Wednesday, 19 February 2020

Mornington Peninsula bus services

Mr MORRIS (Mornington) (09:43): I rise this morning to again call for action to fix the overstretched and inadequate bus system that attempts to serve the Mornington Peninsula. The operators, Ventura, do a fantastic job but the constraints placed on them by the Andrews government means that the service they are able to offer cannot meet the demands placed on it. The population of the peninsula continues to grow and the demand for public transport with it.

Labor have been in power for 17 of the last 21 years, yet the only significant improvements that have occurred to public transport on the Mornington Peninsula happened under a Liberal government. At the start of every school year, my office receives complaint after complaint from constituents reporting overcrowding on the bus system, not just on the school buses but on the ordinary public transport system as well.

The government says it is working hard to improve bus services across Victoria. If they are, there is no evidence of it on the peninsula. We urgently need improvements to the 781 service to serve more households in Mount Martha. We urgently need improvements to the 784 and 785 services to support the significant population growth that has occurred in Mornington East. We have four bus services running through Mount Eliza village but none serving the area east of Nepean Highway.

Minister, none of this is rocket science. We do not need a longwinded investigation; we do not need assessments of the road network. We need identified improvements to the bus system delivered now.