Five specifically designed bus routes will transport residents from Ballarat suburbs into the heart of the CBD during the highly-anticipated White Night this weekend.
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Public Transport Victoria has announced five White Night bus routes running from 8pm – 8am every 60 minutes, with two routes running half hourly from 8pm to midnight. These routes run to the bus hubs at Armstrong Street South, Curtis Street which are drop off only and Little Bridge Street which is pick up only.
Public Transport Victoria has established park and ride locations at Federation University and Stockland Wendouree.
Public Transport User Association spokesman Ben Lever said the additional public transport was essential to ensuring the event was successful and was able to attract a wide audience not just from Ballarat and Melbourne but from surrounding regional towns.
V/Line trains to Ballarat will run to their normal timetable however additional coaches will run between Ararat and Maryborough as well as Melbourne.
“It's great to see extra public transport for events like White Night - the last thing we want to see is people stressing over traffic or parking in the surrounding streets,” Mr Lever said.
“Providing good public transport doesn't just make it easier for locals to take it all in, it also makes it much more attractive to visitors from Melbourne, so it's fantastic that PTV is providing this.
However, Mr Lever has questioned the frequency of the services. Buses to Alfredton, Brown Hill and Federation University run every 60 minutes while Wendouree and Sebastopol services run half-hourly before midnight.
“It's particularly strange that the route to FedUni is hourly, given that they've designated it as a park-and-ride location - people will want to be able to get back to their cars, but with an hourly service they'll really need to plan ahead to do this,” Mr Lever said.
PTV said public transport was the best way to get to White Night. Patrons are urged to plan ahead by visiting ptv.vic.gov.au for service information.
PUBLIC TRANSPORT:
White Night Route 1 to Alfredton
- 8pm to 8am, every 60 minutes
White Night Route 2 to Wendouree via Lydiard Street
- 8pm to midnight, every 30 minutes
- Midnight to 8am, every 60 minutes
White Night Route 3 to Canadian via Black Hill, Brown Hill
- 8pm to 8am, every 60 minutes
White Night Route 4 to Federation University
- 8pm to 8am, every 60 minutes
White Night Route 5 to Barkly Street via Sebastapol
- 8pm to midnight, every 30 minutes
- Midnight to 8am, every 60 minutes
Regional train
- V/Line trains to Ballarat will run to their normal timetable. The last service from Southern Cross Station to Ballarat will depart at 11.54pm and arrive at 1.09am.