Public transport can be hit or miss for tourists as Coralie Metral, Caroline de Santi and Tao Wang found out when they had to ‘hitch’ back to Lilydale.
By Kath Gannaway
THE desire to experience a little more of what the Yarra Valley has to offer, left French tourist Coralie Metral and two friends stranded with a two hour wait for a bus to Melbourne.
“We visited the Dandenongs the next week, but we went by car,” she told the Mail.
“It is just too difficult to use public transport.”
Ms Metral, Caroline de Santi and Tao Wang caught a bus to Healesville from a great experience at Healesville Sanctuary and decided to enjoy a Yarra Valley wine before heading back to the train at Lilydale.
“We thought there would be regular buses, but found we had to wait two hours for the next bus,” Ms Metral said.
Their experience comes at a time when tourist organisations say more people are choosing public transport to visit the Yarra Valley and the Dandenongs.
Sandra Smith, a visitor service officer with Yarra Valley Visitor Information Centre (VIC) in Healesville, said the bus service is very restrictive, especially on Sundays.
It’s not just about getting from Lilydale to Healesville, visitors want to stop at various attractions along the highways.
“Buses don’t go along the Maroondah Highway on the weekend, they only go through Yarra Glen,” Ms Smith said.
That effectively means wineries such as Domaine Chandon, Oakridge and Rochford are out of the loop.
While the situation is better mid-week and on Saturdays, Ms Smith said there is a definite need for increased bus services.
In the Dandenongs, while the bus service has improved since the last transport campaign, Michael Axel, manager of Dandenong Ranges Tourism (DRT), said there is always room for improvement.
He said a circuit bus, which took in the major villages of the Dandenongs, could provide part of the solution.
“The answer has to be to provide the ability to move more people around on public transport. It addresses the needs of visitors and, at the same time, everyone benefits from having fewer vehicles on the mountain,” Mr Axel said.
Both Mr Axel and Ms Smith see taxis as an integral part of the public transport solution in Yarra Ranges, particularly for the function market.
“We have people coming up for weddings and concerts and with a very limited taxi service they often have to wait a very long time to either get to or come from functions,” Ms Smith said.
“We have encouraged people organising weddings to hire buses to transport to and from the event,” she said.
Mr Axel agrees. He said DRT backed Dandenong Ranges Taxis in their bid to get more licences and put more taxis on roads in the Dandenongs.
“We have a number of large reception places, restaurants and most of them empty about the same time. It’s extremely difficult for people to get a taxi home and people are extremely conscious of doing the right thing and of the whole safety issue,” Mr Axel said.
John Gibbons is the director of the Healesville Sanctuary, the premier tourism destination in the Yarra Valley.
“We attract a lot of international visitors and many don’t have access to a car,” he said. “If we can make it easier and more accessible for tourists come out here, that’s fantastic.
“We should be catering to them, not to spend just a few hours here, but a full day.”
