George Attard, a long-serving bus driver for local company Cardinia Transit, joined Transport Minister Peter Batchelor and Gembrook MP Tammy Lobato in giving the thumbs up to a major boost to bus services in Pakenham.By Paul Dunlop
PAKENHAM residents frustrated by poor public transport services have been told they won’t be left waiting much longer.
The State Government has recognised that local bus services are inadequate for the fast-growing community and pledged that change is on the way.
Victorian Transport Minister Peter Batchelor on Monday announced $2.6 million worth of improvements to bus services in Pakenham.
The funding injection represents the biggest-ever boost to transport services in the Cardinia Shire.
Two new bus routes servicing the township and a significant upgrade and extension to the Princes Highway service to Berwick are highlights of the package.
They are expected to come on line early next year.
Mr Batchelor’s announcement was welcomed as a “good start” by Cardinia Shire officials and residents. It follows mounting criticism of the current standard of public transport in the area.
Late and infrequent trains, a bus service that lacked range and poor signage and waiting facilities are part of a litany of problems that have prompted residents in a recent survey to rate public transport as possibly the biggest problem in Pakenham.
Mr Batchelor acknowledged the current situation was not good enough and pledged that while there was more to be done, the State Government was taking its responsibilities in the area seriously.
He said calls to also improve local train services would result in a close look at the situation over the next several months with further announcements likely early in the new year.
Mr Batchelor did not commit to the possibility of Kooweerup and Lang Lang being reconnected to rail services, but said issues such as new train stations at Pakenham and other improvements were all under consideration.
The Transport Minister said the local bus improvements would give more people easy access to public transport and would provide better links between neighbouring towns such as Berwick, shopping areas and train stations.
Mr Batchelor said 31 per cent of local residents lived within 400 metres of a bus stop.
The new services would increase this figure to 71 per cent, he said.
“This will deliver a significant boost for residents of Cardinia Shire, making the area an even better place to live, work and raise a family,” Mr Batchelor said.
“It’s the biggest single boost to bus services ever seen in this shire, it’s a serious amount of money and it will allow us to extend the area of coverage massively.
“We acknowledge there is more work to do and we will continue to work with the council and the local community.”
Cardinia Shire Council chief executive Don Welsh said it was a good start and was particularly pleased with the consultation the council had had with the Department of Infrastructure in pre-planning for the new services.
Mr Welsh said council remained concerned about the lack of north-south public transport that would better connect towns such as Kooweerup, Lang Lang, Emerald and Cockatoo to Pakenham.
Gembrook MP Tammy Lobato said Mr Batchelor’s visit to Pakenham on Monday followed a recent announcement of increased bus services elsewhere in the region, including a new link between Gembrook and Belgrave.
“The priorities with these new and improved services have been to, firstly, provide bus services for areas with no existing services; to alleviate problems with overcrowding on some routes; and to extend the operating hours of existing services,” she said.
