The Public Transport Users Association (PTUA) and Templestowe Road Reference Panel have joined forces to demand a much-needed, new bus service along Templestowe Road linking Heidelberg Station with The Pines.
This important Manningham arterial road, the ‘missing link’ in Manningham’s transport network, is one of the few without an adequate public transport service and links two of the government’s ‘Principal Activity Centres’ outlined in Melbourne 2030.
“It’s obvious with rising petrol prices and growing congestion that the state government must stop the empty rhetoric and provide usable public transport in Manningham,†PTUA spokesman Christopher Trikilis said. “Templestowe Road is the ‘black hole’ of Manningham’s public transport network and urgently requires an additional bus route to serve those without a regular, dependable service.â€Â
“Bus services along Templestowe Road are amongst the worst in Manningham, with a single-directional, infrequent route operating on weekdays during shopping hours (route 283). The only solution is for a new bus route to operate from The Pines to Heidelberg operating half-hourly, seven days a week connecting shopping and leisure activities with residents’ homes,†Mr. Trikilis said.
“A proper service that addresses both commuter and community needs is long overdueâ€Â, Templestowe Road spokesman Mervyn Hayman-Danker said. “We need a service that will take people to work, school, health, shopping and commercial activities – and at present we don’t have this.â€Â
“The bus route would not only serve local needs but allow visitors to access some of the great locations along Templestowe Road like the parks and Heide Gallery. The government must stop denying residents and visitors alike to a proper bus service that connects two major activity centres, and with an ageing population and growing needs, we need this service immediately,†concluded Mr. Hayman-Danker.