Local Government Needs To Change Its Anti-Public Transport Mindset

I have been a bus driver in the Penrith area for over twelve years. In that time I have come to realize that Local Government is opposed to public transport.

Council's actions speak louder than words. Despite the rhetoric which Council sometimes dishes out, the fact is that Council appears to do everything possible to hinder public transport.

One example is the traffic management plan in the CBD. Since the new extension to Penrith Plaza opened in late 2005, Station St was converted back from one-way to two-way traffic. This has unfortunately increased traffic congestion, particularly in peak times. When Station St was one-way, buses could travel in the middle lane when crossing Henry St, thereby avoiding having to wait behind traffic turning left or right. Now, buses are forced to wait behind turning traffic. This slows bus services, which is the opposite of what is needed.

Another example is Riley St (between Henry St & Jane St. Formerly it had two lanes and a really long bus zone. Since the change it has been converted to a single lane. The bus zone has also been significantly shortened. A pedestrian crossing was added. The bus zone is rarely policed for unauthorised parking (meaning buses are often excluded from dropping off passengers)and to add insult to injury, it was re-opened to ALL traffic.

Add to this the problem of unco-ordinated traffic lights with very short phases and one can see that Riley St is a big problem for buses. 'Blind Freddy' could tell you that Riley St needs to be a "BUS ONLY" thoroughfare.

Local Government needs to alter its mindset. It's fixated on the use of private vehicle transport and building more carparks and thereby increasing traffic congestion.

Speed humps and roudabouts are problematic. These devices slow bus services. Speed humps are going up everywhere and it can be argued that they do not have the desired effect. In Glenmore Park, the draft development plan stated that Coucil should not place traffic calming devices on bus routes. So what did Council do? It ignored this advice.

Speed humps and roundabouts are also uncomfortable for bus passengers. Why can't roundabouts be more uniform in design? Why can't they be built with snooth edges to make it easier for buses to mount them? There are too many roundabouts. Small roundabouts are useless.

For several years now, bus drivers have been filling-in forms to advise Council of overhanging tree branches at bus stops which need to be lopped. I cannot remember one tree ever being pruned. The branches do alot of damage to the buses and also make it difficult to get close to the kerb to drop-off or pick-up passengers.
This is another example of Council's bad attitude towards public transport.

Other councils do all they can to support public transport. But not in Penrith.

How many bus only lanes are there in the Penrith region? One. At the corner of Andrew's Rd and The Northern Rd. About 75 metres of it - and that was put there by ORTA, the Olympic Roads & Traffic Authority just prior to the 2000 Olympics.

So why doesn't Council adopt the approach of most other council's and supply more bus only lanes? It would speed up bus services and therefore make them more attractive to commuters.

It's just plain crazy. Council has built a 15 minute carpark right next to the exit of Penrith Bus Interchange. Cars are required to exit the carpark via the interchange.

These cars then block the exit, often forcing buses to wait until the next cycle to exit the interchange.

The cars exiting this carpark slows down bus services. On this basis the carpark should be closed and indeed, should never have been built. So why did Local Government build it?

What other methods can Council adopt to encourage the use of public transport?

1. It could send timetables out with each rates notice,
2. It could encourage it's own staff to travel by bus,
3. The councillors could travel to work by bus. They're our community elders. What a wonderful example they could set for the rest of the community.

The list is endless. Hey, and you know another benefit of encouraging more people onto public transport? It reduces greenhouse emmissions!

The traffic lights in the CBD are a disaster for public transport. The green phases are usually too short and none of them are coordinated with each other. What you get is stop, start, stop, start, all the way into and out of the station. It doesn't need to be this way.

I know this is primarily a responsibility of the RTA. But Council have an influence with the RTA in this regard.

Council inspectors could easily do a survey or study on this issue and make a submission to the RTA to have the traffic light problem fixed.

Another problem for bus drivers is the unauthorised entry of private vehicles into the interchange.

There appears to be zero policing of this problem. Indeed, the police watch it happen in front of their noses and do nothing.

What I've noticed in my travels overseas is that some councils place automatic bollards at the entrances to bus interchanges.

To have these bollards placed at the entrance to Penrith Station interchange is a dream of mine. View an example of bollards on the following YouTube videos:

Admin wrote:I have been a bus driver in the Penrith area for over twelve years. In that time I have come to realize that Local Government is opposed to public transport.

Council's actions speak louder than words. Despite the rhetoric which Council sometimes dishes out, the fact is that Council appears to do everything possible to hinder public transport.

I agree with your comments. Everything is stacked against public transport in Penrith. Penrith
Council only perpetuates the problem.

I notice that you are very antagonistic toward Local Government and deservedly so. But criticizing Council will only make them dig their heels in. I think what's needed is public pressure to be made on Council to change their mindset.

Also, I believe this forum is an ideal medium to raise awarenwss of this issue and to obtain ideas from the wider community on how to change Council's thinking.