Afternoon school bus safety

The SI1 school bus service, operated by McHarry's Buslines, transports students to and from St Thomas Primary School and St Ignatius High School in Drysdale. Parents have safety concerns for children departing this service on weekday afternoons, at the Indented Head Post Office stop, on the west side of The Esplanade.

The SI1 runs counterclockwise in the mornings, stopping on the eastern side of the street in front of the Indented Head Post Office shop. This stop is excellent, with ample room for the bus, adjacent parking, footpaths and a shelter.

The afternoon service runs clockwise and stops on the western side of the street. This stop is narrow and only just accommodates the bus. There are no footpaths on either side of the stop and the ground is very uneven. The stop backs onto the caravan park fence.

Motorist coming from the south have an excellent view of the stop. Those coming from the north approach the stop over a slight rise in the road. There is a single sign alerting them to the possibility of children up ahead. Trees and shrubs crowd the roadside. The busy intersection of The Esplanade and Batman Road is around 150m short of the bus stop. The speed limit is zoned 50km/hr.

As 25 children depart at this stop. Primary school aged children get off first and run to the back of the bus and begin to cross while the older children are still disembarking. The narrowness of the stop means that children must stand in the traffic lane to check for vehicles coming from the south. Ideally, the children would all wait patiently on the small platform until the bus departed but this does not happen because they are kids.

The issue is with the practical use of the stop, which combines the design of the stop itself with large number of kids who happen to depart at this location.

We have repeatedly requested that the afternoon route be changed to mirror the morning route (anticlockwise), which would immediately eliminate the western stop in favour of the far safer eastern stop. The proposed reversal of the afternoon school bus route presents an immediate, effective and free solution to the issue of child safety at this stop. McHarry's and Public Transport Victoria have repeatedly refused, arguing that the stop is safe enough for the children.

Look at the videos and images on our Media page and judge for yourself.