Randwick Council has called upon the NSW Government to fix the eastern suburbs bus network following major cuts and privatisation.

Randwick Mayor Dylan Parker tabled the Council’s submission at the NSW Government’s Parliamentary Inquiry into the privatisation of bus services where he gave evidence on Monday 2 May 2022.

Speaking at the inquiry, Mayor Parker said the loss of 24 eastern suburbs bus routes and modifications to dozens of other routes has resulted in a substantially inferior bus service.

“Our residents have deep concerns in relation to the losses in bus services as a result of the light rail service. Our community places significant importance on public transport – especially buses.

“Council has for some time taken the position to oppose the significant changes to the bus network that were put in place in December of last year, to seek the ongoing retention of the bus services which were cut and to call as well for the release of all of the consultation data held by the New South Wales Government in relation to this.

“The position of Council is that we have had significant doubts as to the rationale behind these changes as well and the publicly espoused view that it would lead to a better public transport network.

“The experience now for our community is that people are clearly highlighting three major issues. One of them relates to issues around interchange — the loss of directness into the heart of the city.

“Other ones relate to the loss of the frequency of smaller routes, and there is also concern surrounding the privatisation of this service and operating a new network and the concerns which it will have going into the future in light of the experience of other areas,” Mayor Parker said.

To find out more about the bus issue, you may like to:

• Read Council’s submission to the Parliamentary Inquiry
• Read the transcript from the Inquiry
• Watch the proceedings on Youtube