Council demands fix for Latrobe City’s “miserable experience” bus network

If you work nine-to-five in Traralgon and live in Yallourn North, don’t bother waiting for a bus ride home – the last service leaves 13 minutes before you finish for the day. 

This is the reality facing many Gippslanders, as Latrobe City Council looks to solve an ongoing public transport problem across the region.

What happened? Latrobe City Council has unanimously backed a comprehensive review of the region's bus network after councillors detailed its inadequacy, from workers unable to get home before dark to residents crouching in the rain at bus stops.

Councillor Steph Morgan laid out the stark reality: limited frequency, inadequate coverage, unreliable schedules and lack of accessibility leaves residents unable to commute on buses effectively.

Morgan called the current bus timetable perplexing and called out areas like Moe, where options for buses were either a 3:30pm or 5:30pm service that ultimately terminates at Yallourn North, requiring a two-and-a-half-hour walk home.

🗣️ "The amount of people I've seen crouching next to a bus stop in the pouring rain or wind is not okay," said Morgan. "We want people to utilise our bus services. They can't because it is a miserable experience."

Latrobe City Mayor Dale Harriman told the Monitor the council is reliant on Transport Victoria - which is run by the state government - to update bus routes and timetables.

Harriman said there’s no shelter and nowhere to sit at 99 percent of the bus stops in the shire.

How many people use bus services in the shire?

🗣️ “We know that 10-15 percent of the population [in Latrobe City Shire] that are at working age don't have a driver's licences or access to their own transport,” said Harriman. “And then you have all the under 18-year-olds, including apprentices who need to get to work.”

Harriman said he had heard of cases where elderly people were paying exorbitant rates for taxis to get around the shire instead of taking a bus.

What will the review achieve? It’s unlikely residents will see any changes soon as the motion the council has voted for aims at delivering a reformed bus network using allocated funding from the 2026/27 state government budget next year.

If funding is allocated then it will go towards:

• More seating at bus shelters

• More shelters

• More lighting

• Pathways to walk to bus stops

Councillor Adele Pugsley relayed that residents post on community notice boards asking strangers for lifts because of timetable gaps.

🗣️ “People are putting themselves in danger for having to ask someone that they don't know for a lift.”

The motion passed unanimously and the council will write to the state government calling for a comprehensive network review.