Oatley Electorate Bus Services

Hansard ID: HANSARD-1323879322-135509

Hansard session: Fifty-Eighth Parliament, First Session (58-1)

Oatley Electorate Bus Services

Mr MARK COURE (Oatley) (18:52:42):

I again voice the ongoing concerns and frustrations of my community about the operation of our local bus services by U-Go Mobility. Over the past month we have started to see somewhat of an improvement, which can be attributed to our continued fight as a community to ensure that we get the services we deserve. There are now 75 fewer cancellations daily compared to a month ago. We have also seen 18 school services change to being temporarily operated by Transit Systems to provide reliability, as well as the 452, 453, 953 and 954 services. From Monday 24 September, the M92 will be split into two new routes: the 960 from Sutherland to Bankstown and the 920 from Bankstown to Parramatta. We have been advised that this change will significantly improve journey reliability for the community and redirect drivers to complete other routes.

In my most recent briefing with Transport for NSW it was confirmed that an extensive driver recruitment and retention strategy is underway. This is beginning to show success, with a significant number of applications received and dozens of drivers now in training to cover routes across our community. Disappointingly, though, we have been provided with advice that our services will not return to normal until early 2024. This is not good enough. I again put on record that since U-Go Mobility began operating on 1 July this year my community has been subjected to cuts, delays and significant disruption to the network. My community have not forgotten that U-Go Mobility left our students stranded in the mornings and afternoons. They left some of our most vulnerable people out in the sun for hours in the middle of the day or alone in the cold at night waiting for a bus—that never showed up—to take them home. We never faced those issues under the previous private operator, Punchbowl Bus Company. The services they provided for 75 years were safe and reliable. They were a company our community had trusted for generations.

Over the past two months I have received hundreds of emails and phone calls from community members, and I thank every one of them for contacting me and my office. As I mentioned earlier, the feedback I have received was all fed back to Transport for NSW and U-Go Mobility, which has led to the recent improvements. In particular, we have seen the slow but controlled rollout of signage to advise our less tech‑savvy commuters that the timetable has changed and to call 131 500 for the latest information. I have also distributed printed copies of the amended timetables to some of our elderly residents in the community. It was unfortunate that the timetables at each bus stop had not been updated and were providing misleading advice to people about upcoming services that did not exist.

I have been told that a review by Transport for NSW into what went wrong is currently underway. The community deserves answers once this review is finalised. I have said this before and I will say it again: The contract that U-Go Mobility signed at the beginning of 2023 provided it with several months to become familiar with the area, routes, frequency of services and the number of staff that would be required to manage those services. Prior to the changeover I raised many of the concerns we are now experiencing. My parliamentary colleagues and I were reassured by U-Go Mobility and Transport for NSW that it would be a seamless transition. It has been anything but seamless. Whilst less frequent, I still receive reports of drivers not going in the right direction, missing stops people need to get off at and students showing up to school late because of service delays. It is truly disappointing that instances like these are still occurring. My community deserves better from this Government. I will continue to advocate on behalf of every single person in my community, and I will not stop until we have the level of service and reliability provided under Punchbowl Bus Company. We want our buses back.