In late October 2019, the NSW Government announced its plans to privatise Sydney’s remaining public bus services.
The regions 7, 8 and 9 cover the Northern Beaches, Eastern Suburbs and Ryde/Willoughby areas and are responsible for more than half of all bus trips made in the state. The Lane Cove Local Government Area (LGA) is located within Region 7 which is currently operated by Sydney Buses.
The announcement means Sydney bus commuter’s local bus services are at risk.
Recent bus privatisation in Sydney’s inner-west and Newcastle hasn’t worked. On-time running is down, routes have been cut, stops have closed, and workers’ conditions have plummeted.
In Region 6, on-time running has plummeted since the service was privatised. Since taking over, the private company has failed to meet its on-time running KPIs almost every month.
Cuts to local bus services aren’t just an inconvenience – they’re a serious risk. In Newcastle we’ve seen children left by the side of the road; the less-able in the community forced to change buses multiple times to get to appointments, or stop using public transport altogether.
Dear Premier Berejiklian,
As concerned members of the community we are writing to reject your proposal to privatise Sydney’s public bus services.
Not only is this move a betrayal of workers and commuters given you publicly stated that you would not privatise these services, but simply – privatisation doesn’t work. Privatising buses in Sydney’s inner west and Newcastle has massively reduced on-time running. Routes have been cut, stops closed and working conditions have nosedived.
It’s a basic responsibility of our government to provide a safe, affordable and reliable public transport network, but at the moment it seems you and your government are intent on shirking that responsibility to the detriment of commuters and workers.
Private operators put profits before people. To make money they’ll slash services, close bus stops and cut back on maintenance. We’ve seen it in Newcastle and in the inner-west and we’ll undoubtedly see throughout Sydney unless you reserve your current plans.
Please, don’t rob Sydney commuters of the bus services they deserve.
We urge you to immediately withdraw your proposal to privatise Sydney’s public bus services and make a public commitment not to privatise any other public transport services in NSW.
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