Northern beaches: Concerns over lack of school buses as kids battle to get home
Parents are complaining after there were not enough school buses to transport northern beaches pupils this week, with one saying the lack of vehicles is “an accident waiting to happen’.
Manly
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Parents are complaining there are not enough buses for schoolkids at the start of the new term, with children having to wait for public buses next to a busy road.
Angela Van Boxtel, of Dee Why, said her Year 7 boy who started at Balgowlah Boys this week told her children were getting pushed into Sydney Rd in the rush to get on a public bus.
“There are now more than 1000 children at Balgowlah Boys, but there are not enough buses,” she said.
She said her son, 12, was unable to get on a school bus after school on Thursday and so with many others took the pedestrian overpass across Sydney Rd to wait on a narrow footpath for a regular bus.
“It was stressful for him on his second day,” Ms Van Boxtel said.
“Children were being pushed into the road. It’s an accident waiting to happen. It’s dangerous.”
Another mum on Facebook said the issue of a lack of buses had been ongoing for at least two years, as school numbers have grown.
A spokesman for State Transit said last year it increased services for Balgowlah Boys by two buses to meet demand, but a big issue was that students were not tapping on and off, so they had inaccurate data on how many kids were using the buses.
Principal Paul Sheather told the Manly Daily the students were unable to board the bus outside the school yesterday and they requested more buses, but Brookvale depot was unable to send any.
“The school has been in touch with Sydney Buses again today and they are currently investigating other options,” he said.
The school also sent out a general message to parents yesterday acknowledging that not enough buses were made available even though they had given the pupil numbers to the bus company in advance last year.
In a statement it said: “Unfortunately Transport NSW were unable to provide sufficient buses for the services supplied to this school this afternoon.
“The school has notified the depot manager at Brookvale and Transport NSW.
“The school provided information to Sydney Buses in November last year including student numbers and addresses.”
A spokesman for State Transit said pupils should use regular buses, as well as school buses to get home.
“The high school is located a five-minute walk from our 142, 145, 178 and 180 route services which can cater for students travel to the CBD, Manly or along Pittwater Road to Dee Why in the afternoon every five to 10 minutes,” the spokesman said.
“The use of existing services for students across the network is a normal practice.”
State Transit has also conducted an initial investigation into the 686n service — the school bus that runs from Balgowlah Boys via Manly Vale — and has confirmed up to 30 students alighted the service at Manly Vale BLine stop, which could have been mitigated by using the normal route services 178 or 180 which operate from the bus stop at Sydney Rd.
“State Transit will continue to work with Balgowlah Boys High School and Transport for NSW to monitor all school bus services through term one to ensure we have enough services to accommodate school students in this area,” the spokesman said.
The school is encouraging parents to complain to Transport NSW on 8202 2200.