By Sumeyya Ilanbey
State politicians are being urged to fix Melton’s “woefully inadequate” public transport, particularly bus routes.
The Melton Transport Community Reference Group has started a petition calling on candidates to take public transport in the region seriously.
“For too long, the residents of the City of Melton have been neglected,” the petition blurb states.
“Our public transport is woefully inadequate. Most people live more than a 10-minute walk from a bus stop, and those who are lucky enough to live near a bus stop have a bus service that runs infrequently and connects poorly to other public transport services.”
The group is calling for a solution that ensures 95 per cent of residents are within 400 metres of a public transport service that runs at least every 20 minutes; extending the bus routes to service new estates; linking routes from the municipality to surrounding areas such as Bacchus Marsh, Watergardens Town Centre and Werribee; and synchronising the bus and train timetables.
The group says duplicating the rail tracks from Melton to Deer Park was the “perfect” opportunity to review the bus services to railway stations.
“We deserve a level of public transport that many people in Melbourne take for granted,” the petition states.
The petition is at timeforthewest.org.au/melton_petition.
