A LEGALLY blind Kotara South woman has detailed her fears and frustrations over the operation of Newcastle's public bus system during a community forum on Friday.
Ashe Hoyt said she relied on buses to get around, but the system had failed her multiple times when it came to scheduling, reliability and accessibility.
Ms Hoyt said she has to catch two buses and a tram to get from her Kotara South home into the city, and has been left out in the cold waiting for buses that haven't shown up.
"I've been late to appointments, I've had to cancel appointments because I couldn't get there on time," she said.
Ms Hoyt said there was one evening where she was trying to get from Newcastle to her home - a trip of about 20 minutes if driving - when three buses were cancelled in a row.
"I sat outside at night in the winter cold waiting for a bus to show up, and it was an-hour-and-a-half," she said.
"My mum was furious ... she was like 'my blind daughter who is highly vulnerable was left at night in the middle of winter in the cold waiting for a bus', and that just does put you at a higher risk in terms of safety.
"It's not a very good situation to be in at all."
She said late notice of cancellations, as well as expense, made it difficult to organise taxis or Ubers.
Ms Hoyt said the changes that had come with the privatisation of the Newcastle bus service under a previous Liberal government, from Transport for NSW to Keolis Downer, had made it "extremely difficult" for those with disabilities or the elderly to rely on public transport.
The face-to-face forum was held on July 28 at the NEX in Newcastle as part of the state government's Bus Industry Taskforce, to give passengers a chance to have their say.
During a small group session, facilitators asked what had been working well in the Newcastle public bus system.
"Nothing," Marguerita Flannery replied.
The Murrays Beach resident, near Swansea, said she had to catch two buses to get to Newcastle and had faced issues with the scheduling.
"Quite often I have pulled in on the terminating bus and the other bus is leaving," she said.
She said that meant she had to wait up to half-an-hour for the next bus.
Newcastle resident Ron Pinkerton told the Newcastle Herald he could once catch a bus from his home in the Broadmeadow area to his doctor in Warners Bay in about 40 minutes.
Now, he has to catch two buses and a one-way trip can take him up an-hour-and-a-half, he said.
"It takes the better part of a day for a half-hour appointment," he said.
The taskforce will use the community feedback in its advice to the transport minister on how to make bus services better across NSW.
People that couldn't make the forum can still have their say online.
Transport minister Jo Haylen told the crowd of dozens at the NEX that it was the first time in 15 years the bus industry, transport workers and the community had been brought together to talk about delivering public transport.
"If it doesn't work for you, then we have to fix it," she said.
"It's no secret that the bus situation across the Hunter ... is a mess."
Keolis Downer and Transport for NSW have been approached for comment.
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