Earlier this month, Transport Minister John Graham announced changes to Sector 10 bus services from June 21 affecting Hurstville, Oatley, Penshurst, Mortdale and Peakhurst.

Changes to Sector 10 bus services will disadvantage commuters, particularly the elderly, Georges River Council was told this week.

Subscribe now for unlimited access.

or signup to continue reading

Earlier this month, Transport Minister John Graham announced changes to Sector 10 bus services from June 21 affecting Hurstville, Oatley, Penshurst, Mortdale and Peakhurst.

The changes are aimed at making bus services much more reliable, the timetable dependable and improve connections on longer routes to Bankstown, he said.

But Georges River Councillor Peter Mahoney warned, "The devil's in the detail, with four routes being removed which, it appears, will disadvantage many including commuters, school students, the elderly, those with disabilities, shoppers, parents, children and workers.

"The most commonly expressed complaint I have seen is the cessation of the 944 bus route from June 21 ran along Forest Road and services the Park Street shopping centre and Georges River College, Peakhurst campus," Cr Mahoney said.

"Most alarmingly, the terminated 944 provided essential transport for those living in the large Peakhurst IRT retirement village who need safe and easy access to medical and other services in Mortdale, and who will now be forced to walk 750 metres or over 10 minutes in the weather to Lorraine Street," he said.

"Those needing direct access to Riverwood from Peakhurst will be affected, as they will be forced to walk up to one kilometre. People travelling to or from Roselands, which is the most convenient major centre for many in the area, will be greatly disadvantaged.

"With the loss of the 944, TfNSW suggests city commuters should go to Padstow or Riverwood, not Mortdale, which extends travel times and makes little sense," he said.

Cr Mahoney submitted a notice at the June 21 council meeting calling on the council to write to the transport minister seeking his assurance that bus patrons within the Georges River Local Government Area will not experience any reduction in the standard of public bus services effective such as changes or cancellations of routes 942, 943, 944, 945 and M91.

Cr Mahoney's notice of notice also asked that service frequency, operating hours, route coverage, accessibility, safety, amenity and connectivity particularly within the suburbs of Peakhurst, Peakhurst Heights, Lugarno, Riverwood, and Mortdale, as well as for travel originating or terminating outside the LGA (including Roselands and Bankstown) will be maintained from June 21.

It also asked that any review of the revised bus services will assess impacts on older persons, people with disabilities, students, workers, parents with children, commuters, and individuals without access to a private motor vehicle and would be communicated to Georges River and Canterbury-Bankstown Councils.

And any future changes to bus services within the Georges River LGA will be subject to a comprehensive community consultation program involving all stakeholders.

"These 'changes' were not widely advertised, a little like the government's so-called housing reforms," Cr Mahoney said.

"Not everyone studies websites or checks apps before they travel, and apart from signs pasted inside buses only a week and a half ago, and some vague news articles which warned of cuts to services, there was no practical notice of the impact of these changes," he said.