https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/Hansa ... 322-103309
Anyways, I was about to say, I'm pleased myself with Transit Systems and the service provided. And this is with all the construction challenges of the Inner West. Complaints are down, Constance says.SYDNEY BUS SERVICES
Mr JOHN SIDOTI (Drummoyne) (15:05): I address my question to the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure. How is the New South Wales Government improving bus services across Sydney, and is the Minister aware of alternative proposals?
Mr ANDREW CONSTANCE (Bega—Minister for Transport and Infrastructure) (15:06): I thank the member for Drummoyne for his question, and it is most appropriate that he asked it. Members opposite fought the Government over the franchising of region 6 for a long time. The service has now been operating for six weeks and it is worth reflecting on how well the franchise has performed. It has gone well. Members opposite will not like hearing that under the public operator, an average of 130 trips were cancelled each day. I invite members to guess the average now. It is not 100, not 70, not 60, not 40, and not 20; it is 18. That is the key point.
My dear friend from Strathfield told me that there would not be enough bus drivers to provide this service. There are now more bus drivers to cover the requirements of region 6 than there were under the public operator. Complaints also fell by 3.75 per cent in July, and that is despite a 6.6 per cent increase in services. The most important difference is that on-time running has improved by 3 per cent. That represents a significant saving of about $140 million over the life of the contract. Coupled with that, almost five million bus kilometres will be delivered as part of the contract. Of course, that wonderful initiative called "on-demand transport"—which the Labor Party hates—is also being delivered in region 6.
I thank the member for Vaucluse and the member for Coogee for joining me earlier in the week for the launch of the new Bondi link service. The 333 bus route will now offer a turn-up-and-go service with buses running every three minutes during the morning peak, every six minutes through the day, every 10 minutes at night, every 10 minutes in the evening on weekends, and every six minutes during the day on weekends. This will be a popular high-frequency and reliable service, which is what passengers want. The Government is building capacity, and about 29,000 additional passengers will be able to use the service.
Of course, this all follows the wonderful B-Line initiative. The B-Line buses are phenomenal. They have delivered 16,800 trips on average every weekday and there has been a 4.6 per cent increase in the number of bus trips along the B-Line corridor between Wynyard and Mona Vale compared to this time last year. B-Line buses make up 10 per cent of services on the Northern Beaches and carry more than 26 per cent of customers. Very pleasingly, trips in the middle of the day have increased by 9 per cent.
As members whose electorates border that corridor know, the frequency of services is great in the evenings and during intra-peak periods. It is also pleasing to see a 6 per cent mode shift from cars to buses along Military Road and Spit Road in the morning peak period. That has resulted in a 2 per cent decrease in travel times for general traffic. That is public transport at work under this Liberal-Nationals Government. We are seeing some fantastic outcomes. I was asked about alternative proposals. I have not heard any from members of the Opposition, and I am not expecting to any time soon. All we hear from the party of protest is ongoing complaints. What we have seen in question time this week has been deplorable.
The SPEAKER: Order! I call the member for Gosford to order for the first time.
Mr ANDREW CONSTANCE: Members opposite are not prepared to come into this place to ask questions about things that matter to the people of New South Wales; they are interested only in the politics of—
The SPEAKER: Order! I call the member for Gosford to order for the second time.
Mr ANDREW CONSTANCE: My favourite tweet of the week reads: "Lame question time attack by NSW Opposition on Gabby Upton ... @lukefoley badly needs to lift his game." That was written by Andrew Clennell; it is a comment from the press gallery. The bottom line is that members opposite have had a hopeless week. The Government will get on with delivering for the people of New South Wales.