Fears less used bus routes in southeast Sydney could be axed: Daley
A local MP says lesser used bus routes could be scrapped in southeast Sydney following a decision to hand over the operation of more state-run buses to the private sector.
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Lesser used bus routes could be scrapped in southeast Sydney following a move to hand over the operation of more buses to the private sector.
That is the fear of Maroubra state Labor MP Michael Daley after it was revealed this week that the Berejiklian government will privatise more Sydney buses including in the eastern suburbs.
However, the Transport Minister says it is “franchising” not privatisation and no assets such as buses or depots will be sold off. He also said the State Government will continue to have the final say on any changes to timetables or routes.
The eastern suburbs (region nine), northern beaches (region eight), and north western suburbs (region seven) will all be put out for tender to private operators under the move.
It is expected the tenders will be awarded by the end of 2020, although the State Transit Authority will continue to operate the buses for the next 18 months.
Region nine covers suburbs such as Coogee, Randwick, Maroubra and Mascot.
Mr Daley said the biggest concern for the region was private operators focus on profits and care most about “mass transport” and “main routes at peak hours”.
“It should be about a lot more than that including people that need to go to the doctor and people that need to go shopping who rely on public transport,” he said. “A lot of older people who don’t have cars rely on these buses.”
He said while it was hard to pick out specific routes, the lesser used routes were the most likely to go if cuts were made.
“(That includes) the little routes that wind around the beach and ones that take people from Botany and Banksmeadow to Eastgardens for example.”
Unions and Labor have slammed the Berejiklian government for not flagging the changes before the state election in March.
Transport Minister Andrew Constance said the latest move did not involve selling off assets.
“We’re not selling the buses, or the depots, we are making sure they remain the belongings of the people of NSW,” he said.
“This is not privatisation — this is bringing in the private sector to run government taxpayer-owned assets and it’s called franchising and that’s exactly what we’ve done with region six, Newcastle, and all the western Sydney contract regions.”
He also said timetables and opal fares will continue to be regulated by the state government.
“Transport has and will continue to maintain the final say in the timetable and the routes in all regions.”
Mr Constance ruled out privatising Sydney trains.
Mr Constance said bus drivers would also be given a job guarantee for the next three-and-a-half years.
Last year, buses were privatised in the Inner West, also known as region six, where service cancellations have fallen by half and patronage has increased by 20 per cent under the private operators.
That move also brought the number of bus regions in private hands in Sydney to 11.
Heffron state Labor MP Ron Hoenig and Coogee state Labor MP Marjorie O’Neill have also slammed the move to privatise buses in the region.
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