High school enrolments at Raymond Terrace have placed additional strain on bus services from the Tilligerry peninsula and that’s put students at increased risk, according to one Port Stephens father.
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With more buses beyond their seated-capacity more students have been forced to stand at speeds up to 80kmh.
In the event of a crash it’s an unacceptable risk according to Lemon Tree Passage father of two Stephen Kirk.
"It's only a matter of time before someone is injured or killed,” he said.
"Anyone who's standing up in a collision is going to die, no question about it. It's Russian roulette.”
The Department of Education has said it’s taken all available precautions to safeguard the students. But transport regulations have left parents hamstrung.
While the government works to adopt stricter requirements for the passage of students to and from schools in regional areas – including seatbelts on buses – Port Stephens won’t benefit from the changes.
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The School Bus Safety Community Advisory Committee recommendations apply only to Rural and Regional Bus Contract areas.
Port Stephens is part of the Outer Sydney Metropolitan Bus Contract area despite its regional speed zones.
“Transport for NSW and Hunter Valley Buses regularly review school services operating under Outer Sydney Metropolitan Bus Service Contracts to ensure services meet demand,” a Transport for NSW spokesperson said.
“There are presently no plans to make any changes to these school bus services.”
Mr Kirk’s twins Sam and Jack started at Hunter River High School this year. He wants the regulations changed for school buses.
"I've spoken to the bus company and it comes from the transport department and speaking to Transport they say its standard policy having students standing,” Mr Kirk said. "That might be OK in the Sydney CBD where the buses are doing 20 kmh but it’s unacceptable here.”
Mr Kirk said the situation had left many parents on the peninsula engaged in a game of bus stop leap frog.
"I'm dropping my kids at Malabulla - the first stop of the morning - to get them a seat on the bus,” he said.
“I'm not alone, parents are roaming the bus stops to get their kids a seat.”
And he’s questioning why its one set of rules for school bus routes and another for charter buses. The latter requires every person on a bus to have a seat.
“You’ve got the same road but two sets of rules,” Mr Kirk said.
“I can understand this sort of thing happening in Pakistan or India, where they cram them onto a bus, but we're a first world country.
“They’ve already dropped the speed limit by 10 kmh along the whole length of Lemon Tree Passage Road last year so they’re acknowledging its a dangerous road.”
The situation has left Mr Kirk considering extraordinary measures.
"If a student strike is what we have to do for the department of education to put pressure on transport then so be it,” he said. "When 50 additional students enrol at school you don't need to be Einstein to work out that services need to be increased to handle it. I think we need two extra buses at least.”
The Department of Education would neither confirm or deny that it would condone a student strike.
“Questions about [any] action students or parents might take in regard to bus services should be directed to them,” it said in a statement.
“Schools liaise with bus companies and transport authorities about school times and student numbers, but decisions about bus services are made by those companies and authorities. Schools regularly reinforce with students the importance of behaving safely getting on, travelling on, and getting off buses.”
Port Stephens MP Kate Washington has called two public meetings with parents this month; one at 5.30pm on March 19 at Medowie Christian School and the other at 5.30pm on March 20 at Tilligerry RSL.
“If the NSW Government won’t build a public high school in Medowie, the least they could do is make sure that our students can travel to and from school safely,” she said.
“We know that every day, children across Port Stephens are being forced to stand in the aisles of overcrowded school buses, or sit three to a seat, for the entire journey – and that’s assuming they can fit on the bus in the first place.
“This year, there have already been numerous cases of children left standing on the side of the road.
“I spoke with the Minister’s office and the local bus company at the start of the school year to try and sort this out.”
Hunter Valley Buses had not responded to requests for comment at the time of publication.
