Media release: Bus drivers skeptical of Minister’s new bus services claim

6 June 2018: Bus drivers are skeptical about the Transport Minister’s claim today that NSW will get 2000 new bus services in the upcoming state budget, saying the claim doesn’t take into account all the services that have been cut recently and fails to consider the severe shortage of bus drivers in the state.

RTBU Tram and Bus Division Secretary, Chris Preston, said that while anything to improve commuter journeys is welcomed, the devil is always in the detail.

“What we’ve seen in the past is that this Transport Minister talks up new services, but fails to mention all the services that he’s cut, or will be cutting, in order to make the new services possible,” Mr Preston said.

“We already have a severe shortage of bus drivers in this state. How are they going to manage to work all these new services if we don’t have enough drivers to keep the current services running?

“This isn’t a case of once bitten twice shy – we’ve been bitten by this Transport Minister more times than you can count.

“This seems like yet another attempt to pull the wool over the eyes of commuters rather than a genuine commitment to improving transport.”