Wednesday, 18 October 2023

Bus route 903

David DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan) (18:13): (523) My matter for the adjournment tonight is for the attention of the minister for transport, and it concerns the changes in the 903 bus route that occurred on the 15th of this month. This is an area that I know well geographically. My office was previously quite near to this zone, and I have had a number of people comment to me. The 903 used to run straight up Warrigal Road, turn onto Riversdale Road, run down ultimately to Station Street and then head up towards Box Hill. But this has been rerouted without proper consultation or proper engagement with really anyone much, and now it goes onto Burwood Highway and then heads up Elgar Road.

There are a number of key areas and institutions which are now no longer properly serviced with bus support. The 903 of course is that large orbital that goes right around from the west ultimately down to Mordialloc, which I think is where it ends up. But if you were living near to Warrigal Road or at Cameron Close, the retirement village, if you were a regular at Wattle Park golf club, if you were a younger person who plays on the oval opposite Wattle Park or if you were somebody who went to Wattle Park Primary School, you would want access to this regular, high-quality bus route which has been there for a number of years but has been now unceremoniously dumped. The 766 of course goes on its slow little loopy route up and around, but now there is a large area of terrain that does not have proper bus servicing and support.

I have looked at the Public Transport Victoria website and the journey planner. If you lived at Cameron Close, for example, and you wanted to walk across to the new route of the 903, that would take you 17 minutes. So this is very, very different. Instead of being able to go straight to Box Hill or straight down south to Chadstone or other venues, or even to Camberwell, you have got very long walks and much less access or you can find your way slowly across to the 766 and then go on its snaky route around and then change. This is a very poor outcome and a diminution of service.

What I want the minister for transport to do is to review this unsatisfactory decision to unceremoniously tear away a long-established bus route, leaving a large number of people in this central area of Surrey Hills on one side without proper bus services. It is actually outrageous, it is arrogant and it has been made as a set of decisions without discussing it with the community or those who are impacted.