Victoria’s Legislative Council is holding an inquiry into expanding the use of regional and rural school buses to give the community more transport options.
Member for Murray Plains Peter Walsh said it was great to see the issue being looked at.
“Members of many of our rural communities have little or no access to public transport while some school buses have plenty of room for extra passengers,” he said.
“I am aware of many situations where young people have caught the school bus for years but are not able to continue to do so after they finish school to get to their new job or tertiary education, even though they are still too young to get a driver’s licence.
“If we can ensure child safety and school students are not disadvantaged in any way, this may be an option that could work well for our community, giving residents access to at least some form of public transport.”
Echuca and District School Bus Services is co-ordinated by Echuca College, and principal Simon Wood said he would make a submission to the inquiry.
“We have a rigorous process for assigning students to a school bus that takes quite a long time,” he said.
“Part of our question around whether or not these can be opened up to public transport would be the current loading of school buses and whether there is capacity for people to travel, given most of our school buses are quite full at the moment.
“Because they’re quite full, the question becomes who gets priority access to those buses if they’re overloaded on a particular day.
“I also have a wondering around the public sharing the school bus network and what that might mean for our students.”
Public hearings will be held after submissions have been received and Mr Walsh encouraged all parents of current school bus users and potential users of the school bus to have their say.
The inquiry is set to hand down a final report before the end of this year.
Submissions can be made at www.parliament.vic.gov.au/1007-eiclc/inquiry-into-the-use-of-school-busses-in-rural-and-regional-victoria
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