Residents of Gagebrook and surrounds are rightly angry and upset at the failure of Metro to adequately service the community.
Stories of buses running late, or not turning up at all are far too common, and the services which do run are few and far between.
As one of the most vulnerable communities in Tasmania, a high proportion of residents in the area rely on buses as their primary mode of transport.
It will take years for Minister Ferguson's welcome but long-delayed announcement of support for Metro drivers last week to improve their transport woes.
Even then, the Minister's move to fix a problem of his own making will only see Metro's services return to a pre-disruption level - which wasn't good enough in the first place.
There have been no commitments or timeline to restore services and Tasmanians, particularly those in vulnerable areas, need more bus services, not less.
In order to achieve this, we need public transport improvements to be a focus of government, not an afterthought.
We then need this focus to be underpinned by a public transport provider with a workplace culture and fair-pay which respects and values all of its workers whether they are drivers, mechanics or based in the office.
People living in vulnerable areas need all the support they can get to participate in the community, but after 10 years of a Liberal Government, they have been left waiting for improvements for far too long.
Rebecca White MP
Labor Leader
Josh Willie MLC
Shadow Transport Minister
