Powerpoint Presentation : PCAG Budget Submission Public Transport – 31stMay 2018
Introduction
Point Cook has grown exponentially in the past decade but still is lacking investment in public transport, infrastructure and local jobs. This has led to more people driving cars to work resulting in more congestion on the roads. The issue of inadequacies in public transport was raised at last year’s draft budget plan review, which resulted in a response from council stating that public transport is a state government issue and that the council will continue to advocate for additional public services. The PCAG is requesting council to continue to work with the PCAG in advocating for better bus connectivity and additional innovations involving community organisations.
Point Cook – A Fast Growth Suburb
Point Cook has been one of the fastest growing in Australia with 250% population increase in the period 2006-2016, with a further increase of 15.4% (8,151 people) in the past 2 years. Population is expected to increase further by ~30% in the next 21 years.
SOURCE: https://profile.id.com.au/wyndham/population?WebID=120&EndYear=2006&DataType=UR
https://forecast.id.com.au/WYNDHAM/ABOUT-FORECAST-AREAS?WebID=130
Lack of Local Jobs: –
Due to lack of local jobs, approximately 62% of the workers work outside of Wyndham area.
Poor Public Transport access: –
Considering the high population growth and lack of local jobs and poor road infrastructure, public transport is an important key in reducing traffic congestion. However, the public transport access is currently inadequate and is failing to keep up with the growth here in the growth areas of Wyndham which includes Point Cook.
Note: The public transport access ranges from less than 5% with maximum value at 25.6%. In the figure, public transport access increases with strong shade of Red with the maximum range of 25.6% with darkest shade Source: https://atlas.id.com.au/wyndham (Travelled to work on Public Transport category)
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing, 2016 (Enumerated data). Compiled and presented in atlas.id by .id, the population experts.
The number of people using cars for transport has increased by 12000 which compares with the additional 6000 people who are using trains in 5 years (2011-2016), which again highlights the lack of public transport. Note: Williams landing was opened on April 28, 2013.
Source: https://economy.id.com.au/wyndham/travel-to-work?IGBMID=20
Inadequate Bus Routes Coverage/Frequency: –
The coverage of bus routes for new estates has not kept up with our growth with reviews of service provision not keeping up with the demand. The routes were last updated in August 2017 and due for revision in Dec’2018 according to an update in from PTV website.
Source :https://static.ptv.vic.gov.au/siteassets/Maps/Localities/PDFs/52_Wyndham_LAM.pdf
Economically disadvantaged People/ Senior Citizens /School Kids/Youth with less access/no access to cars are forced to walk for miles/spend hours waiting for connecting buses/trains to reach to key spots within Wyndham from Point Cook
- No direct bus access from Point Cook to Aqua pulse/Encore Centre or the Eagle stadium for participating in swimming classes and indoor sport activities
- No direct bus access to the regional shopping centre of Pacific Werribee and our local cinema.
- Our bus routes are to train station dependent. You cannot get to the Point Cook Town centre from Sanctuary Lakes without 2 buses and a short walk.
- Frequency of buses is very poor and does not align with the school times so that parents are heavily dependent on driving them to school.
As a result of this, a family travelling to Aqua Pulse from Point Cook or a young student working part-time in Pacific Werribee might have to spend ~1.5hrs -2 hrs. one way in public transport instead of 15-20 minutes in car.
Key Issues/Challenges and Proposed Solutions: –
| Issue/Challenge | SolutionCategory | Solution Proposed |
| Lack of Bus Connectivity / Enough Frequency | Advocacy | Revise Bus Timetables every 6 months based on patterns in patronage, feedback from Public and new houses in new estates |
| Lack of Access to Hoppers CrossingStation. Even after Sneydes Road freeway crossing was opened in 2016, there is still only one bus(498) to Hoppers crossing station. This bus route also skips the key estates along Sneydes Road which has highest Public transport patronage for Williams landing Station | Advocacy | Include some additional f bus routes for estates along Sneydes Road with Hoppers crossing station as destination |
| Access to Schools. Areas around schools are blocked due to cars of parents blocking Buses in the route. | Advocacy | Pilot Trial School buses for Public schools (Parents paying School Bus Fees) |
| Issue in assessing demand for Public Transport in new estates/new routes | Advocacy | Advocate to PTV for On-demand Public Transport similar to NSW and use this data as input for more servicesReference:https://transportnsw.info/travel-info/ways-to-get-around/on-demand-public-transport/about-on-demand-public-transport |
| Council Initiative | Council to coordinate with community agencies/ voluntary organisations and CSR teams of corporates to trial on-demand public transport. The usage data can be used to plan/advocate with PTV for regular services. Reference:https://transportnsw.info/travel-info/ways-to-get-around/on-demand-public-transport/about-on-demand-public-transport | |
| Council Initiative | Council can initiate surveys using“The Loop” tool to gather informationfrom Public using surveys | |
| Better Public Transport connectivity to key hot spots within Wyndham | Advocacy | Council can advocate for better publictransport access to key hotspots inWyndham (ex. Aqua Pulse/EncoreCentre/Pacific Werribee/ShoppingCentres) from Point Cook |
Conclusion
On behalf of the wider Point Cook Community, the PCAG requests the Wyndham Council consider this submission and include it in their advocacy strategy. As well, there are some initiatives which can be planned independently by Council and can be included in planning for next year’s budget.
We are happy to discuss our submission with council at the special meeting in June.
We request Wyndham Council to support our submission for better public transport in the growth areas of Wyndham.