NEWS RELEASE: Bus Review misses the first stop

Bus users in Sydney cannot expect any magic carpet ride to come out of the 
current review of bus services, because the government is unwilling to spend 
any money on improvements.

The transport consumer group, Action for Public Transport (APT), says that 
instead of a magic wand, Mr Unsworth, the Review Chairman, has only been 
given a wooden spoon to re-mix the current ingredients.

Submissions to the Review, commissioned by the Minister for Transport 
Services, Mr Costa, closed last week. A spokesman for APT, Allan Miles, said 
that while the Terms of Reference for the Review gave promise of transports 
of delight, the squeeze was literally in the tail - the last words of the 
last term say "in a cost neutral manner". Mr Miles said this requirement 
rather crushed the life out of the review, and was like the python asking 
its victim which way he would like to turn.

With limited room to move, Mr Miles said, the review panel had been asked to 
look at a host of potential improvements, such as - a consistent state-wide 
fare regime, a network of strategic bus regions, responses to change in the 
capacity of rail and urban development, improved bus priority, desirable 
service standards, and better use of resources in rural areas.

Mr Miles said that he accepted that there are current areas of inefficiency 
that need better managing. However, he said the government is just teasing 
the people by holding out promises of vast improvements with no money to pay 
for them.

APT has made a submission to the Review, Mr Miles said. This consisted 
mainly of responses to the questions in the Discussion Paper. Some outcomes 
that APT would like to see, he said are
<ul>
<li>more flexibility in the interpretation of the Act regarding contract areas
<li>more co-operation between operators in adjoining areas
<li>involvement by more parties in the planning processes
<li>analysis of why previous reform attempts were not entirely successful
<li>a management action plan to implement any recommendations of this review
</ul>

Mr Miles said there are dozens of ways bus services (generally and 
individually) can be improved, but a serious effort requires serious money. 
He recognised that this Review is making a reasonably quick assessment of 
the current bus system and seeking some solutions that can be implemented 
quickly and cheaply. There is nothing wrong with that, he said, but it must 
not be the end of the matter. Mr Miles said he hoped to see more and 
substantial changes flow as a result of the separate Funding Inquiry chaired 
by Dr Parry.

It is also unhelpful to discuss bus services in isolation from trains, trams 
and ferries, Mr Miles added. However, he accepted that this is a one-off, 
short, sharp special purpose review, and so APT had worked within those 
bounds.

Contact: Allan Miles. Phone 9516 1906

APT's submission can be seen at
<a href=http://www.aptnsw.org.au/unsworth.html>http://www.aptnsw.org.au/unsworth.html</a>.
<hr>
Further Information:

REVIEW TERMS OF REFERENCE

1. The opportunity provided by integrated ticketing to establish a 
consistent state-wide fare regime.

2. The potential benefits of a network of strategic bus regions across the 
Greater Sydney metropolitan area which integrate with rail services and 
other travel patterns;

3. Improving the structure of the network to respond to changes in the 
future capacity of rail, and the future development of the metropolitan 
area;

4. Improved Bus Priority measures, Transitways and other options that may 
impact on services and suggested desirable service standards;

5. Improved use of resources in rural and regional communities to ensure 
more flexible solutions to local transport needs;

6. Funding, contractual and regulatory arrangements and any legislative 
changes required to implement these improvements; and

7. The best mix of recommendations to achieve improvements in a cost neutral 
manner.