Nahla’s complaint
Nahla* was frustrated that her complaints about bus drivers missing the school pick-up were ignored.
Nahla, a Year 12 student, catches a public bus home from school every day.
The regional town that Nahla lives in has one primary and one secondary school located right next to each other. The public bus is timetabled to make one extra stop outside the schools, at the start and end of each school day. The bus has to make a short deviation from its standard route to do this extra stop.
Nahla told us that, at least a few of times a month, drivers forgot to do the route deviation and missed the after school pick up. She explained that this was a safety risk for young children who had no other way home.
When Nahla contacted us, she was frustrated and upset. She’d had to stay back at school again to look after primary school-aged children until an adult came to collect them.
Why did Nahla complain to the PTO?
Nahla had already complained to the bus company twice. She said they’d told her there “wasn’t much they could do” and the problem kept happening.
How did the PTO handle Nahla’s complaint?
We contacted the bus company on Nahla’s behalf. They said they’d told Nahla that “there was only so much they could do” because PTV was the authority Nahla needed to speak to about changes to bus routes and timetables.
We explained to the bus company Nahla wasn’t asking for a timetable change or a route change. What she wanted was for the bus to consistently do the route deviation it was already timetabled to do.
Once Nahla’s complaint was clear, the bus company was able to identify changes to fix the problem.
We also asked the bus company for instructions we could give Nahla, so that she knew what to do if the bus was a ‘no show’ in future.
What was the outcome?
To ensure the school stop was serviced, the bus company advised that drivers would now stay in direct radio contact with the bus company’s Operations Control Centre (OCC) during the morning and afternoon run. Instructions to drivers were also improved, with driver shift journals updated to highlight the route deviation.
The bus company confirmed that Nahla could call the OCC directly if the bus was a ‘no show’ in future. If this did occur, the OCC would either ask the driver to turn back or send another vehicle to pick up students.
Nahla was satisfied with the outcome and thanked us for our help.
* Names and other identifying details have been changed
The Public Transport Ombudsman respectfully acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land on which we operate our services. We pay our respects to the ongoing living cultures of Aboriginal peoples, and to Elders past, present and future.