Perth and its love affair with bad public transport

If Perth City was a person, I would sit down and have a stern conversation about the current public transport situation the residents of this city have to deal with on a daily basis. If asked on the street “would you like to wait 1-2 hours for a bus to take you were you need to be” the average person would most probably laugh and think this was a stupid joke. This is the reality if you are looking to catch a bus past 7pm on any road that’s not a main road or runs in a straight line! This city has funnelled all of the money into projects that will attract tourist, ignoring the fact that some of these newer landmarks are giant eyesores and are not socially inclusive to the wider community. There is a sense of unease thinking about the people who decide to build a pool, but not a rail line to the airport or build a Las Vegas style quay (blinding strobe light show included) and yet totally ignore the quality of our roads and lack of bike friendly paths and lanes.

I keep hearing the word progressive and gentrification being tossed around in casual conversation pertaining to our fair city. These words should not only apply to the many kitsch and hipster venues that are popping up selling craft beers and drip coffee, but also to our backwards and outdated public transport system. Perth city will not grow if the local government doesn’t start using money on projects that will help the local Perth person to travel within their city, which should not be this hard. Paying nearly five dollars for a one way ticket will create resentment and when you eventually get home, you come to the realisation that you have paid nearly ten dollars! Stop building useless projects that are clearly making money out of tourism. Please Perth if you are listening, start making a positive social change and actually do some good for a change.