Pittwater Life August 2023 Issue

Full bus services ‘back by Xmas’
State MPs on the Northern
Beaches have slammed the
State Government’s restructuring
of bus timetables to
compensate for industry-wide
driver shortages.
And they are calling on the
Government to give not “strip”
resources and to give assurances
they will not divert any
new local bus driver recruits
to other Sydney regions.
Wakehurst MP Michael
Regan and Pittwater MP Rory
Amon are demanding full
services are restored before
Christmas.
Operator Keolis Downer
adopted a “temporary, adjusted
timetable” across the
Northern Beaches on 17 July,
to reduce the number of ad
hoc bus cancellations.
In addition to the temporary
changes being introduced
across the network,
there will also be some permanent
changes to services in
Avalon in response to recent
road and traffic upgrades.
These include routes 191, 192,
190X and the 199.
Notification posters have
been placed on affected bus
stops.
Keolis Downer said it was
committed to returning to a
full timetable and was taking
active measures to attract new
drivers.
“We know that our services
are not meeting passenger
expectations and we are working
hard to get more drivers
safely on to the road to return
services to where they need to
be,” a Keolis Downer Spokesperson
said.
Mr Regan said he had held
“full and frank discussions”
with both Keolis Downer and
Transport for NSW and was
optimistic that Christmas was
an achievable timeframe to
restore services.
“But in some positive news,
it’s great to hear that school
sport charter bus services are
coming back online for our local
schools,” Mr Regan said.
Meanwhile Mr Amon has
urged the Minns Government
LOBBY: Mr Regan.
to resurrect the Beaches Link
Tunnel, given its clear benefits
to the Pittwater community.
But he added that should
the cancellation remain in
place, Labor should allocate
funding in its September
Budget towards “pinch point”
planning across the Northern
Beaches including the choke
zones through Mona Vale and
at Narrabeen.
“There are now reduced
opportunities to ease local
traffic congestion,” he said.
“I fear that over the coming
years, our community will
be left in worsening gridlock
especially as the Government
foists population and significant
development growth
upon us.”
Mr Amon said pinch point
planning would include the
allocation of funding for road
network reviews to identify
opportunities for increased
efficiencies in the network
and subsequent detailed
design and undertaking of
works, which could include
new turning bays, slip lanes,
fly-over bridges (possibly at
the Narrabeen Lakes approach
heading south) or underpasses,
additional bus bays, traffic
signal sequencing, pedestrian
bridges and more.
The cancellation of the
Beaches Link Tunnel followed
a long-standing promise by
the then Chris Minns Labor
opposition to scrap the project
if elected. – Nigel Wall
News
The Local Voice Since 1991
AUGUST 2023 21