100 bus trips cancelled in Tasmania on Friday, Girl left in the cold due to bus driver shortage

Bus drivers say the government’s “gross negligence” is to blame for Tasmania’s driver shortage, not just Covid-19. FULL STORY >>

Bus drivers say the government’s “gross negligence” is to blame for Tasmania’s driver shortage, not just Covid-19.

Their comments come after 100 buses failed to turn up on Friday, 30 of which were due to Covid-related absences.

Labor MP David O’Byrne said he’d spoken with several disgruntled drivers who said the worker shortage came long before the Covid pandemic.

“Clearly we’ve got a problem with bus drivers leaving because they’re not being valued, not being supported, and not being made safe,” Mr O’Byrne said.

“It’s a massive issue for the travelling public if they can’t rely on services being where they are where they’re supposed to be at the time they’re advertised.”

Metro drivers can be sacked for speaking to the media as part of their contract conditions, but one anonymous driver told The Mercury the workforce was stretched to breaking point.

“The real reason Metro cancelled these services is due in part to gross negligence from Metro management over many years, but also in part to Minister Ferguson’s electioneering,” the driver said.

Metro bus in Hobart. Picture Nikki Davis-Jones

“In truth Metro never had enough staff to cover the new southern express services but the minister continued to implement these services because we are in an election cycle.

“There is so much stress each day with our operations team having to decide which service is more important than another, drivers are stressed and are repeatedly asked to do more and more overtime and management seem totally oblivious to the customer service side of things.”

Metro CEO Katie Cooper said Friday’s 100 trip cancellations were due to a combination of different factors, including Covid-19.

Ms Cooper said that on Monday only one school bus was cancelled due to an “operational error”.

Several private schools have already started their semester, but all Tasmanian schools will resume classes by Wednesday.

Ms Cooper said they had deployed additional bus drivers on Monday, and were working to recruit more of them.

“The Bus Driver shortage experienced on Friday was particularly unusual and due to a combination of a high number of on-the-day sicknesses, higher than usual staff turnover in recent months, the early return of some non-government schools and COVID-19.

“Metro is actively recruiting Bus Drivers, and has been for some time, including for the new, fully funded Southern express services.”

100 bus trips cancelled in Tasmania on Friday alone

One hundred bus trips were cancelled on Friday due to a shortage of drivers, constituting about 6.9 per cent of all trips in Tasmania.

Metro said about 30 of those cancellations were due to Covid-related absences, and that the company was actively recruiting to fill in those gaps. But there was no explanation provided for the remaining absences.

One of the passengers who was left waiting in vain that day was 20-year-old Naomi Wakefield, who was trying to catch a bus to work.

Metro bus. Picture: Chris Kidd

“On Friday morning I tried to catch a bus from Claremont to Glenorchy, but it didn’t show up. I got there five minutes early, so I knew I hadn’t missed it,” she said.

“I called Metro and they said the bus was dropped this morning because the driver was sick - they didn’t say Covid sick, just sick.”

Ms Wakefield was told she could walk to the next bus stop and catch the next service 15 minutes later, but she ended up catching an Uber in order to avoid being late for work.

A Metro spokesman said the service would be posting information regarding disruptions on its Facebook page on Monday and Tuesday.

The spokesman said Metro was working hard to minimise disruptions caused by Covid-related absences.

“Metro is actively recruiting in a bid to overcome a shortage of bus drivers, which has been exacerbated by Covid-19,” the spokesman said.

“We recognise that back to school can be a difficult time and apologise for any inconvenience and difficulty caused.”

The spokesperson said Metro encourages all students to travel on designated school bus services where possible, with timetable information is available at metrotas.com.au

Labor member Josh Willie. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Labor’s transport spokesman Josh Willie said these were alarming figures, particularly with the state schools due to return next week.

“This is yet another example of this government’s failure to plan for Covid in our community, especially in the context of the return to school,” Mr Willie said.

“The government must immediately outline their plan to ensure the safety of passengers and students, particularly as demand increases with school returning.

“The plan must consider the impact of driver shortages as well as the management of overcrowding on school buses.”

Students left stranded due to Covid-related bus driver shortage

A TEENAGE girl was left stranded when her bus failed to turn up on Friday morning due to a Covid-induced bus driver shortage.

Charli, 13, had been trying to take a bus from Cambridge Drive in Mornington to MacKillop Catholic College about 7.35am on Friday.

Her angry mother Tammy contacted Metro to ask why her daughter’s bus never arrived, and was told that it was due to a Covid-related absence for the driver.

Tammy was told that around 40 buses were cancelled around Tasmania on Friday for similar reasons.

She said her daughter suffers from anaphylaxis, and could have gone into shock while stuck in the middle of the street with nobody present to help her.

Generic pictures of Metro bus in Hobart. Picture Nikki Davis-Jones

“She doesn’t have a mobile phone – who was she going to call? Where was she going to go? She’d got dropped off in a location she normally would not be in,” Tammy said.

“She’s very young and vulnerable. If she had gone into anaphylaxis while she was waiting there, Metro then would have had a lot more to answer to.”

Later in the afternoon several students from MacKillop Catholic College were also left waiting when their buses did not turn up.

Charli’s 3.20pm bus did not show up, so she had to catch a 3.50pm bus.

Tammy said it made her worry about other children who might find themselves in similar situations, particularly with the public school semester starting in the coming days.

OUT IN THE COLD: Charli was left waiting in the cold when her bus never showed up on Friday morning. Picture: Supplied

Labor leader Rebecca White said this was a cause for worry, especially with so many parents about to send their children to school next week.

“This is a really fundamental failure of the government, when you think about how many children depend on buses to get to school each and every day,” Ms White said.

“We’re going to continue to see disruptions to families as children return to school, not just because of what can be expected in the classroom, but what they expect to see on school buses.”

Infrastructure Minister Michael Ferguson apologised for what happened on Friday morning.

Mr Ferguson said the government was working hard to ensure bus services were available by the time school resumes.

“As we all know, bus companies are working hard to look after everyone’s needs, including staff and passengers.

Infrastructure minister Michael Ferguson. Picture: Kenji Sato

“I had the matter investigated as soon as it was brought to my attention. Also, I called Tammy and apologised on behalf of Metro for the inconvenience to her and her family.

“There will be hiccups along the way and we’ll work hard to minimise the impact on the travelling public.”

Tammy said she did not accept Michael Ferguson’s apology, since he ought to be apologising to all the children who were left waiting on Friday afternoon.

A Metro spokesman said they prioritised the delivery of school services and general access services with a high proportion of students on them.

“Metro apologises for the service disruption this morning and acknowledges and regrets the inconvenience and difficulty that its customers face when we are unable to deliver our timetabled services however our bus operators, operations officers and customer service team are working in an extremely demanding operating environment,” the spokesman said.

“We are looking into improving the way that we communicate service disruptions to our customers.”

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