It is apparent to Council and from the Consultation meetings that dedicated School Buses will be cut when the New Bus Network proposed for 2019 commences.
There is also a new School Bus Policy that is also asking for comments and for which the Consultation ends on 12 August. Access the proposed Policy paper here (or read copy below).
You might like to look at these points:
- Para 2.3 – A reliance on CCTV and safety Officers to make interchanges a safe place for students (see para 2.3 – report’s highlighted section). Many Weston Creek school buses are proposed using the daily bus system that is predicated on going through the Weston Bus Station. Noting that primary school buses will use the Weston waypoint, an on-going safe environment is surely a must.
- Para 2.4.1 The Prioritisation of Service Types has dedicated buses as last priority (5) which effectively means it won’t happen as a matter of routine.
- Para 2.4.2 speaks of providing services within the cap. Where did the concept of cap come from and if it previously existed, what is the change. What are the criteria for determining the cap’s minimum/maximum numbers?
- Para 2.4.3 speaks of ‘bell times’. What are the parameters that buses must achieve around bell times, eg no later than xx minutes, no earlier than y minutes?
- Para 3.1 Appendix address diagrammatically the use of safety officers at schools. Is this resource shifting a responsibility to schools? EG Mount Stromlo High School and St John Vianney’s Primary School both have no crossing presence on Namatjira Drive, but under this proposal invariably will have to have one each. Is this something Transport Canberra will provide or something transferred to both schools to resource.
Council has been unable at this time, to locate a previous School Bus Policy