August 27, 2019
Mornington Peninsula Shire Mayor Councillor David Gill launched Council's Better Buses campaign on Monday 26 August, which advocates for much-needed funding to upgrade bus services on the Mornington Peninsula.
Currently, 82 per cent of the Mornington Peninsula is not serviced by public transport, and the Shire has the second lowest provision of public transport in the Greater Melbourne area.
This lack of public transport has social, economic and environmental impacts across the community, and adversely affects the daily lives of residents.
Issues such as infrequent service, over-crowding, unreliability, and lack of direct services hamper the ability of residents to participate in work and study, while also fostering an over-reliance on cars.
"Better bus services are key for our residents to access jobs, education, social occasions and medical services," said Cr Gill.
"The Peninsula is the forgotten land in terms of public transport. We live in a two-tiered landscape where buses only service some of our townships.
"We are suffering from a long-term lack of funding in public transport that has reached breaking point.
"It is unacceptable that if you have a disability, or are too young or too old to drive, then you can't get where you need to go on the Peninsula.
"For example, it can take two hours or often much more to get from Balnarring to Mornington across the Peninsula by bus, which is only about 20 kilometres away. That's just not acceptable.
"There are solutions, specifically introducing a cross-Peninsula bus route, and extending and increasing the number of buses on existing routes, such as the 788 Portsea to Frankston route.
"We know that an investment of $10 million per annum would fix many of the problems experienced by current bus users, and indeed encourage more users as service levels and accessibility improve.
"This amount is small in comparison to what is spent on public transport in other areas.
"Upgrades to other routes are also urgently needed, and Council is committed to working with the state government and exploring every possible option and available solutions to this community issue."
Council is calling on residents to support the campaign via social media (#betterbuses) or by dropping a Better Buses postcard at any one of its 30 collection boxes across the Shire.
