Bill Busby, Dave Crockford, Marie Tathan, Cr Catherine Ehrhardt and Michiel de Ruyter.
Andrew Ritchie www.communitypix.com.au   d460853
Camera IconBill Busby, Dave Crockford, Marie Tathan, Cr Catherine Ehrhardt and Michiel de Ruyter. Andrew Ritchie www.communitypix.com.au d460853 Credit: Supplied/Andrew Ritchie www.communitypix.com.au d460853

Bus route 41 trial misfires say Maylands residents

Kristie LimEastern Reporter

The route, which has been operating since July, travelling through the business precinct of Eighth Avenue, Whatley Crescent and Guilford Road in Maylands as a connection to Maylands station.

However, the Maylands Business Association (MBA) and Maylands Residents and Ratepayers Association (MRRA) have sent letters to the PTA opposing the bus route and cited their preference to make Eighth Avenue more pedestrian-friendly.

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MBA president Michiel de Ruyter said with buses “bulldozing” through Eighth Avenue, it would be difficult to create markets and activities on the street.

“We are trying to come up with ideas to activate Eighth Avenue more and make it more pedestrian friendly,” he said.

“I actually live on the street and see the problems and hear the complaints as they come in.”

PTA spokesman David Hynes said the service deviation to Maylands station had been considered by Transperth for some time.

“It was brought forward in response to a request from the MRRA, which cited community demand for a bus service linking the station to surrounding suburbs,” he said.

“As is standard with any trial service, we have been monitoring patronage on the deviation to ensure it is viable in the long term … it is worth noting that patronage is growing, though it is still early days.”

Mr de Ruyter said there was “no transparency” in the PTA’s community consultation process.

“They said they want to do a trial but they build this bus stop (on Whatley Crescent) before we even finish the trial and build all this before they even get comments back from the public,” he said.

Mr Hynes said the PTA had recently asked the community for feedback, which included the MRRA and MBA

“Residents and business owners were able to provide feedback on both the Route 41 diversion and the proposed Route 406 extension at three local community information sessions, as well as online,” he said.

“Transperth will now review all community feedback.”

City of Bayswater councillor Catherine Ehrhardt said she was supportive of buses connecting to trains, but there was a lack of community engagement before the trial started.

“My concern is based around safety of the bus going down Eighth Avenue, its impact on businesses and the feedback I have had from general community is that they do not feel safe on the street,” she said.

“Guildford Road has about 36,000 cars and Beaufort Street has about 20,000 cars a day. Eighth Avenue is not carrying that volume of traffic… this is the first time that it has ever got buses on there.”

MBA member and Inglewood resident Dave Crockford said residents were disappointed with the actions of state authorities.

“We believe we should be entitled to enjoy without the risk of harm or injury to ourselves, our family and our friends,” he said.