Article: City's buses one of worst

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From the Queensland Times click here!

City's buses one of worst

City's buses one of worst

Rob Lockyear | 22nd April 2009

IPSWICH'S Westside Buses has been labelled one of the worst in south-east Queensland with one in seven buses running late.

TransLink statistics put the bus company as the second worst performer out of the region's 16 operators.

The regular delays have been put down to traffic congestion and roadworks but fed-up residents say this is not good enough.

Raceview senior Ann Bernier said she was sick and tired of missing appointments and connecting services and something needed to be done.

?They are always late,? Mrs Bennier said.

?I was waiting for a bus at Riverlink one day and it did not come at all.?

She said her 509 service running to Yamanto only came once an hour so missing a connection left her hanging around for hours.

?When it is five or 10 minutes late that is one thing but when they are 20 minutes late it is terrible,? she said.

?I have lived at the Sunshine Coast and Bundaberg and the buses tend to come on time there.

?We just want to get home, it is not fair.?

Raceview parents Daniel and Denise Suchanow use the buses everyday and said the low ranking did not come as a surprise.

?THEY deserve it,? Mr Suchanow said.

?They are never on time.?

He said despite being left waiting more times than he liked to mention, Ipswich's traffic congestion was making the drivers' jobs impossible.

?They have no chance to do the run in the timetable they are given,? he said.

?It is not really the drivers' fault, I think it is the hierarchy.?

A TransLink spokesman said Westside's running performance grew from 84.2 per cent to 85.2 per cent in the first two quarters of the financial year and they were hoping to continue the improvement.

?The greatest impact on on-time running in the Ipswich area includes traffic congestion and roadworks on major arterials in and around the city and weather conditions,? he said.

?Enhancing customer service is a key priority and we will continue to work with all service providers to improve performance.?

He said performance could be improved by upgrading bus fleets and services, while the increased use of the go card would reduce passenger boarding times.

Westside Buses failed to make a comment to The Queensland Times yesterday.

'I was waiting for a bus at Riverlink one day and it did not come at all.'

- Ann Bernier