Following petitions and requests from locals, the current Route 10 bus service between Ballarat and Wendouree stations will be extended into Lucas Estate.
Residents have been calling for additional services in the Lucas community for months, with this change set to give the growing community direct connections to the V/Line network.
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The service will kick off on February 23, with slight changes made to allow a quicker connection to the stations.
The current loops via Alfredton and Ballarat city centre have been removed to avoid duplication with other services. Passengers will be able to access the town centre by transferring to one of a number of bus services at Ballarat Station, whilst those going to Alfredton can transfer to Route 26 at Cuthberts Road.
“Locals have been calling for a bus connection to Lucas as the suburb continues to grow. It has been a pleasure working alongside them to get this done,” member for Ripon Martha Haylett says.
“Finally now Lucas will be connected to the heart of Ballarat, and residents will be able to access their workplaces, medical appointments, shops, and train services more easily.”
This latest service for Lucas residents adds to improvements made last year to school bus services in the area which saw students in Cardigan Village getting a new service linking them with Lucas Primary School, Siena Catholic Primary School and Ballarat High School.
Two additional direct services were also introduced for students in Lucas attending Ballarat High School.
The school bus improvements are part of a $25 million investment in the Victorian Budget 2022/23 to introduce, modify and extend school bus services across the state, initially focused on growth areas, which is already delivering better services for thousands of Victorian students.
Improving services to Lucas is part of Victoria’s Bus Plan. Since its launch in June 2021, Victoria’s Bus Plan has already improved bus services in more than half of the state’s 79 local government areas, adding thousands of extra bus services each week across metro and regional Victoria.
“We’re giving Victorians parents and students what they need with better public transport in expanding areas like Lucas where demand is growing,” public and active transport minister Gabrielle Williams says.
“We’re providing more frequent and reliable public transport that better connects people to schools, jobs and other key destinations over more days of the week and more hours of the day.”