The Department of Transport has failed to act on the issue of slow and crowded buses around Chadstone according to the Public Transport Users Association (PTUA).
“Passengers to Chadstone are being left to hang from the wrist straps on buses stuck in traffic, while bureaucrats sit and twiddle their thumbs,” said PTUA outer east convenor Jeremy Lunn. “There has been absolutely no detail announced by the Department of Transport as to how they would be fixing these problems.”
The PTUA originally highlighted the issue of slow and crowded buses serving Chadstone in June 2010 [1]. Photos revealing crowding on the 903 Smartbus were released in August, 2010 [2].
“It’s a disgrace that passengers have to wait so long for any improvement. An efficient and effective transport authority would easily have additional bus services running by now,” Mr Lunn said.
“The 903 Smartbus should be upgraded to operate every 15 minutes on weekends.”
Mr Lunn also expressed concern that the Department of Transport has failed to provide effective leadership towards bus priority improvements.
“They should be leading a study to establish full priority for buses between Holmeglen and Oakleigh, via Chadstone,” he said.
“We hope the new Public Transport Development Authority will be empowered to solve problems much faster than this. The Department of Transport has shown it is incapable of achieving bus improvements in a timely and effective manner,” Mr Lunn concluded.