Shock figures reveal extent of bus cancellations in Sydney’s northern suburbs

Shock figures have revealed the extent of a bus crisis gripping Sydney’s northern suburbs with 28,526 scheduled trips failing to turn up since the beginning of this year. See the worst routes for commuters.

Shock figures have revealed the extent of a bus crisis gripping Sydney’s northern suburbs. Picture: Julian Andrews

Sydney’s beleaguered bus network is facing fresh scrutiny amid an alarming number of services being cancelled and bus drivers calling in sick, with an average of 134 trips being abandoned on one network each day.

Bus routes in Sydney’s northern suburbs are the latest services to be placed in the spotlight as new figures reveal a staggering 28,526 services have been cancelled in the region this year.

A shortage of bus drivers has been blamed for cancellations in the Region 8 network, which spans the lower north shore to the northern beaches.

A damning report handed to the government in July found the level of bus cancellations over the past two years is “not normal nor sustainable,” causing passengers “disruption and inconvenience”.

Cancellation rates across greater Sydney have been unacceptably high since the start of 2022, the report found. Almost two per cent of bus trips were cancelled in both February and March this year, with more than one per cent of trips cancelled in April.

A photo of bus commuters in Chatswood.

Driver shortages are being made worse by “third world” toilet facilities for drivers, Bus Industry Taskforce chair John Lee told The Daily Telegraph last month. The cancellations are the latest sign of a public transport system under stress and comes just a month after high numbers of cancelled privately operated services in the Sutherland Shire forced the intervention of Transport for NSW.

Ashley Roperti with her children Natalia and Antonio, pictured at Dee Why bus stop. Picture: Jeremy Piper

The cancellations have caused headaches for many commuters including mum Ashley Roperti who relies on the bus service from Dee Why to Brookvale.

“On a bad day the trip can take 90 minutes because of the cancellations or delays,” she said.

“A lot of the time the buses get cancelled at the last minute and there’s no warning.”

The release of the data comes as many other Sydney bus networks struggle to meet mandated reliability and performance targets partly due to bus driver shortages.

The B-Line, which traverses Military Rd, had more than 2000 cancellations in the first half of this year.

Wakehurst MP Michael Regan (right) uses the local bus network to travel to parliament.

In the Sutherland Shire, commuters have complained about unreliability since private operator U-Go Mobility took over the bus contract in July.

In the first month of U-Go operating the service, there were 251 absences from drivers.

In the Region 8 bus network – operated by Keolis Downer which was awarded the $987.5m eight-year contract in 2021 – May was the worst month for commuters with 6263 trips cancelled.

Keolis Downer, in a statement, cited ‘driver shortages’ as a key reason for the cancellations.

In July, the shortages forced Transport for NSW to cut 180 daily weekday bus services in the Region 8 network to “curb the effect of last-minute cancellations”.

Politicians, including North Shore MP Felicity Wilson and Wakehurst MP Michael Regan, are lobbying Transport for all cut services to be reinstated by the end of the year.

Willoughby MP Tim James said the driver shortage had impacted the reliability of the public transport system and that “more needs to be done” to recruit drivers – including from overseas.

Driver shortages have been cited as a reason for the cancellations.

In a statement, a Keolis Downer spokeswoman said the company had launched a recruitment drive aimed at plugging the staff shortfall.

“(Keolis Downer) recognises that the main cause of cancellations in Region 8 is the nationwide shortage of bus drivers,” she said.

“These shortages are being felt more acutely in areas of Sydney that have a high cost of living like the northern beaches.

The figures showing the total number of cancelled services were released by Transport Minister Jo Haylen and equate to 4.76 per cent of the 546,227 bus services scheduled in the Region 8 network over the six month period.

A Transport for NSW spokeswoman said the department was working with Keolis Downer to “monitor performance and driver numbers”.

The Minns government has embarked on a major recruitment drive to address staff shortages, offering incentives including free Opal cards for drivers and scrapping application fees.

Opposition Transport spokeswoman Natalie Ward said the money used for Mr Lee’s report should have been spent hiring new drivers.

“Commuters are being left at the curb with no solution in sight, while the Minister’s pick to lead the Transport Department has admitted he has no operational experience in solving these problems,” she said.

Ms Haylen blamed the Coalition for driver shortages, saying the Minns government is working to fix the issue. 

“There are 144 drivers in training right now but we will not be able to fix this problem overnight.”