BYFORD SECONDARY COLLEGE JARRAHDALE SCHOOL BUS SERVICE
236. Mr P.J. RUNDLE to the Minister for Transport:
I
refer to this letter, which was sent to families informing them of the Public Transport
Authority's decision to cancel the Byford Secondary College
Jarrahdale school bus service, which means Jarrahdale families will no longer
have access to a school bus service.
(1) Can the
minister explain why a bus service that has been used for 38 years and still
services more than 100 students is no longer considered necessary?
(2) How will the minister ensure that children with
special needs will receive the same level of personalised care?
Ms R.
SAFFIOTI replied:
(1)–(2) �I
thank the member for Roe for that question. Can I also acknowledge the member
for Darling Range in respect to this issue. The member for Darling Range has
discussed this issue with me over the past few days and we are working on
something as we speak.
What happened in relation to the
decision that was made by the Public Transport Authority is that there are new Transperth bus services in that area and
expanding Transperth bus services in that area. Like similar suburbs
that we all represent across Western Australia, when there are Transperth bus
services feeding particular schools, there is a transition from the old school
bus service to a Transperth public transport service.
We understand that that change and that transition causes concern. The member
for Darling Range has raised that with me and we are looking at that
issue at the moment. This is very much a live issue for me and we are looking
at how we can make sure that we reduce that level of concern in that community.
I will be talking to the member for Darling
Range later today, again, having another meeting to see how we can make
sure that we reduce that level of concern and make sure that people in the area
are more satisfied with the transition from what is in a sense a rural approach
to bus services to what is a suburban approach to bus services. We are
expanding the Transperth bus services in that area, so that is a good thing,
but we understand that people who have been attached to the old orange school
bus services are reluctant to change. I am very happy to have further
discussions with the member for Darling Range about this issue.