Wednesday, 6 March 2024

Bus network

Trung LUU (Western Metropolitan) (10:14): I move:

That this house:

(1) notes the failure of the Allan Labor government to release, in full, Victoria’s bus network plan review announced in 2021;

(2) requires the Leader of the Government, in accordance with standing order 10.01, to table in the Council, within three weeks of the house agreeing to this resolution, copies of:

(a) Victoria’s bus network plan review and bus reform implementation plan;

(b) all submissions to the bus network plan review process;

(c) all supporting documents from Victoria’s bus network plan review; and

(d) all briefings to the current Minister for Public and Active Transport and each former Minister for Public Transport regarding Victoria’s bus network plan review.

I rise this morning to move my short-form documents motion 333 seeking the production of documents relating to the Victorian bus network plan review. I move this motion with great concern regarding the state of bus services and connectivity for residents in Western Metro. Melbourne continues to grow, and despite the particularly rapid pace at which the Western Metropolitan Region is growing, the lack of connectivity out west, the decades-out-of-date bus service system, the bus routes that do not meet the growing population, the infrequent services, the delays, the long wait times and the travel time my constituents are experiencing, the Victorian bus network plan review implementation plan is yet to be released. It is time the government released this plan because in the west we cannot afford another broken promise.

Submissions closed for the Victorian bus network plan review and bus reform implementation plan over 500 days ago. We have been waiting for the last 500 days without a single plan to improve the western metropolitan bus service network. The network plan itself was announced over three years ago. With the cost of living compounded by the lack of connectivity, things are getting harder for my families out in the west. This government has axed connectivity out west with the electrifying of the Wyndham Vale and Melton lines, putting more constraints on the connectivity for my constituents to travel around. With this pattern of behaviour, this government is neglecting the west once again, putting the east before the west with the increasing development of the Suburban Rail Loop and also the rapid pace of the level crossing removal in the marginal seat of Box Hill.

The reason my Western Metro constituents are travelling less on the bus system is because the bus service does not meet demand or the conditions we need to travel. My constituent who lives next to buses has experienced over 45 minutes wait times due to the lessening frequency of buses. The travel time for his journey in the west compared to the wider metropolitan area is an extra 20 minutes for each journey. Regrettably this is not an uncommon thing out in the west. The population is growing; we are bursting at the seams. The population of Melbourne is rapidly growing from 5.1 million to 7.9 million, and yet this government is falling behind in relation to constructing the western metro bus connectivity. What this bus review does is give us some foresight to propose a road map to move forwards to assist connectivity of the bus system out in the western metro area. I urge this house to support this motion and have the government release all the documentation relating to the Victorian bus network plan review and the bus implementation plan.

John BERGER (Southern Metropolitan) (10:17): I rise to speak on this motion that has two parts. The first part talks about the Allan Labor government and Victoria’s bus network plan review, which was announced in 2021, and the second part is the motion that requires the Leader of the Government in accordance with standing order 10.01 to table in the Council within three weeks of the house agreeing to this resolution copies of:

(a) Victoria’s bus network plan review and bus reform implementation plan;

(b) all submissions to the bus network plan review process;

(c) all supporting documents from victoria’s bus network plan review; and

(d) all briefings to the current Minister for Public and Active Transport and each former Minister for Public Transport regarding Victoria’s bus network plan review.

I know a bit about buses. As you know, I was a branch secretary of the Transport Workers’ Union for some years, and I want to note that the government will not be opposing this motion today. This motion gives me a great opportunity to highlight the Allan Labor government’s track record on public transport. We are the government that has been bringing the bus network into the future. It is the Allan Labor government that has been electrifying our bus fleets – think zero-emission buses around metropolitan Melbourne, with this bus fleet set to be zero emissions any day now. This is thanks to the new 36 zero-emission buses and the 127 hybrid buses. This is amazing news for Melburnians and Victorians. Not only is it ensuring that our transport is greener, but these zero-emission buses also generate jobs across Melbourne and these climate friendly buses are built here in Victoria – buses for Victorians and jobs for Victorians.

Since 2014 we have invested more than half a billion dollars into the new and improved bus service, and that means over 100 new or upgraded routes. Just in February the Allan Labor government unveiled the first all-electric bus depot in Ivanhoe, something my good friend the Minister for Police in the other place knows only too well. More than 15 bus routes have been extended or upgraded, and that is just in the last year. We are changing 25 timetables as we speak, and we have added new bus routes to growth suburbs in 2023. This is in suburbs like Melton, Rockbank, Keilor East, Essendon Fields, Endeavour Hills, Narre Warren North and Clyde and soon to be in Tarneit and Williams Landing in my friend in the other place the member for Laverton’s electorate.

The Big Build is going to change the way you travel. As you know, the eastern suburbs do not currently have a train line, with Doncaster rail not built. But whether it be a dedicated North East Link busway or the Suburban Rail Loop, the long forgotten suburbs of Balwyn, Templestowe, Doncaster and Donvale and the surrounding areas will finally get the public transport system they deserve with thousands of buses running each week and a bus every 3 minutes during peak.

We have provided $25 million to deliver new services to help our kids get to school, and that means more than 1400 school bus routes in a free school bus program delivered safely to our schools by amazing bus drivers. Nearly 65,000 students use these services every day. We are a government that believes we deserve the best and that our kids deserve the best. Setting up our next generation with the Suburban Rail Loop connected to our bus network is something future generations will enjoy. They will take it for granted. The Suburban Rail Loop is essential to the future of transport.

We are also improving existing public transport by making buses more accessible for Victorians. In the 2022–23 budget we committed $5 million to upgrade up to 80 bus stops across the state. That means seats, shelters and real-time information about bus services. This means Australia’s first rollout of a wheelchair restraint system on selected metro buses. We are going to evaluate this going forward to see how it is operating and to ensure the safety of the devices and better inform government, the unions, workers and the community about their future use.

The Allan Labor government is committed to public transport, and we are backing it up. While Jeff Kennett sold off our assets, we are building them. They shut it down and Jeff gutted it. I have spent my life representing transport workers and fighting for our transport system. I look forward to being part of a government in this place that backs that work in.

Michael GALEA (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (10:22): I also rise today to speak on this motion about one of my favourite topics, which is of course buses. I thank Mr Luu for putting the motion before us today. Buses are an integral part of both Melbourne’s and Victoria’s public transport network, especially in the south-east where – unlike what some of those opposite may think – we do not have tram tracks. We have three strong train lines running through the area – the Frankston line, the Cranbourne line and the Pakenham line – but to get to those stations people use buses, and we have a strong bus network. There is always more to be done, and I am very excited about the work that we can do and are doing to improve our bus network both in my region and across Victoria as a whole.

Victoria’s Bus Plan, which this motion goes to, is a comprehensive strategy for the reshaping and re-formation of our state’s bus network. As Mr Berger went through, it is about electric buses as well. It is about those zero-carbon buses – making them even more sustainable. Even a lightly loaded bus is still more efficient at transporting people, in terms of carbon emissions, than a private car, but these new generation electric buses make it an infinitely more sustainable to travel, which is fantastic to have wherever it is in my electorate that you are looking to travel, whether it is in Berwick or Noble Park or Cheltenham or in the Frankston region where you may wish to catch the 770 or the 771 to go east to Karingal or Langwarrin. You may wish to catch the 781, 784 or 785 to go down to Mount Eliza, where you might be able to go to Mount Eliza Secondary College. Labor’s newly elected MP for Dunkley has committed to massive investment in Mount Eliza Secondary College – made easy to access by those buses coming straight from Frankston, as I say, the 781, 784 or the 785.

We do not have tram tracks in the south-east, we have a strong bus network, and there is always much more that we can be doing to improve it. I am very excited to be part of that package. I thank Mr Luu for bringing deserved attention to what is a very strong area of government policy today, and that is Victoria’s Bus Plan.

Evan MULHOLLAND (Northern Metropolitan) (10:24): I have just a quick contribution to talk about this great motion by my colleague Mr Luu. I know he is a fantastic advocate for people in the western suburbs, particularly the outer western suburbs, where there is a desert of frequent and reliable bus services. I know this all too well from representing the Northern Metropolitan Region. In particular, the electorate of Greenvale is a desert for buses. Most bus routes completely miss this growing suburb for other suburbs. I know many hundreds in my community have signed my petition for a bus from Greenvale to Airport West and also Greenvale to Craigieburn Central. Picture this: there are tens of thousands of homes going into new housing estates, and you do not have a direct bus up a direct road, which is Mickleham Road, to the nearest major shopping centre, Craigieburn Central. That is what we have under this government.

Many people in Greenvale feel let down by the delays with airport rail. There is no direct route to the airport. I know the Age and major employers at the airport have commented on the fact that people cannot actually get to the airport. From Greenvale it takes 12 minutes to drive to the airport. It is right next to the airport. But if you want to catch a bus or if you want to go by public transport, it takes over an hour. You have to get a bus to Broadmeadows and then to the airport. It is just ridiculous. We need a greater frequency of buses, particularly in our growth areas.

I want to shout out to the good people in the suburb of Kalkallo. I know they are screaming out for more frequent buses but also buses that go all the way to the back of the housing estate. They only go to the front of the housing estate, which means people have to drive or walk 1 kilometre or 1.5 kilometres to the nearest bus stop.

We need better buses in our outer suburbs, because we know that when you look at Victoria, compared to places like New South Wales, people living in the outer suburbs have a greater number of cars, with an average of over two cars per household. We want to get that down. We want to see people catching reliable public transport. I thank Mr Luu for moving this motion.

Motion agreed to.