Wednesday, 5 February 2025

 Cindy McLEISH (Eildon) (19:00): (981) My matter tonight is for the Minister for Public and Active Transport, and the action I seek is for the minister to extend the existing Martyrs 683 public transport service to better accommodate the transportation needs of students attending Upper Yarra Secondary College. This request stems from the growing challenges faced by students, particularly those living in areas such as East Warburton, and from the limitations of the existing school bus network.

Upper Yarra Secondary College services a whole lot of really small communities such as Reefton, McMahons Creek, East Warburton and Powelltown as well as other larger towns such as Warburton, Yarra Junction and Woori Yallock, but often those in the far reaches end up being quite disadvantaged, and the school bus network does not always work.

The school believes that the public transport access is limiting for too many students and needs to be more equitable. There is certainly a lack of public transport in rural and outer suburban areas – that goes without saying – but students miss out. They should be able to have access to education. All of the students, including those with disability, need a more inclusive and accessible mode of transport, because it is not always catered to their needs. There needs to be greater flexibility and efficiency to the existing school transport system. Sometimes students have TAFE placements or work placements or have to go to excursions, and they cannot easily get there on public transport. The regional school bus program is really ages old, and public transport was not available at that time when it was put in place and it really only meets part of a need.

The school have identified what they think needs to be done and they have considered this very carefully, and they request the following changes to the 683 public transport timetable: the 7:17 am service from Whitegum Drive in East Warburton to deviate via Upper Yarra Secondary College on school days, which will add a couple of minutes and 1.6 kilometres; an extension of the 8:05 am from Yarra View Retirement Village to commence from Whitegum Drive, which would not impact the current timetable because it is before the regular service begins, and would add another 15.2 ‍kilometres; and an extension of the 2:31 pm service from Chirnside Park coming in the opposite direction to conclude at Whitegum Drive, which would not impact the current timetable as it occurs after the regular service concludes. So the school have done a lot of work to see what they think could be done and how easily it could be done.

I know there are always issues with trying to change existing public transport timetables, but I really urge the minister to engage with the school to see if there is a solution here, because it really does need greater flexibility, and it will not just benefit the students but will also provide a little bit more flexibility for the wider community who are often left stranded in those areas.