– 311 bus route: letter to the Wentworth Courier

The following letter by 2011RA member Jill McKay was recently published in the Wentworth Courier, Wednesday 15th February 2012

Not good enough (311 bus route), a letter from Jill McKay, member of the 2011RA

It was with great interest that I read the article on the 311 bus as I am a frequent user. There are however a couple of points I would like to add.

In the old days the buses were often late and this was not so much of a problem; at least they came. Now they are frequently early which is extremely annoying and very inconvenient. It means I and fellow residents will be late for appointments, work and other transport connections.  I am a pensioner and I cannot afford to catch taxis when the bus does not turn up.

Further to the unreliability of the bus service, the actual bus route was cut in 2009, which has meant that elderly (and younger) residents of Elizabeth Bay do not have complete access to public transport.  Elderly and less mobile residents in the loop of Ithaca Rd, Billyard Ave and Onslow Ave can no longer leave their homes or have the freedom to shop and enjoy a social life due to the loss of their 311 bus.

None of us have access to Circular Quay either as the bus route was truncated at Gresham St, and as your report highlighted, sometimes the bus does not even turn up.

I seriously urge the Transport Minister, Gladys Berejiklian, to reinstate the original route and improve service reliability.