Friday 5 January 2024
Hume City Mayor Councillor Naim Kurt has thrown his support behind bus travel, providing the State Government supports the infrastructure needed to keep us on the move.
This time last year, Infrastructure Victoria called for more buses and more exclusive bus lanes on major roads.
Infrastructure Victoria has highlighted that enhancing bus networks offers a faster, more cost-effective solution for improving public transport connectivity compared to constructing rail lines and is more environmentally friendly and affordable for residents.
The information comes on the back of a December infrastructure report, which Cr. Kurt says is relevant to Hume City and he hopes it will create change for locals.
Taking to Melbourne Radio at the time of the findings, Cr. Kurt said of Hume City “The buses that we’ve got here, they’re generally not very direct routes and they’re pretty irregular in the way they run.”
Cr. Kurt says the frustration causes locals to avoid buses, but he thinks this could change if the network was better.
“We need to have a change in perception around buses in our community.
“The perception we have is that they’re infrequent, indirect and inaccessible. So, they become unattractive to use in hot or bad weather.”
As one of Victoria’s fastest growing municipalities, Cr. Kurt knows that an improved bus route would be an important addition to our northern growth areas.
“There’s really one train line that exists to access our northern area,” he says.
“All the new train routes that are being built, they’re being designed in the south eastern suburbs. If we get bus routes happening, it can be done quicker, cheaper, and we can get people moving faster.”
Cr. Kurt believes government spending on transport could be better directed to ways that will serve more locals, such as a revamped bus network, over other big transport projects that serve Melbourne’s built-up areas.
“In our area, where housing is more affordable, families move in and often need to have a number of cars to be able to move around.
“Hume residents are paying a ‘car tax’ because we don’t have access to better public transport, and we don’t have the options other Melburnians have.”
The proof is there for what needs to happen to make lives easier for Hume City locals, Cr. Kurt believes.
“The investigation into this issue has been happening, we now need the government to step up and implement the findings,” he says.
