Heat Hazard: Is this Erskine Park bus stop the worst in Sydney?

Is this Sydney’s worst bus stop?

With no shade, close proximity to a merging lane on a busy road and an unkempt kerb that is a likely home for snakes, this stop in Erskine Park is a leading candidate.

A recent study by Western Sydney Advocacy Group ‘Sweltering Cities’ has revealed that a lack of sun and road safety support for our region has left the west with a number of Sydney’s worst bus stops, with a significant number of health risks posed to people who simply need to commute. With recent temperatures hitting the high 30s in February, a short wait for a bus becomes significantly more dangerous with inadequate facilities.

Research from Western Sydney University has confirmed that, on hot days, the difference in temperature between the CBD and the West can reach as high as 15 degrees. A lack of shade raises temperatures even further, meaning that waiting at an uncovered bus stop could turn a 35-degree day into a 45-degree experience.

With more than 50 per cent of the Sydney population living outside the CBD, it’s another demonstration of how the Real Sydney is being left behind. It should come as no surprise that a disproportionate number of these dangerously unsafe locations are in western Sydney, with stops in Minchinbury, Cranebrook and Fairfield.

While councils have argued that recent data shows a declining number of patrons at these bus stops, Sweltering Cities argue that it's only natural fewer people will catch public transport from these locations if nothing is done to improve safety for patrons.

“State governments have not come to the party in terms of providing the appropriate resources, not just for bus stops,” Blacktown mayor Tony Bleasdale told ABC News.