The biggest provider of school bus services in the region says opening the network for public transport in rural areas would improve access to cities like Warrnambool.
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A Parliamentary Inquiry is under way into whether Victoria's school bus program should widen to make it available for all users when public transport isn't available.
Warrnambool Bus Lines managing director Stephen Lucas said while the move would likely only benefit small numbers in the population, it would potentially be a win for some in communities like Hawkesdale, Peterborough, Port Campbell and Timboon.
"We already have a route service system that caters for people from Allansford to Port Fairy and everywhere in between," Mr Lucas said.
"It's more of an advantage for smaller regional communities for areas that don't have any bus services at all."
He said the business, which runs about 80 school buses across south-west Victoria and into South Australia, would unlikely benefit much from fares if the service was opened to public transportation.
"We would want to do it because it provides a service for people who haven't got an alternative," Mr Lucas said.
"You can see there might be an opportunity for people to get to Warrnambool or where the school is. As long as they are prepared to wait a long time."
Hawkesdale P-12 School principal Colan Distel said he was open-minded about the idea but would want to understand how it would work before he supported it.
"There is some scope for it in terms of employment and training after school and just general well being and being able to get to doctors," Mr Distel said.
"(But) you don't have as much control on who is on the bus in terms of safety."
Infrastructure Victoria's draft 30-year strategy highlighted last year that just 9 per cent of Moyne and Corangamite shire residents had access to public transport while 96 per cent of households owned a car.
In comparison, 33 per cent of Glenelg Shire residents and 41 per cent of Southern Grampians Shire residents had access to public transport.
The Regional Catholic Education Dioceses said in a submission to the inquiry that students in the Camperdown region were facing unequal access to the bus system,
The dioceses said when government school students had a student free day twice a year the bus service did not operate. The service in Timboon also does not extend to pick up some students who do not attend government schools, the Catholic body said.
It also raised issues of child safety if buses were available to the wider community, but Mr Lucas pointed out that in metropolitan areas services were shared.
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