Bus services must be fixed

It is hopefully clear that the recent changes to public transport services across the South are not, as the State Growth Department has tried to claim, “significant improvements”.

Bus traffic in Elizabeth Street in Hobart. Picture: SAM ROSEWARNE.

IT is hopefully by now clear that the recent changes to public transport services across the South are not, as the State Growth Department has tried to claim, “significant improvements” that have “made travel simpler”.

Instead — as a packed public meeting in New Norfolk heard on Monday — the changes have led to delays so long that many people are ditching the bus and driving into Hobart again. And that’s the very opposite of what authorities should be encouraging.

BUS USERS VENT OVER SERVICE SHAKE-UP

It is good that a department spokesperson now acknowledges there have been “some issues” and that authorities will work towards ensuring the new arrangements run more smoothly — including making “further adjustments” that the department now acknowledges “are likely to be needed in some cases”. But it is disappointing it has taken more than three weeks since the Mercury first reported on these matters for authorities to acknowledge the problem.

It was January 18 when we first reported that the changes had led to a decrease in bus services available to people in some towns. One mother, from Ranelagh, warned then that changes to Huon Valley services would mean her four-year-old daughter would have to change buses to get to school instead of catching the former direct service when she starts kindergarten.

The department responded by saying that, yes, while there would be a decrease in services to some areas there would also be an increase in others — and overall better “frequency and span” to major towns around Hobart.

Well, fast-forward three weeks and social media is alive with users describing that new system as a “joke”, a “disaster”, and a “disgrace”.

New Norfolk resident Karen Stevens is one who is affected. Her bus to work now arrives in Hobart up to 30 minutes later than before, despite there being only a two-minute difference in the boarding time. “Many have turned to taking their cars so they can get to work on time,” Ms Stevens told the Mercury after that packed public meeting on Monday. “It’s just creating a bigger problem because you’ve got more cars on roads which are already congested.”

Cue Infrastructure Minister Jeremy Rockliff, who says “teething problems” could be expected as passengers and drivers get used to the transition — which, he pointed out as the department did three weeks ago, equated to an overall increase in services.

Well, the minister is right in that change does usually take some time to get used to. And, yes, he might also be technically correct about the number of services. But surely, at a time when 1) the biggest talking point around town is the increasing traffic congestion on our major arterials each peak hour, and 2) when the housing crisis is pushing more CBD workers to the outer suburbs and surrounding towns of our capital ... the last thing the Government should do is anything that might force people to shun public transport.

And yet somehow this has happened. And it has taken three weeks since the Mercury first reported this problem for authorities to accept there is a problem. It’s annoying. But now let’s all just hope it gets fixed, properly — and soon. We will be watching.