Passengers revolt against Sydney’s late-running 370 bus

CHRONIC delays have turned this Sydney suburban bus route into a “terrible joke”. Thousands of commuters remain at the mercy of it and many take to Facebook to vent.

The 370 bus from Coogee to Leichhardt is so bad there is a Facebook page dedicated to it.

THOUSANDS of passengers remain at the mercy of a notoriously late Sydney bus christened the “worst bus ever”.

The 370 bus, which runs from Leichhardt to Coogee via Glebe and Newtown in Sydney’s inner west, received 501 complaints to State Transit in the last year.

A Facebook group titled “The Universe Would Cease to Exist if the 370 Bus Arrived on Time” has even been created to lament its perpetual tardiness.

The bus route’s chronic delays have been under fire since 2009, when fed-up locals took to social media to vent their frustration.

Facebook page members report bus drivers failing to stop despite almost-empty buses, long delays and drivers even asking passengers for directions.

Passengers board the 370 along King St, Newtown.

Nadia Granger, who uses the bus to get to work each day, said the bus was “terrible”.

Fellow passenger Jacqueline Check said the introduction of the Opal card system hadn’t even improved the timely arrival of the buses.

“And there was that time I was at the stop, desperately waving at the driver on an almost empty bus, who waved back as he failed to stop at the bus stop to pick me up,” she said.

A State Transit spokeswoman said “the route travels through some of the most congested parts of the city, including major thoroughfares in the inner west and eastern suburbs such as King St, Botany Rd and Anzac Parade.”

“The Universe Would Cease to Exist if the 370 Bus Arrived on Time”

State Transit has promised to “do better” on Route 370.

“We are doing everything in our power to make improvements for customers on our buses, particularly when it comes to on-time running,” she said.

She said the on-time running of buses had improved by around 5 per cent in the last three years but admitted there was “plenty more work to do”.

“That’s why we’re working closely with Roads and Maritime Services, Transport for NSW and the Transport Management Centre to improve bus priority, implement clearways and examine bus stopping patterns to identify impediments to on-time running,” she said.

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