MEDIA RELEASE: ALP Melton $2 million bus review commitment welcome, but only a small piece of what the West desperately needs
Sustainable Cities / Friends of the Earth Melbourne
Key Facts:- Labor candidate for Melton, Broden Borg, has announced a $2 million pre-election commitment to review Melton's legacy bus network, including routes that have not changed in over 20 years.
- Local advocates are calling for growth suburbs such as Mt Atkinson and Thornhill Park to be included in any review, as residents travel beyond electorate boundaries for essential services such as healthcare.
- The Better Buses campaign is urging both Labor and Liberal candidates across the western suburbs to commit to implementing a grid-based bus network ahead of the Victorian state election.
Today, the Labor candidate for Melton, Broden Borg, has announced a pre-election commitment for bus reform in Melton.
The ALP’s $2 million dollar election promise includes a review of Melton’s legacy bus network, including some routes that haven’t changed in over 20 years.
‘We are pleased to see that Mr Borg is responding to the community and focusing on bus reform,’ said Elyse Cunningham, Better Buses community campaigner, ‘but $2 million should be enough to plan a new network for the whole of the West, not just Melton. We hope the review is part of a larger package of grid-based reform commitments that are desperately needed across all of Melbourne’s rapidly growing western suburbs’
‘We know that residents of Melton, and many other suburbs in the outer west, lack the essential public transport services that people take for granted in other parts of Melbourne. So, they are either stuck at home or at the mercy of rising fuel prices,’ said Cunningham.
Jaksha Shah from the Mt Atkinson Advocacy Forum said: ‘We welcome the news for Melton, and are hoping growth suburbs like Mt Atkinson and Thornhill park are also part of the review, as residents don’t just travel within the electorate.’
“I used to live in Point Cook, and my GP is still based there. When I’m unwell, I don’t want to have to drive hours to get to see a doctor. A grid network for the west would solve this issue for me and many other people in my community” said Shah.
With the Victorian state election approaching, the Better Buses campaign calls on Labor and Liberal candidates to commit to implementing the popular grid-network proposal across the Western suburbs.
The Better Buses website maintains a public list of every state election candidate in the western suburbs and shows which candidates have pledged their support for grid-based bus reform.
[https://www.melbournefoe.org.au/bbcandidatespledge26]
END
About us:
Better Buses is a campaign driven by the Sustainable Cities Collective, with the support of Friends of the Earth, Melbourne. We are asking the Victorian government to commit to transformational bus network reform, with a series of frequent, connected, and electric buses to drastically improve quality of life for people in the Outer West.
- A simple grid of fast and direct bus routes.
- Frequent services (every 10 minutes during the day — compared to an average of 40 minutes right now — and every 10 minutes at night or at the weekend — in contrast to few or no services now).
Contact details:
Media enquiries:
Elyse Cunningham, Campaign Coordinator for Sustainable Cities: [email protected]
Grace Eyre, Community Campaigner for Sustainable Cities: [email protected]