Page 1287 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 11 April 2018
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am informed, is that when schools have raised their concerns with ACTION, officials and drivers at ACTION have been more than understanding and have tried to find a solution. However, whichever way you look at it, it is not good enough.
Late last year it became clear that the planned change to the ACTION network would lead to a 15-minute delay of the 4.55 afternoon bus service from Alfred Deakin high to Woden. This delay would mean that the bus arrived 29 minutes after the end of the school day, stretching school resources even further as teachers are paid to supervise only until 3.30. I was approached by a parent who lives in Coombs and who has a daughter who attends Alfred Deakin high, an eight-kilometre journey door to door.
As there is no direct bus from Coombs to the school, she must take two buses. Due to the poor coordination, the first bus the student can take from Alfred Deakin in the afternoon is jam-packed with students who do not wish to wait for the significantly later second bus. This daily rush and crushing overcrowding of the bus has led to students becoming anxious about their commute to and from school and has encouraged at least one student to take public buses. This whole process has lengthened the eight-kilometre journey home to an approximately 90-minute commute.
Whilst I understand that the purview of managing school buses falls within the responsibility of the Minister for Transport Canberra and City Services, I implore the Minister for Education and Early Childhood Development to think about the impact this is having on our children’s education. She has stated many times in this chamber that she is passionate about making sure our children have access to the best education. There are many ways to do this and fixing up a poor service that is getting our students to school on time is just one. I implore her to take the concerns of these parents, teachers and students seriously.
I finish with some of the words of those who reached out to me to advocate on their behalf directly to both the Minister for Transport Canberra and City Services and the Minister for Education and Early Childhood Development. On behalf of Bronwyn, why is it that the No 619 service is usually 20 minutes late each day getting to Dickson College? On behalf of Michael, why is it that the bus from Gungahlin to Merici is 10 to 15 minutes late each day? On behalf of Michelle, why is the bus stop on Clarrie Hermes Street next to St John Paul II College not active? Why does no school bus go from the Belconnen area to St John Paul II College, forcing more than 20 students to ride a public bus, the No 51, to get to and from Belconnen and school? On behalf of Kelly, why is the Dunlop-Macgregor bus always 10 minutes late for class?
On behalf of the parents of a Daramalan student, I ask: why does the 405 bus arrive 20 minutes after the school bell? On behalf of Chris, why is the only option for students in Molonglo to arrive at St Jude’s on a non-school bus at 8.05, which is against school policy as the children will be unsupervised until 8.30? Why does the only bus to get them home leave at 3 pm, which is before school finishes at the standard time of 3.05, or they have to wait unsupervised until 4 pm, which is not great for safety? One parent reached out to me saying that on several occasions the bus to take her children to school has arrived at her stop before the schedule time. The correct time, or another time, has not been updated on the phone app. On behalf of
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