Timetable pressure, not older drivers, should be focus of bus review: union
By Tony Moore
Stressed Brisbane bus drivers are being forced to hurry through their routes or make up time on meal breaks, their union said on Friday, as council flagged more health checks for older drivers.
An independent review of council bus driver skills, commissioned by Brisbane City Council, has recommended bringing forward annual driver health assessments from 75 years of age to 60.
The draft review recommends annual health checks for Brisbane City Council bus drivers aged over 60.Credit: Michelle Smith
The draft review referred to a study of Melbourne bus accidents between 2000 and 2011 that showed that age (60 years and over) and experience (less than two years) were “more likely to result in their involvement in at-fault accidents”.
“An Iranian study (2021) also found that bus drivers older than 55 had five times more accidents than drivers younger than 35 years of age,” the review said.
It was commissioned following a string of serious bus incidents, including the March death of 18-year-old Tia Cameron, who was hit on a Brisbane CBD footpath by a Brisbane City Council bus.
Queensland Rail, Tram and Bus Union’s Tom Brown, 65, said concentrating on driver age in the review was “a scatter-gun over-reaction”.
He urged council to focus more on the pressure being placed on drivers to meet route timelines.
“The running times that the drivers are expected to do – they are given 50 minutes or an hour to come in from Bracken Ridge, when the actual trip takes an hour and 10 minutes,” Brown said.
What we know about the BCC bus driver review
- The average age of Brisbane City Council’s bus drivers is 52.
- The average age of Queensland bus drivers overall is 56 and the national average is 55.
- A recruitment drive during the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a net increase of 800 bus drivers.
- Ten of Brisbane’s 2730 bus drivers were stood down for poor driving record.
- Drivers of rigid vehicles, including buses, get tested every five years until the age of 75.
- The independent review recommends annual tests from 60 years.
Source: Brisbane City Council
Brisbane City Council’s public transport committee chair Cr Ryan Murphy agreed the age of a driver was not the sole factor in determining any risk to passengers, pedestrians or to other vehicles.
However, he said the RTBU’s claims that council was overreacting were “an absolute disgrace”.
He said drivers were rostered to have a 40-minute meal break, where their enterprise bargaining agreement only required 30 minutes.
Murphy said the draft review released on Friday had been given to the Department of Transport and Main Roads, who set the guidelines for bus driver testing.
Transport Minister Bart Mellish said the death of Cameron in Brisbane’s CBD was “a terrible tragedy”.
“I understand TMR have received a copy of BCC’s draft report into its bus operations today. Once received in my office, I will review the findings and consult industry and unions,” he said.
Murphy said the “single biggest recommendation” was for more frequent health checks for drivers aged over 60, who are authorised by the Transport Department to work in public transport.
Under current rules, public transport drivers under 75 years of age are assessed every five years.
Other recommendations include additional defensive driving courses and for advanced technology to be added to buses for drivers to “view” their route.
He said changes were unlikely to cause a new driver shortage.