Community Win – Balgowlah Bus Changes from 11 July 2021

Bus services in Balgowlah will be modified from Sunday 11 July 2021 in response to community feedback following a network review late last year. In particular, these changes have been designed to address significant community concern surrounding new route 172X.

Changes from 11 July 2021 in Balgowlah include;

• Timetable adjustments for route 172X, predominantly during weekday peak periods, with a reduction in the number of services operating via the Urunga Street area
• Reinstatement of peak hour route 168X between North Balgowlah, Seaforth and the City on weekdays
• Reinstatement of peak hour route 171X between Balgowlah Shops, Balgowlah Heights and the City on weekdays
• Timetable adjustments for route 162 between Seaforth and Manly, to support the reinstatement of route 171X, and to improve connections with ferry services at Manly during the afternoon peak period

There are a number of benefits that will be achieved from the introduction of these changes. Those living in Balgowlah Heights will regain direct peak services to the City on route 171X, those living in North Balgowlah will have a more direct service to the City on route 168X and there will be less services onroute 172X using the narrow Urunga Street during peak periods, addressing a key community concern. There will be the same number of buses between North Balgowlah, Seaforth and the City as now, as all removed on route 172X are being directly replaced by new 168X services.

These service changes are a big win for the Balgowlah community and come after a protracted community consultation period held in May 2021. This set of changes illustrate that community campaigns for service changes can be effective, and that Transport for NSW does actually listen to community consultation when it is conducted. The concern here is why there was not community consultation prior to the original set of changes, community consultation which might have addressed the problems identified before they ever occured.