Bus services across the Light Electorate will be cut from January 27, affecting people in both the Gawler and Munno Para West areas.
Local Member of Parliament, Mr Tony Piccolo, said the cuts to Gawler services were particularly galling as it had taken the community many years of campaigning to get bus services introduced in the town.
“Of greater concern, is that the worst is yet to come. These cuts represent just a fraction of the full $46 million worth of public transport cuts introduced in last year’s Budget,” Mr Piccolo said.
“For some passengers these changes mean they will face longer waits at the bus stop, longer travel times and more convoluted multi-bus journeys.
“For others it means they will have to use more expensive alternatives to link to other services or get to their destination.
“For passengers affected, these service cuts effectively represent an increase in their cost of living.”
The first two Monday-Friday morning services on the 491 route - which services the Hewett area - will be cut.
The 451, 451a and 452 routes - which link Munno Para West residents to the Munno Para and Elizabeth shopping centres and the Smithfield and Elizabeth train stations - have also been affected by the cuts.
The cut services include: the first service on the 452 route to Elizabeth (Mon-Fri); the last service of the 451a route from Elizabeth (7 days); and the first two services of the 451 route to Elizabeth (Mon-Fri) and its first service to the Munno Para Centre (Mon-Fri).
Mr Piccolo observed that families in the Munno Para West area will be particularly hard hit by the cuts, as they link to major shopping centres and rail services.
“While it is not unusual to change services to improve patronage and access, these changes represent cuts as no new alternative services will be provided”, Mr Piccolo said.
“The Marshall Liberal Government’s cruel cuts to public transport will hurt thousands of people who rely on these services.
“Workers in the electorate who rely on these bus services to get to and from work will be reeling from these harsh and unnecessary cuts.
“There are limited transport options in these outer metropolitan and Gawler areas, so these cuts will hit some passengers hard.
“We need to campaign hard against these cuts, or else the Marshall Liberal Government will slash more services in the coming months and years.
“Tell Steven Marshall that these cuts are completely unnecessary by signing the petition at stopliberalcuts.com. “
By working together, we can stop further cuts to public transport services, which are likely to be more severe than these.
“We need to stop the Liberals from axing Gawler Bus Services.”
451 & 452 Bus Timetable and Route:
491 Bus Timetable and Route: