoint the Transport for NSW Secretary.

However, she is now facing questions from the Opposition about whether she broke the Ministerial code of conduct for intervening in that process.