by Edwina Doe, April 2021, from Bulletin 2 of 2021

There’s a missing link in our city transport system. If you, like me, can’t understand why our 431 and 470 buses are not allowed to use the pivotal stop near the Haymarket Light Rail stop, please contact Ned Cutcher, Senior Electorate Officer at Jamie Parker’s Electorate Office (balmain@parliament.nsw.gov.au). I’ve been emailing Jamie and Ned about this since November 2019 and they have been in frequent contact with the Minister for Transport, without success. In his latest reply, on 31 March, Ned says:

Thanks again Edwina. You’re right, it makes no sense at all. I think the only way to get them to see sense will be for the community to get involved. Are you aware of any neighbours or friends who are similarly put out by this?

I have asked Ned how other people in the Balmain Electorate, with Parramatta Rd as a border, could be mobilised.

City buses from Glebe do not stop at the existing bus stop that’s key to accessing important services and transport infrastructure (large red dot near centre of map). Instead, passengers must alight at stops nearly ½ km away (smaller blue dots on the map) (annotations by V. Simpson-Young)

Letters to the Minister

In February last year, the Glebe Society president wrote to Rod Staples, Secretary Transport for NSW, expressing concern about the difficulty in accessing the light rail from Glebe via the 431 or 470 bus 1. The letter said: ‘We believe that people should be encouraged to catch public transport and that the various public transports should be accessible and convenient to their users. We request a review of where the 470 and 431 stops be made so it is closer to the Light Rail Stop.’

Although the bus stops on those routes were altered for some months last year (much to the delight of Glebe-ites going into town), the routes have – inexplicably – reverted to the former bus stops!

In February, the Society wrote once again to the Transport for NSW Secretary 2. Let’s hope this doesn’t become an annual event!

1. https://www.glebesociety.org.au/wp-content/uploads/Letter-to-Secretary-Transport-re-buslight-rail-interchange-Feb-2020.pdf

2. https://www.glebesociety.org.au/wp-content/uploads/Letter-to-Secretary-Transport-re-431-and-470-bus-stop-Feb-2021.pdf

Is this disability discrimination?

by Virginia Simpson-Young

Many people with a mobility impairment (including many older people) rely on public transport. They may, for example, need to attend Services NSW in the city or travel down George St to Circular Quay or catch the light rail to UNSW. But if you have a mobility impairment and live in Glebe, you may not be able to do these things.

Sure, we have buses that go into the city (431, 433, 470 etc) but now they shoot past the most appropriate bus stop (located on Pitt St near the corner of Barlow St – stop ID: 2000428). If you’re on the 431 or 470, you’ll need to get off the bus 350 metres before the stop (outside TAFE on George St, stop ID: 200017) or 400 metres after the stop (Hay St opp. Belmore Park, stop ID: 2000429).

For a person with a mobility impairment, 350 or 400 metres can be a very long way – in fact, it can be too far.

The people disproportionally affected by these changed bus stop arrangements are people with disabilities. Hence, my question whether Transport for NSW is guilty of disability discrimination.