The M1 Metro has opened and the overall feedback from Lane Cove residents is that the Metro is quick, easy to use and the stations look amazing. However for the Metro to work for Lane Cove there needs to be a bus system which supports the Metro both when you are going to the CBD (or beyond) and when you return. The feedback on the bus integration with the Metro has been mixed.
As Lane Cove commuters know all too well, Sydney buses (operated by different private operators) have been unreliable, with cancellations and timetable changes since the buses were “franchised”. Lane Cove buses are part of Region 7 and are operated by Busways (background information here).
In May 2023, the NSW Government announced the creation of a Taskforce to make recommendations to improve the reliability, quality and effectiveness of bus services across NSW.
The Taskforce had 12 months to review the “franchised/privatised” system.
The final Taskforce report has been released, and it noted that buses as a public transport option were “neglected, underfunded and largely misunderstood.”
The report noted that buses were the most affordable public transport option because of their cost. However, their quality and reliability were “not meeting community needs and expectations.”
A statistic that will not surprise Lane Cove commuters is that 60 per cent of all public transport complaints come from bus passengers.
Buses – The Forgotten Mode
The Taskforce’s final report, dated May 2024, is called The Forgotten Mode: A Call to Action on Buses.
Although the report was delivered to Transport Minister Jo Haylen in May 2024, it was only released to the public on 2nd September, 2024.
The Taskforce Chairman, John Lee, in his letter to Minister Haylen accompanying the report, was very critical of Transport for NSW:
In his letter, he noted:
“A key underlying factor is that Transport for NSW is not structured, focused or resourced sufficiently to fully address the challenges of delivering optimum bus services. This underpins many of the problems we have uncovered, from the failure to fund operational expenditure and to grow and adapt school and regular route services to meet the needs of the community, to the underdeveloped partnership with the private operators who deliver contracted bus services across the state, and the lack of strategic plans for management of assets like fleet and depots or the workforce that delivers the services. Transport needs to refocus on bus –a mode that delivers more public transport ridership than any other mode in NSW.”
His letter also noted ten key themes – see below:
Nineteen Recommendations
The Bus Industry Taskforce’s Final Report has 19 recommendations and focuses on four key areas – passenger experience, bus service contracts, the workforce, and safety.
The report contains eight safety recommendations and proposes concrete measures to ensure that every bus on the road is safe and fit for purpose and that NSW bus drivers are better trained and more safety-aware than ever.
Safety Recommendations
- Strengthen industry regulation and ensure the government can identify, monitor, and deal with non-compliant drivers and operators.
- Address any gaps relating to vehicle inspection between Transport for NSW and the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator.
- Improve processes to make sure that bus drivers are medically fit to drive.
- Work with industry on mechanisms to allow for transparent driver safety performance data sharing.
- Bring the industry together to strengthen driver training requirements.
- Update the specification for Vehicle Monitoring devices.
The NSW Government has also asked Transport for NSW to establish a regulatory transformation program in response to these recommendations so that:
- The legal and regulatory framework supports best-practice safety regulation.
- Transport for NSW has the skills, experience, and regulatory tools to support compliance and continual safety improvements in the bus industry.
- Transport will engage with key stakeholders, including bus operators, BusNSW and unions, as part of its reform program.
Other Recommendations
The other recommendations in the final report cover the areas of:
- Passenger experience –improving how Transport communicates with passengers and improving the experience of people travelling by bus.
- Bus service contracts –improving how transport contracts bus services, including developing the next generation of rural and regional contracts.
- Workforce – recommending the NSW Government work with industry and unions to improve driver training and workforce strategy development.
NSW Government’s Response to the Final Bus Taskforce Report
The government has provided in-principle support to the recommendations. The NSW Government has said it will implement and continue to implement recommendations made in previous reports.
Transport Minister Jo Haylen said:
“When the Minns Labor Government launched the Bus Industry Taskforce more than a year ago, our bus services were in crisis. We were more than 500 drivers short, services weren’t meeting passenger needs, and there was no plan for the future. When we came to government our bus services truly were the forgotten mode.”
“The Taskforce’s work has shown us that bus services are the great enabler of the public transport network. They connect communities to one another, and to the heavier modes of transport like the new City Metro. We cannot have a truly integrated public transport system without frequent, and reliable bus services.
“This is a long term plan and program of work for government, but in just one year we’ve already made progress on the Taskforce’s recommendations. We’ve funded the medium term bus plan, delivered more bus services for passengers, recruited more drivers, improved passenger safety measures and rolled out new technology to help passengers and drivers.
“There is a lot more for the Government to do, but we have made a very promising start.”
The NSW Government’s “promising start” includes:
- The statewide medium-term bus plan which set out a ten-year strategy for improving the bus network.
- Support for bus service improvements in Regions 1, 7, 8, and 9 to deliver more services where they are needed most.
- Technology to help eliminate ‘ghost buses’ from appearing on planning apps and more transparent service performance data provided to passengers.
- A multi-year campaign to promote seatbelt use on buses.
- Intervention in Region 10 (Sutherland Shire) to restore bus services and improve performance.
- Making it quicker, easier, and cheaper for drivers to get their bus driver authority, by waiving the $70 application fee for a further 12 months.
- Offering new and current drivers staff Opal cards.
- Providing new navigation technology to make services more efficient and make it easier for drivers to learn new routes. Transport is supporting operators by providing 1,500 free tablets to encourage use of the new app.
- Bus driver recruitment initiatives continue, with the driver vacancy rate down to 231 from more than 500 in April 2023.
ITC has asked Transport for NSW to provide details of the service improvements to Region 7 buses outlined above.
What are Ghost Buses?
According to the Bus Taskforce Report, a Ghost Bus is a bus with aging operational technology such as Public Transport Information and Priority System (PTIPS), resulting in buses not being able to be seen in real time by passengers. Several bus drivers have told ITC readers that their buses have old technology, so passengers cannot see them in real-time (particularly Riverview buses due to 3G technology).
Listen to Taskforce Chairperson John Lee Discuss the Final Report
John Lee discussed the Final Report with ABC’s Sarah MacDonald – listen here.
Bus Industry Taskforce Other Reports
Report Released 22 Feb 2024
Another NSW Bus Industry Taskforce Interim Report was released on 22 February 2024. If you have a few hours, you can read the 204-page report. There is a summary here.
As a result of the interim report, Transport for NSW has agreed to:
- Develop a Medium-Term Bus Plan in response to the Taskforce’s recommendation for a focus on 10 high-quality rapid routes, 27 frequent routes and other improvements to local services. BUS ROUTE 288 is included in the frequent routes list.
- Developing proposals to address more immediate gaps in the network, with a view to improving local or school services and supporting the supply of housing.
- The NSW Government is rebalancing its investment in Zero Emission Buses to deliver more buses more quickly into western Sydney while also giving greater certainty to the local manufacturing industry.
The report also noted that local councils should be more involved in public transport and that Transport for NSW should provide more resources and training to Local Traffic Committee members to ensure a high level of skills and awareness, particularly in public transport planning, walking and cycling, road safety policy, and urban design.
Chair of the Bus Industry Taskforce John Lee said:
“The lack of investment in bus services or the forgotten mode of public transport is shameful.”
“Buses are the largest public transport mode in the State, and it needs well thought through plans to be implemented to fix this neglect.”
“We have recommended a strong, detailed and scalable plan for the Government to consider.”
“That means more money for services, bus stops, road priority and smart people delivering the plan.”
First Report – Released 14 August 2023
The NSW Bus Industry Taskforce’s first report was issued on 14 August 2023.
The Taskforce, chaired by John Lee, was established on 1 May to make recommendations to improve the quality and reliability of services and to ensure that bus networks across NSW meet community expectations.
The First Report reveals service quality in relation to on-time running and reliability has deteriorated, most notably in recently privatised regions where driver shortages and widespread cancellations are being acutely felt.
The First Report notes driver shortages should have been predicted and better managed and that the lack of basic driver facilities at layover areas is unacceptable.
It also highlights a focus on other transport infrastructure, and capital investment has come at the expense of basic bus service requirements, such as digital infrastructure, including real-time bus tracking, leading to over 10 per cent of buses not being visible to passengers – widely known as ‘ghost buses’. A former bus driver advised ITC that the system was still working on 3G technology, and buses in Riverview were impacted.
The 76-page report also notes a focus on savings during the latest retendering has led to a loss of operators with local knowledge.
The responsibility for bus-related issues was found to be scattered across Transport for NSW, with a lack of focus on working together with operators to deliver the transport needs of their communities.
Bus Industry Taskforce Chair John Lee said:
“The Taskforce clearly sets out where the problems are with the running of bus services, we have identified why this occurred and laid out our first set of recommendations to fix this mess.
“I was disappointed to learn that only 2% of the capital budget is allocated to buses when they move over 40% of public transport passengers.
“To take matter worse the former Government failed to reinvest the millions of dollars made from privatising Sydney Buses back into vital services, especially in underserviced areas.
“There’s an opportunity to deliver some quick wins and turn things around. Basic facilities for drivers have been neglected and just some small improvements will make a big difference for this essential workforce and help attract new drivers into the system.
“People within Transport for NSW understand the challenge but struggle with an organisational structure that makes it hard to know who is accountable for improving services for passengers. They need a bus champion who can take responsibility for getting things back on track.”
After considering the findings of the First Report, the NSW Minister for Transport Jo Haylen instructed Transport for NSW to begin developing a plan on how best to implement the remaining recommendations, which include:
- Transport for NSW working more collaboratively with industry to improve service delivery, including by consulting with bus operators, the workforce and unions.
- Establishing a long-term growth funding program to improve bus services to underserved communities around the state.
- Transport for NSW undertaking activities to improve rural and regional contracting, including engaging with industry to develop a modern, fit for purpose contract model.
- Transport for NSW undertaking organisational change to become more focused on delivering services by mode, including the agency creating a division headed by a Coordinator-General accountable for bus, ferry, and light rail, reporting directly to the Secretary.
- Consideration of further measures to improve bus driver recruitment and retention, including that Transport for NSW prepare a proposal for consideration by the Minister to provide a free Opal card to bus drivers and other operational staff.
- Transport for NSW is investigating ways to better use technology and training so that staff in the Transport Management Centre, marshals and station staff can better coordinate public transport service disruptions.
- Transport for NSW reconsidering the way it manages replacement and emergency bussing and, within 6 months, establishing a team that has the accountability, authority, and capability to deliver contingent buses for major events, planned replacement services and unplanned incidents.
Interim Report Released 5 June 2023
You can read about the interim report here.
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