TASMANIAN BUS ASSOCIATION

Draft

Media Release

Date

TRANSPORT POLICY DOES NOT GO FAR ENOUGH

The Tasmanian Liberals public transport policy announced at the weekend does not go far enough to address issues currently faced by industry participants, Tasmanian Bus Association General Manager Geoff Lewis said.

Mr Lewis said while he was pleased that the Liberals had announced a policy designed to get more people onto public transport, he was disappointed it was restricted to Metro services.

“Any future system needs to be fair to all areas of the state and not just the areas serviced by Metro,” he said.

“Tasmanian public transport services are provided by a mixture of private operators, who deliver regional transport services to major population areas, and Metro, which provides services in Hobart, Launceston and Burnie.”

Mr Lewis said the association believed the only way to achieve new and expanded bus services in Tasmania was to change the current culture of passenger transport.

“This can be best achieved by expansion of regional services to the public currently operated by private operators,” he said.

“These operators are currently restricted in terms of the services they can provide because of a lack of government funding, except for concession passengers carried.

“Any integration of services provided by the private operators and Metro will deliver a more robust and strong passenger transport service.”

Mr Lewis said he would be seeking a meeting with the Tasmanian Liberals to ensure they understood the issues from an industry perspective.

For further information contact:

Geoff Lewis Tel: 0409 287 678