Adjacent suburbs: transport nightmare

GETTING from Cranbourne to Berwick using public transport is no quick task.
With no direct bus route to and from the two suburbs, the community has now called on the Department of Transport to step in.
Local residents wanting to get from Cranbourne to Berwick currently have to catch a bus to Fountain Gate Shopping Centre or Central Casey Shopping Centre and then catch another bus to Berwick.
If wanting to go by train, commuters need to catch a train from Cranbourne to Dandenong station, and then catch another train to Berwick.
At last week’s Casey Council meeting, councillors voted unanimously to write to the State Government requesting a direct bus service from Cranbourne to Berwick to enable students and local residents to get to Casey Hospital, Chisholm Institute TAFE and Monash University in a timely manner.
Mayor Amanda Stapledon said it was hard to believe there was no direct bus route given the range of necessary services on offer in Berwick, as well as Cranbourne including Casey Fields and Botanic Gardens.
“Getting a bus from Cranbourne to Berwick can take well in excess of an hour, which is a 15 minutes trip by car,” she said.
“We had the same problem with getting from Narre Warren to Cranbourne, but we’ve addressed that.
“I want to see what the council can do to try and address this now.”
Cranbourne resident Judie Hedrick said a direct service was desperately needed, particularly for those who did not have the time or able bodies to be switching buses and trains.
“Now, this might be suitable for an able-bodied or young and fit person, but to someone like me who lives with a physical disability in my foot, the options are not very suitable or wise,” she said.
“Now I do understand that these things cost money and companies such as Cranbourne Transit or Cardinia Transit would possibly only want to run a viable service, but I can’t understand why, with such a young population as we have, there wouldn’t be a direct route to university and TAFE.
“I’m sure not everyone has a car or can afford to run one, or like me, doesn’t drive.
“This has been a long running issue among a lot of people I know, but no one seems to want to do anything about it.
“I could also never understand why there wasn’t a bus service from here to Casey Hospital.
“I think with such a growing population we need to do something about the infrastructure, and, if the government can’t supply finances for roads at least, they should make an effort to provide a better bus services.”
A Public Transport Victoria spokesperson said although there was currently no direct bus service between Cranbourne and Berwick, there were several bus routes that were interconnected.
“PTV has begun preliminary planning for network improvements in the Cranbourne area,” the spokesperson said.
“We will investigate the viability of introducing a direct bus service from Cranbourne to Berwick in future.
“Any service improvements are subject to normal funding cycles of government.”