U-Go Mobility is a private bus operator contracted to provide bus services in the St George and Sutherland Shire regions.
Under a contract signed by the previous Liberal Government in December 2022, UK owned U-Go Mobility recently took over services from long term local business Punchbowl Bus Company and Transdev.
As we know, since then, U-Go Mobility’s performance has been appalling with hundreds of cancelled and late services leaving passengers and school students stranded.
The community deserves answers as to why we are in this position. And the answer is simple, the former Liberal Government put price before passengers and now we are seeing the results.
As a result, we have a less reliable bus service, a shortage of drivers and hundreds of trips cut from the timetable.
That is why last week Transport Minister Jo Haylen instructed her department to issue U-Go with a show cause letter as to why they should retain their contract.
On top of this, the Minister has instructed Transport for NSW to impose fines and contractual penalties on U-Go until they meet their contractual obligations and improve their performance.
This week, to ensure we get to a more reliable service as soon as possible, the Transport Minister directed Transport for NSW to step in to co-operate Region 10 alongside U-Go Mobility.
Since Transport for NSW’s intervention, I am pleased to see service cancellations have declined from 28% to 13%. I thank them for their hard work.
Transport for NSW is also working with other bus companies to carve out school services to return certainty for our kids and end the chaos created by these contracts.
I want to make it very clear that changes to the timetable are temporary and will revert once drivers are made available and our work is done.
We have inherited the mess of the Liberal’s failed lowest cost contracting experiment and this won’t be a quick fix.
As your Premier, I am serious about putting the needs of school students and passengers first.
It is essential that public transport is reliable, equitable and accessible for everyone in the community, especially our children.
Yours sincerely,
The Hon. Chris Minns MP
Premier of New South Wales
Member for Kogarah
