When Emma Bacon sends out Christmas cards this year, images of Santa, presents and reindeer won’t make the cut. Instead, the cards will feature one of Blacktown’s worst bus stops, decorated in festive tinsel.
Bacon, the executive director of advocacy organisation Sweltering Cities, said the message was clear: “This festive season, all we want for Christmas is good bus shelters in western Sydney.”
Sweltering Cities has decorated one of the many Blacktown bus stops without shelter to send a message to local MPs.Credit: Sweltering Cities
From scorching cement to worn-out benches and poles in dirt, bus stops in western Sydney often lack the necessary shelter to protect commuters from extreme weather. Bacon said this could have a significant impact on residents’ physical and mental health.
“This isn’t just about sun exposure or being exhausted,” she said.
“It’s also about the feelings of isolation that come with thinking I can’t even leave the house on a hot day because … I’m walking down a treeless street, and then I’m standing there with no relief.
“That means that people, they miss appointments, they cancel social engagements.”
A bus stop on Rosenthal Street, Doonside, is one of 1674 in Blacktown that does not have shelter.Credit: Wolter Peeters
In the Blacktown City Council area, where temperatures often exceed 40 degrees in summer, 1674 of the area’s 2242 bus stops – or 75 per cent – lack shelters, a new council report found.
The report also identified high-use bus stops that should be prioritised for shelters based on their patronage and number of bus routes.
