Cancelled routes, full buses which don’t stop, and queues of hundreds of people. It seems that the problems with buses on the Beaches keep getting worse. Peninsula Living examines the state of play since privatisation took place 15 months ago.
When Keolis Downer was awarded a $900 million contract to run buses along the Northern Beaches and lower North Shore in October 2021, it said it would deliver ‘positive public transport outcomes to local communities’.
“We will introduce new service technology to… actively manage routes and monitor bus running times, improving the frequency of bus services,” then chief executive officer David Franks said.
Two years into the eight-year contract, up to 150 trips a day are cancelled in Mona Vale, out of 1,200, with many of these at peak hour. Brookvale sees up to 200 cancelled a day out of 1,900 trips.
“No one wants to come to work. Drivers are being forced to take short meal breaks every day. They’re being continually asked – bombarded – to do voluntary overtime” RTBU divisional secretary David Babineau.
In the last six months, an average 11 per cent of morning peak hour services from the Beaches to Wynyard were cancelled. Passengers doing the home journey in the evening have had six per cent of their journeys cancelled.
Then came the news that Primary School Sports Association charter buses would be scrapped for the winter.
“Cancelled services are focused on high-frequency route corridors where another bus comes along sooner,” a Transport for NSW (TfNSW) spokesperson said. “No dedicated school services are cancelled.”
Commuters are frustrated, saying bus services have become unreliable. The queues at Wynyard of people waiting for the B-Line often snake around Wynyard Park, sometimes numbering over 100 at peak hour.
There is no dispute that a nationwide driver shortage is largely to blame for the problems which plague the service. It has created a disproportionate impact on the Northern Beaches, where the lack of a train line means transport options are more limited.
Peninsula Living has received reports of overworked drivers on stress leave, with most working overtime to fill rosters and days off cancelled.
Rail, Tram, and Bus Union (RTBU) divisional secretary David Babineau says many drivers are working 12 days straight in a fortnight.
“What I’ve seen through the changeover of privatisation is that morale of the staff has gone backwards,” he said.
“No one wants to come to work. Drivers are being forced to take short meal breaks every day. They’re being continually asked – bombarded – to do voluntary overtime.
“It’s a very low paid job for the responsibilities that are in it.”
Mr Babineau said that drivers often came into work and their roster had been changed without notification.
“We’ve got new drivers who have their work changed to runs they’ve never done before. Then they get nervous behind the wheel.”
Drivers felt ‘obliged’ to work overtime to help, which means that an eight-hour shift turns into 12 hours, Mr Babineau said.
Queues at Wynyard are sometimes numbering at over 100 during evening peak hour.
“We understand that there’s a driver shortage. But when (Keolis Downer) continually puts work in front of drivers and expects them to do it, with days off cancelled, it just gets too much for them.”
As a result, several drivers were off on stress leave, Mr Babineau said, and abuse from angry commuters did not help.
If re-elected to govern, the Liberal Party have said they will introduce a four-point plan to improve bus services and ‘tackle’ the bus driver shortage. One of the proposals is to recruit ‘proficient’ drivers from overseas.
Keolis Downer first started operating on the Beaches in 2017, including the popular Keoride service. Image credit: Keolis Downer.
The RTBU described this proposal as ‘dangerous’, as it would undermine the requirement for drivers to have lived in Australia for 12 months before getting a licence.
“Do people really want their kids travelling on buses that are going to be unsafe because the drivers have not had enough training and time on the roads?” Mr Babineau said.
“Do people really want their kids travelling on buses that are going to be unsafe because the drivers have not had enough training and time on the roads?” Mr Babineau said.
“There are plenty of local people out there to take the job. They need to increase wages so drivers can do this job without having to work 12 days straight and Sundays to actually make a reasonable living.”
Under its contract with TfNSW, Keolis Downer is subject to financial penalties and even contract termination if it breaches its key performance indicators – cancelled trips, on time running, and customer satisfaction.
A Keolis Downer spokesperson told Peninsula Living that performance under the contract was ‘commercial in confidence’.
In response to a question about drivers on stress leave and overtime, the spokesperson said: “Our safety regulations ensure no-one is compromised behind the wheel, with limitations on the number of hours and days in which drivers can work over a certain period.”
During last year’s NSW Government Legislative Council Inquiry into the privatisation of bus services, Keolis Downer was asked whether it would ever be more cost effective for the company to cancel services than run them.
Then-CEO Mr Franks said: “No. The contracting frameworks are designed to pay operators for services delivered, given the operator payments are not derived from farebox or revenue.”
Under its contract, Keolis Downer is paid a per kilometre rate – even if a bus is empty.
The Labor Party told Peninsula Living that the shortage of bus drivers was caused by the Liberal Government’s failed bus privatisation model.
NSW Shadow Minister for Transport Jo Haylen said:
“After thousands of cancelled bus services and delays, the Liberals can’t be taken seriously. This is their mess. They are unable to fix it.”
Ms Haylen said if elected, Labor would reinstate routes that had been cut and establish a bus industry taskforce to retain drivers.