Response from PTV After I Suggested That The Yea Bus Should Stop at Mernda Station
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I recently contacted PTV asking why the Mansfield, Yea bus did not stop at the relatively new Mernda station as it opens up a heap of other travel options. A short time ago I took the bus as I had to pick up my vehicle from Epping. Instead of getting off at Mernda and catching the train to Epping, I was forced to go to Bundoora and then pay $27 for a Uber to Epping.
Here is the response…
I acknowledge receipt of your suggestion to add Mernda Station as a stop location along the Mt Buller/Mansfield – Melbourne via Yea bus service.
Thank you for raising your concerns with Public Transport Victoria (PTV). Please accept my sincere apologies for the delay in responding to your complaint.
I understand from you feedback that you have recently taken the Mt Buller/Mansfield – Melbourne via Yea bus service and you noticed that the bus travels in close proximity to Mernda Station and are suggesting that PTV adds Mernda Station as a drop off point for this service.
I can appreciate the benefit of having Mernda Station as a drop off point for our consumers and I can assure you that I have forwarded your suggestion to the Network Planning team at the Department of Transport (DoT) for their review and consideration.
When reviewing existing bus routes or planning for new ones we consider a number of issues including the likely number of users, suitability of the road network for bus operations, development of a direct and easily understood network, and connectivity with other public transport services and the costs of providing those services.
PTV identifies proposals for bus network expansions through a thorough planning process. As such please be assured that your request has been noted by our Network Planning team for consideration in future planning of bus services for the area.
Should the Network Planning team provide me with any further information surrounding your request, I will certainly let you know.
Such a commonsense suggestion is met with such longwinded dilly dally makes me mad😡. May I suggest you refer the request on to Cindy McLeish.
Good idea Russ, will do.
Isn’t it wonderful that PTV employs sufficient staff to enable one of them to spend the time on composing such a complete reply to a customer. Although, as the officer had to apologise for taking a long time to reply, perhaps they don’t have enough staff. I think the matter of staff numbers and their ability to give informed replies to customer queries and suggestions should undergo a complete review. I think PTV should have an officer on every such bus over the next 3 months and interview every passenger to determine if the suggestion to stop the bus for a minute at Mernda Station is a worthwhile idea. On the other hand, when you think about the matter more closely, there’s possibly many people currently not using the service because the bus does not stop at Mernda, so the enquiry should be broadened to cover every household in the Mansfield and Murrindindi Shires. That information could then be passed to a specially constructed review panel consisting of PTV personnel and members of the communities along the route along with a consumer advocate, representatives of all the unions involved in the bus service and of course representatives of the Mernda community in case such a bus stop could impact on the amenity of the local area.
Now that I’ve had time to consider the wider implications of your letter, Mr. Minter, I think you’re a trouble maker intent on wasting the time of busy PTV officers with frivolous correspondence.
Top comment Gary. Cindy McLeish is following up Russ.
Gary Pollard, are you now writing scripts for Utopia?