Hume council has called on the Department of Transport (DoT) to provide better bus connections between the muncipality’s suburbs, as well as to tertiary education and healthcare as part of a northern suburbs bus network review.
DoT is consulting with the community on bus reforms to pilot a new style of bus network. The new style seeks to achieve higher frequency and
more connected bus routes.
Three different priority pilot areas are identified across the state, including a northern suburbs pilot in Broadmeadows, Campbellfield, Coolaroo and Dallas.
In its submission to the review, council stated that there was a need for improved connectivity in Hume.
It called for a high-frequency bus route from Broadmeadows to Latrobe University; new and improved connections for bus services to/from suburbs within Hume; direct east-west bus services from Greenvale through Roxburgh Park to Epping, providing access to Northern Hospital; and improved bus network coverage in under-served areas including employment precincts such as Campbellfield and Melbourne Airport.
Council also wants a Suburban Bus Loop to be set up as an interim solution, following the alignment of the Suburban Rail Loop and has requested more information about a future Bus Rapid Transit route along Aitken Boulevard.
Councillor Jarrod Bell said it was “incredibly important” connectivity across Hume was improved.
“[There is] great disconnect for our people, especially our young people, to access education, especially since the loss of things like the Victoria University Sunbury campus, now requiring any tertiary student to leave our municipality and take quite a journey to get to their campus,” he said.
“I really want to encourage the state government to do more.; there is absolutely more that needs to be done in this space.
“One of the big challenges … is the disconnect between the east and the west of our city. The bus network is the immediate solution to that challenge.”
