SCHOOLED ON BUS WOES

IF yesterday’s Geelong Advertiser reader poll results are any indication, the overwhelming sentiment in Geelong is that our public bus service needs improvement. As anybody who has tried to use the service in recent times can attest, local public buses run too infrequently on certain routes to be a viable means of transportation for many commuters, particularly along the coast.

It is a classic chicken-egg predicament — is the service lacking because of low demand, or are passenger numbers so low because the service is substandard? What needs to be fixed first to ensure Geelong gets the bus service deserving of a region of our size and population?

One problem point is around the sheer number of vehicles required to meet the heavy school service demand every morning and afternoon.

Western Victoria MP Bev McArthur has called for locals to get involved in a parliamentary inquiry into the use of school buses by the public as a means of tacking the issue. BusVic believes the integration would work if parents had access to CCTV and bus tracking data for security reasons.

But the concerns of Public Transport Users Association convener Paul Westcott surrounding the suitability of routes and the permissions needed are decent indicators that this is not the panacea to our public bus woes. Regardless, it is refreshing that the inadequacies of Geelong’s bus system has been put on the agenda so that our commuters can benefit from some meaningful change.