By Jarrod Burton
Two new bus routes made their first journey on Sunday, adding to the growing list of Transperth’s high frequency buses.
Minister of Transport Bill Marmion said changes to the bus routes were made to make Perth’s public transport simpler and more efficient for commuters.
“This is being achieved through new bus priority lanes and signalisation changes, as well as consolidating multiple bus routes into high-frequency services such as the 960,” Mr Marmion said.
The 960 is one of Perth slowly growing list of high frequency bus lines.
The 960 and 970 routes will carry passengers on an all-stop service from ECU to Curtin universities and Mirrabooka to the Perth Bus Port respectively, and have replaced the old 885 and 888 routes.
Several roads, such Fitzgerald Street and Mounts Bay Road, have also received new bus priority lanes to accommodate the extra traffic and help congestion.
Although they have yet to make a major impact, the new bus routes are a welcome addition to suburbs north of the Swan River.
“Mirrabooka and other neighbours north of the river can benefit from a wider coverage of bus lines as new residences are popping up,” said Mirrabooka resident Nhan Thanh Le.
The Public Transport Authority originally had plans to construct a Perth MAX light rail into Mirrabooka, but the project was officially abandoned in June of this year.
“We would have totally preferred the light rail. There are occasionally rumours about building a train line to Mirrabooka and so far everyone is really excited about the idea,” said Mr Thahn.
The new higher frequency services will have buses arriving at stops every five minutes during peak periods, and stops every 10 minutes during non-peak periods.