Close to 600 extra bus services each week will give Adelaide Hills commuters greater flexibility, creating more seats on public transport and taking cars off the road.
From Sunday, 25 August, an additional 384 weekly services will commence between the Adelaide Hills and the city. Together with extra services that started earlier this year, this will provide commuters with a total of 104 extra services each weekday, 22 on Saturdays and 48 on Sundays.
This means 590 more trips each week in total – a 42 per cent increase in trips between the city and the Hills.
Delivering on Labor's election commitment, the new services are among significant improvements that complete a $19 million expansion of public transport to support bustling Hills communities, from Crafers to Mount Barker.
A new Go Zone from Mount Barker will see express buses running via the freeway at least every 15 minutes from 7am to 7pm on weekdays, including every six minutes in peak periods, and half-hourly at night and on weekends.
Weekend services will also increase, with buses travelling between the new Crafers Park 'n' Ride, Glen Osmond Road and the city approximately every 15 minutes between 7.30am and 7pm on weekends.
These service improvements will not only provide additional capacity at peak times, including around school times, but will also run more often both early in the morning and late at night, seven days a week.
As part of the improvements, 24 new drivers have been recruited and a new fleet of hybrid-diesel buses is being progressively rolled out offering a safer, quieter and more comfortable ride.
Since the first round of improvements in January this year, patronage on our Sunday services has increased by 119 per cent while weekday passenger numbers are up by 24 per cent so far across the three express routes from Mount Barker to the City.
Hills commuters are encouraged to visit the Adelaide Metro website for more information, including new timetables and route numbers.
As put by Tom Koutsantonis
We are committed to improving public transport services for our fast-growing communities in the Adelaide Hills.
We started the year by putting extra Adelaide Hills bus services on the road, boosting the frequency of services through townships and to the city and back. And last month, we opened the new Crafers Park 'n' Ride to encourage public transport use, making it easier for commuters to leave their cars in a safe and secure location before boarding a bus into the city.
Hills commuters have embraced these improvements, with Sunday patronage increasing by 119 per cent - and now we are delivering the same flexibility on weekdays to keep people on the move.
We know that for every full bus on the South Eastern Freeway, there is an exponentially larger number of vehicles that aren't being used as people commute to the city. So we are not only improving accessibility to public transport for Hills commuters, we are helping take vehicles off the road.
As put by Dan Cregan MP
We know how rapidly the Hills region is growing – indeed, Mount Barker is on track to become South Australia's largest city outside of Adelaide.
That's why investing in public transport services between the Adelaide Hills and the city is vital.
I'm delighted to see these extra services hitting the road on schedule.
