THE St Ives High School Parents and Citizens Association (P&C) are campaigning for improved public transport infrastructure to the school, stating that existing services have failed to keep pace with the school’s increasing population. They have teamed up with P&C’s from Waitara, Asquith, Mt Colah, Mt Ku-ring-gai and Hornsby North where many students live in the catchment for St Ives High, carrying out multiple surveys and petitions, whose results have been sent to Matt Kean, Alistair Henskens and Jonathan O’Dea.
Enrolments at St Ives High have steadily risen from 810 students in 2012 to over 1400 in 2022. However, there has been no corresponding increase in the number and frequency of transport services. According to the P&C, the number of available PM student bus services to Gordon Station that arrive in time for the Berowra train service is the same today as in 2012, even though student enrolments have increased by over 70%. St Ives High School is located 2.8km from Gordon Station and 2.1km from St Ives Shops, the nearest transport hubs, so frequent and efficient transport to these locations is vital for its students to travel to and from school.
The P&C have lobbied state members and the Minister for Transport and are now appealing to Hornsby Shire Council to lobby State Rail, Transdev, Transport for NSW and Members of Parliament for more frequent 582 bus services (St Ives High to Gordon Station), an additional Forest Line 245 service to St Ives Chase, an extension of the 591 bus route (Hornsby to St Ives Shops via Waitara) to also include a St Ives High Yarrabung Road loop and more frequent PM train services that stop between Hornsby and Berowra.
St Ives High P&C maintain these service improvements will benefit the wider St Ives community and future patrons of the St Ives High Indoor Community Sports Centre by easing traffic congestion and making public transport services more accessible for locals. It would also accommodate the 2,000 patrons who visit the St Ives campus weekly for before and after-school activities, including North Shore Basketball and Australian Girls’ Choir. P&C also claim the proposed changes to the 591 bus service would benefit up to five other schools, including Waitara Public School, Hornsby Girls High, Corpus Christi, Masada College and St Ives Public School.
St Ives High is a co-educational school that receives students from two catchment zones: St Ives and the Northern Draw, including Waitara/Hornsby, Asquith, Mt Colah and Mt Ku-ring-gai. Unlike the majority of public schools, St Ives High relies on a combination of Sydney Trains and two bus operators (Transdev and Forest Lines) to transport 70% of enrolled students to and from school. Enrolment figures for 2022 reveal an increase in the number of students travelling from Asquith, Mt Colah and Waitara, consistent with the dwelling targets outlined in the Hornsby Shire Housing Strategy. This growth should see a corresponding growth in public transport options, but this has not happened.
For the 564 students that live in the Northern Draw, there are no direct transport options between Hornsby and St Ives High School. The 2020 Student Transport and Traffic Survey reveal many students rely on up to three separate modes of transport (bus-train-bus) to get to and from their zoned co-educational high school. With unsynchronised bus and train service timetables resulting in missed connections, parents feel this unpredictable and lengthy commute disadvantages their children by limiting participation in extracurricular activities before and after school.
“Since starting high school, Jessica has had to stop all afternoon sporting commitments as her arrival time is unknown,” said Lisa, a SIHS parent from Asquith. “For our zoned co-ed high school, a daily commute of 110 minutes – 175 minutes [during] bus/train connectivity delays – is disappointing.”
Unreliable bus services, overcrowding and pedestrian safety were the chief concerns raised by parents in the 2020 Student Transport and Traffic Survey.
More than 400 families responded to the survey, representing 517 students. Parents described the frustrating flow-on effect that accompanies delays and missed connections, impacting students’ after-school work commitments, medical appointments, sport, music, and other activities.
“When it starts to look like the after-school commitments cannot be met […] there is a need to ‘drop everything’ at work in order to get things sorted out,” said one parent in the survey. “In my workplace, that is extremely frowned upon, so it affects my job.”
There are also no scheduled bus services for the 400 St Ives High senior students who attend mandatory Period 0 and Period 6 classes outside of regular bell times or students attending extra curricular activities. The only direct bus service from Hornsby to St Ives, the H594 City bus, that used to stop outside the St Ives High in time for AM extracurricular activities was cancelled in 2018.
The timing and routing of existing 582 services to and from Gordon Station do not integrate with senior period bell times. Many parents drive their children to and from school due to the lack of viable transport options.
For those students who finish with the afternoon bell, there is a desperate rush to catch the school buses to Gordon Station. Missing the 3:45pm train means a half hour wait for the next train travelling beyond Hornsby. Students are not guaranteed a place on the bus, despite those living beyond Hornsby given priority with a “push pass”. Pathways and buses become overcrowded, precluding any COVID-19 social distancing measures.
“My daughter must run from her classroom every day to give herself the best chance of catching an early bus [...] even though she has a priority push pass,” said a SIHS parent from Asquith. “She is unable to go to her locker or to the bathroom [to avoid] missing the bus due to the volume of kids. Should she miss the first buses it is an additional wait of 30 minutes for the connecting train.”
The buses provided by Transdev have a maximum capacity of 63 passengers. In 2022, the 564 students from the Northern Draw alone would fill nine buses – but there’s only five services available. The Forest Line 245 service to St Ives Chase is also oversubscribed, and the school has recently had to introduce a push pass system for students living in St Ives Chase. Students living between St Ives and Hornsby also board the 245, alighting at St Ives Shopping Village to catch the hourly 591 service to Hornsby via Waitara.
Then Minister for Transport and Roads, Hon Rob Stokes, has turned down P&C’s request for increased transport services.
“I am advised that bus operator Transdev has been working closely with school representatives within the Yarrabung Road school precinct to support service provision to these schools,” he said. “Transdev has met representatives on-site on several occasions and undertaken monitoring of bus movements and student numbers.”
According to Hon Rob Stokes, on-site monitoring by Transdev has indicated no issues in transporting all students with the current services.
P&C allege the data used by Transport for NSW does not adequately reflect the issue. Many students do not tap on and off with their Opal cards, making this data unreliable for transport planning purposes. Students who are driven to school due to inadequate public transport don’t show up in the statistics. P&C urge TfNSW to use student family residence data to plan transport capacity as this will give the most accurate assessment of student transport requirements. Many would catch public transport if more options were available.
Member for Ku-ring-gai Alister Henskens and Member for Hornsby Matt Kean provided a joint statement on the issue: “We are committed to working with the community for the best outcome for all the students attending St Ives High School”, however, neither has offered to meet with the P&C’s or come up with a solution to this problem!
The Post encourages readers to write in and share their experiences of this issue. Contact surveys@stivespandc.com for more information.
