Bus safety wardens will be at bus interchanges across the Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong area throughout this week, providing passengers with helpful safety tips as part of Bus Safety Week
The Transport for NSW (TfNSW) initiative aims to improve safety for people in and around buses across the state, and the event is now in its second year.
Eighteen people lost their lives in bus crashes, while 1,130 people were injured across the Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong area between 2010 and 2015. Ten were pedestrians, four were cyclists, three were the drivers of other vehicles and one was a motorcyclist.
BusNSW executive director Darryl Mellish says the Private Bus Industry is also behind this important safety campaign.
“Every day thousands of bus drivers throughout NSW have the responsibility of ensuring the millions of passengers they transport get to where they want to go safely, and everyone has a role to play in making sure that happens,” he says.
“Safety in and around buses isn’t just the bus driver’s responsibility. Just like bus drivers need to respect other motorists, pedestrians and riders and make sure they are operating their vehicles in a safe manner, we are asking fellow motorists, cyclists, pedestrians and passengers to do the same.”
Hundreds of State Transit Authority (STA) and private bus industry drivers have traded their regular uniforms for bright yellow shirts as part of Bus Safety Week, to highlight the safety message.
NSW Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Andrew Constance says there were 1588 crashes involving buses, and 18 people have died in the Sydney-Newcastle-Wollongong area between 2011 and 2015.
“We don’t want another family to experience the heartbreak of losing a loved one – we want the road toll to be zero, which is why we are pleading with motorists, cyclists, motorcyclists and pedestrians to be aware and take care when travelling near buses,” he says.
New South Wales (NSW) has the largest metropolitan bus fleet in Australia, with more than 3,800 buses operating in the Sydney area and 1,000 more in Newcastle, Wollongong and the Blue Mountains.