The PTUA Geelong Branch has made a detailed submission in response to the Department of Transport and Planning’s Geelong, Bellarine Peninsula and Bannockburn Bus Network Review.
We believe Geelong’s current bus network provides a solid foundation and does not require a wholesale route overhaul. Instead, the priority should be a dramatic increase in service frequency: more buses running more often, so passengers can turn up at any stop knowing a service is never far away.
Infrequent and irregular timetables maketraveling a chore and discourage everyday use. That’s why our primary recommendation is a minimum 15-minute frequency on Geelong suburban routes and a minimum 30-minute frequency across the Bellarine Peninsula, Surf Coast and Golden Plains. We are also calling for a single weekend timetable to replace the current Saturday-Sunday inconsistency, along with evening services running until at least 11pm.
These changes would transform buses from a last-resort option into a competitive and convenient transport choice.
But frequency is only the beginning. Our submission also addresses crumbling and inadequate bus shelters, the lack of bus priority measures, the need for a major upgrade of the Moorabool Street interchange, and improvements to ticketing access. We examine how the network can better serve both existing communities and rapidly growing areas across the region. Just as importantly, we’ve called for the lessons learned from Armstrong Creek to be applied to the massive growth corridors emerging in northern and western Geelong. Public transport must be planned alongside new communities, not years after residents have already moved in.
The submission also includes practical route reform proposals for Lara, Leopold, Highton, Newtown, Breakwater and East Geelong. Rather than wiping the slate clean and starting again, these recommendations are targeted improvements designed to address real frustrations experienced by current passengers.
If we want a bus network that can support Geelong’s continued growth, attract new passengers and provide a genuine alternative to driving, now is the time to invest in frequency, reliability and passenger amenity.