Since Busways took over Region 7 buses (the buses that service the Lane Cove Council Area), there have been complaints of buses being delayed or not turning up. We have now been made aware of bus timetables being permanently changed – but with no notice to customers.
Changes were made to Region 7 timetables on 27 July 2022. These changes were not communicated to commuters. For example, Bus Route 261 – 12.22 pm and 1.11 pm – were removed from the timetable. Commuters were told there would be no service reduction when bus operators changed. Read the background information here.
ITC asked our readers to lets us know of any permanent timetable changes. Our readers sent us details of services that had been cancelled and we sent this information to Busways and also asked Anthony Robert’s office to intervene. Anthony Roberts’ office told us they would stress to Busways the importance of reinstating cuts to the timetable around school start and finish times.
Below is the information we passed on to Busways about Bus Route 288.
The 288 has been reported to us numerous times due to children being stuck at Wynyard Station – see below (and also see timetable which seems to support the below)
288
“Yes! We have noticed changes to the bus timetable, and I’m quietly fuming as my two boys rely on it to get to/from school in the CBD.
Route 288 (weekday) – The 3.23pm outbound service departing Wynyard has been cancelled without notice.
Route 288 (weekday) – The 6.39am inbound service departing Tantallon Oval has also been cancelled without notice.
This now leaves a 45min gap at Wynyard between the 2.54pm and 3.39pm outbound services – right at school time!! The 3.39pm is now so crowded that the kids cannot get on board and have to wait. It’s crazy to cancel services when the demand is actually there.
At first, the buses just didn’t turn up. Then the services were marked as ‘cancelled’ in the Tripview app, but now the services no longer even appear in the list.
We mainly use the 288, but it went quite noticeably downhill from the very first day Busways took it over, so I can only imagine other routes were the same.”
and
“In regards to your story about poor bus services and changes to timetables, I know my son and several other school kids are left stranded in the city between 3.20 and 3.50 as a previously running 288 bus no longer shows up. They often have to wait 30-40 minutes for a bus to Lane Cove from the city.”
A spokesperson for Busways provided us with the following information:
- Busways is working to preserve service coverage across the bus network while experiencing unprecedented and crippling driver shortages, compounded by absences due to Covid-19 and seasonal illness.
- Our objective is to minimise the impact on customers and minimise gaps on low frequency services in the face of these unavoidable driver shortfalls.
- With a shortfall of 140 drivers in the North Shore and West region, Busways identified services that were being cancelled on a daily basis, and that were expected to continue being cancelled in the short term in order to provide more updates for trip planning apps and websites. This would allow customers advanced notice of known cancellations instead of last minute.
- The adjustments enable us to offer reliably predictable route services during peaks and to maintain school services.
- In North Shore and West, about 2% of the 7,581 daily services are affected.
- Busways progressively implemented the changes between 8 and 17 August 2022.
- Busways has listened to recent customer feedback identifying school student incidental use of route services 288, 265 and 261. These services are being reinstated to cater for these school students.
- Customers are advised to check trip apps or transportnsw.info daily for up-to-date information, as timetables at bus stops are not being updated for this temporary adjustment.
- As changes are not isolated to particular routes, the most effective communication method for these temporary changes is via trip planning tools.
- We regret the impact on customers. The temporary change aims to reduce last minute cancellations based on what we know about driver shortfalls in advance. It is expected to improve customer data until labour shortages ease, and we can return to normal timetables, however we anticipate that driver absences will continue to impact in the short term, and morning-of cancellations on some services should still be expected by customers.
- In our 80 years delivering bus services in Sydney, we have never encountered the labour shortages we are currently seeing. This is also being compounded by the continued loss of drivers to retirement.
- We are actively recruiting 140 extra bus drivers needed in the region and encourage anyone who loves driving and is seeking a stable career serving the community to come along to our next Bus Driver Information Day at Willoughby Depot on 10 September and try out driving a bus. Applicants don’t need a heavy vehicle licence as Busways provides all training to upgrade your licence.
Thank you to everyone who provided us with the information. ITC will continue to monitor the situation.
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