Media release: Western Suburbs community members to descend on parliament - 5 years since Victoria's Bus Plan 'failed to launch'
Sustainable Cities collective
Key Facts:- Local groups and western suburbs community members rallying at Vic parliament tomorow 18th June, 12pm
- It has been 5 years since Victoria's Bus Plan was released. Victorian Auditor General report released today finds bus plan making little progress, and a lack of transparency from the department
- Local resident Jaksha Shah highlighted her frustration with travelling 2 hours to get to work. Jaksha is a campaigner with Better Buses and will be speaking at the rally
- The campaign have invited Labor MPs to speak at the rally to show leadership on the issue
-The event will feature a failure to launch stunt demonstrating the lack of action on better buses
Local advocacy groups from Melbourne’s western suburbs have banded together under Friends of the Earth’s Better Buses for the West banner to rally on the steps of parliament tomorrow, Thursday June 18th at 12pm.
The rally, which marks 5 years since Victoria’s Bus Plan was released, comes a day after the Victorian Auditor-General released its audit of the bus plan. The audit found the Bus Plan is failing to meet its objectives to meaningfully reform Victoria’s bus system, and that the Transport Department is not being transparent about the progress of the Bus Plan.
“It’s been 5 years since Labor released Victoria’s Bus Plan, and since then we’ve seen nothing but a painfully slow piecemeal approach to bus reform” said Elyse Cunningham, Coordinator of the Better Buses for the West campaign. “Buses are an essential service that the government has failed to provide for the west, leaving residents dependent on polluting, expensive cars during a fuel crisis” , said Cunningham.
The Labor Government has announced small upgrades over the past few years, without delivering the network-wide changes promised in their 2021 Victorian Bus Plan. With the western suburbs being home to some of the fastest growing communities in the country, residents say this ‘one bus at a time’ approach has left them stranded with an outdated and unreliable public transport system.
“I live in Mt Atkinson estate, and while we are thankful that Bus Route 140 is finally scheduled to start from 20 June after three years of advocacy, our community is still living in a public transport black hole”, said Jaksha Shah, local Mt Atkinson resident and campaigner for the Better Buses campaign.
“The Melton line is still not electrified, services are not frequent enough, and many families in the west are still forced to drive just to reach a train station — only to find there is no parking and overcrowded trains. I am tired of it taking more than two hours to get to my workplace in Richmond. As a mum, I want to contribute to the workforce and still be present for my family. An integrated public transport reform will make it possible — not force parents and carers in the west to choose between work and family time” said Shah.
Rally organisers have invited Labor Government MPs to speak at the rally to let the crowd know what they plan to do about the broken bus network in the west, and are hopeful that they will step up and take leadership on this issue. They are expecting a strong crowd with many western suburbs residents travelling in to have their voices heard.
The event will feature a gathering on the steps of parliament with banners and signs, a line up of local community speakers, a ‘failure to launch’ stunt to shed light on the lack of action from the Victorian government, and cupcakes distributed by organisers. Media and members of the public are encouraged to attend and hear directly from those calling for a simple but transformative grid-network of better buses for the west.
About us:
Sustainable Cities is a grassroots community led collective working towards transformational bus netowrk reform in the western suburbs of Melbourne
Contact details:
For more comment contact:
Elyse Cunningham, Better Buses for the West Campaign Coordinator
Ph: 0421 559 343
Jaksha Shah, Better Buses for the West Campaigner and member of Mt Atkinson Advocacy Forum
Ph: 0426 014 143
E: [email protected]