Mike Baird’s B-line beaches bus scheme has even government MPs questioning merits
IT IS costing $500 million, but the new double-decker bus service between Sydney’s northern beaches and the city has been dubbed an expensive white elephant with commute times to be slashed by just six minutes.
NSW
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IT’S costing more than $500 million, but the Northern Beaches double-decker bus service has been dubbed an expensive white elephant with commute times to the city to be slashed by as little as six minutes.
The much-anticipated “B-line” — which the government declared would transform public transport in the area — will also allow just 210 extra passengers on board during the peak 8-9am commute period when it starts late November.
Commuters have flooded the Government’s Transport NSW official B-line forum, desperate for information about the service, with one official response declaring journey times were expected to be cut by “10 per cent”.
With the existing journey time from Newport to Wynyard being around one hour, the cut equals to just six minutes.
A separate response to a similar question states journey times could be reduced by as much as 10-15 minutes when the “full suite” of road improvement works to compliment the buses running along congested Barrenjoey, Pittwater and Military Roads were completed in 2019.
However, bus drivers claim any cuts to commute times would be negated by the extra time it would take to load and unload passengers, compared with the existing “bendy” buses.
The lack of a significant “return on investment” has puzzled commuters and residents along the proposed route, with two senior Liberal MPs last week privately expressing their concerns at the project started when Mike Baird was premier.
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“Why are we doing it? You’re asking the wrong person,” one MP said.
“You won’t find me speaking in favour of it.”
As for Transport Minister Andrew Constance, another MP privately opposing the project said: “He’s been given the hospital pass — this is a Mike Baird project.”
The service will involve 38 double-decker limited stop buses travelling between Newport and the CBD every five minutes in the morning and evening peak periods, and every 10 minutes at other times.
At the northernmost point of the service at Newport, the local surfclub and residents’ action groups claim they were blindsided by the decision to extend the service to the beachside suburb after it initially was to stop at Mona Vale.
After a public outcry at plans to use the busy beachfront carpark as a turning bay, Government sources reveal transport officials were now looking at accommodating the buses solely on Barrenjoey Road.
One local resident said there had been little public consultation until Pittwater MP Rob Stokes intervened in June to force transport officials to meet with the community.
Newport Residents Association president Gavin Butler (CHECK) said a rally was being organised as frustrated residents sent a message to the Government at being left in the dark.
“We have been inundated with new members who are concerned at what is going on,” he said.
“They haven’t really told us what they are going to do.”
Last week, the Government began cutting down more than 30 trees plus trimming another 21 at the lower end of the B-line route along Falcon Street, Neutral Bay, to make way for the double-decker buses.
North Sydney Council claimed the tree removal had begun without proper community consultation, resulting an uproar from local residents.
Leaked Cabinet documents obtained by the State opposition revealed concerns the B-line would be so crowded it would leave people unable to board soon after opening on November 16.
The documents also noted the need to allow for “sufficient media buying time” given the “scale of the proposed advertising campaign” that would coincide with the start of operations.
Opposition transport spokeswoman Jodi McKay declared the project “an expensive white elephant”.
“This has to be one of the most expensive bus services ever to be commissioned and at the end of the day it is increasing capacity by just another 200 passengers in peak hour,” she said.
Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) Tram and Bus Division Secretary, Chris Preston, said the loading and off-loading of passengers was expected to increase commute times.
“We know that these double-decker buses take longer to load and off-load than the current bendy buses,” he said.
“The Transport Minister is spending a lot of money on this service, and we can’t see that it’s going to deliver much, if any, benefit at all.”
Dee Why university student Lana Miletich, 19, said she hoped the B-line would provide a more frequent service.
“The buses after peak hour are always full, so sometimes you can’t get on, “ she said.
Dee Why resident Dasha Lobanova said the service may do nothing for people living on the lower northern beaches as the B-line double deckers would probably already be full by the time they reached her.
A Transport NSW spokesman said B-line was part of a “simpler” and “more reliable” transport service for the northern beaches.
“This involves creating extra capacity on popular bus routes and building the road infrastructure needed to address congestion and down the track, the Beaches Link tunnel to help reduce traffic along the gridlocked Spit and Military roads,” he said.