The Sydney transport solution that would cost a quarter of a new metro line
Delivering a more extensive bus network with rapid services in Sydney would cost a quarter of a new metro rail line, says the head of a taskforce who is calling on bipartisan support for plans to revitalise the poor cousin of public transport.
Releasing a final report on Monday, Bus Industry Taskforce chair John Lee described buses as the “heavy lifter of mass transit” and said there had been a failure in the past decade by the previous government to invest in the system.
Sydney’s B-line buses between the CBD and the northern beaches have proven popular since they began in late 2017.Credit: Nick Moir
“Just as the metro plan was devised at the turn of the century, we’ve devised a bus plan for this century,” said Lee, a former head of the State Transit Authority and of private bus companies.
“I really encourage all sides of politics – the government, the opposition, the crossbench – to read this report and look how affordable the plan is.”
His comments come two weeks after the main section of a $21.6 billion metro rail line under Sydney Harbour and the central city was opened to passengers.
The need for a medium-term bus plan, including rapid bus routes, has been one of the main themes from the industry taskforce, which was commissioned by the state Labor government last year.
Tens of billions have been spent on road, metro and light rail projects in Sydney in the past decade but the $514 million northern beaches B-Line link is the only new rapid bus service to have been rolled out in the same period.
Transport Minister Jo Haylen said roads such as Parramatta and Victoria roads could benefit from B-line services.Credit: Nick Moir
Transport Minister Jo Haylen said a range of corridors across Sydney such as Parramatta and Victoria roads could “absolutely benefit” from B-line services but the medium-term bus plan was about working out which would provide the greatest benefit.
“We do need to look at those routes where they need to be extended. We need to look at new routes, and we need to look at frequent and rapid services,” she said, adding that the government had set aside $24 million in the June budget to deliver the medium-term bus plan.
Coalition transport spokeswoman Natalie Ward said the government had sat on the final report since May, and it was doing little to change Sydney’s bus network.
“The opposition supports more drivers, more routes and better outcomes for passengers, but delivery needs to match the government’s rhetoric,” she said.
The bus industry taskforce’s final report contains 19 recommendations, eight of which relate to safety, including a strengthening of driver training requirements and processes to ensure drivers are medically fit to get behind the wheel.
The report is critical of the state’s transport agency for accepting “low-cost bids” during the privatisation of Sydney’s bus regions which “eroded the sustainability and damaged the reputation of the bus industry”.
“The focus on cost at the expense of quality and other value factors has resulted in risk to the long-run sustainability of some bus operator contracts due to their unrealistic approach to margin and operating cost reduction,” it found.
The majority of the taskforce has recommended that the government consider re-establishing a publicly owned operator if a company running services in key bus regions in Sydney “demonstrably fails to meet its contractual obligations”.
Under the franchising model, successive governments contracted bus operations to private companies while maintaining ownership of buses and depots and continuing to set fares and regulate routes, timetables and bus stop locations.
The Rail Tram and Bus Union called on the Minns government to make it an urgent priority to fix significant problems caused by the privatisation of the bus network.
“That includes fixing the two-tiered workforces, chronic underpayment and other workplace issues,” the union’s tram and bus division secretary David Babineau said.
The government has given in-principle support to recommendations in the final report.
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