Back in February Leon Comp­ton from ABC Radio Tasmania visited Brighton as part of a series of outdoor broadcasts being conducted during the State election campaign. Lily and Jordan from BYAG were interviewed by Leon and had the opportunity to share their voice on what matters to them.

Lily shared her experience of using public transport to try and get to college. “A lot of the time buses don’t come, you’re under time pressure not knowing if the bus is going to turn up. It’s really hard to go to college, especially, or any out of area schools because most people rely on those buses to get there. And if they’re not on time then they miss their class­es or their attendance is bad and it falls back on them. But a lot of the time you can’t get to school because of those buses.”

This really highlighted for the audience the impact a lack of reliable public transport can have. It was so heartfelt that Leon replayed this part of the interview on air the next morn­ing. Lily articulated the diffi­culties faced by so many young people in our area who rely on public transport to access education and the impact that the lack of services and unreli­ability of services has on their day to day lives and ability to attend classes and learn. Lily shared how it is truly an uphill battle when buses don’t arrive on time or not at all.