Hindu and Sikh communities - geography and transport
Hinduism and Sikhism are two of the fastest growing religions in Australia. This is largely due to immigration which has made Australia a favoured choice amongst students and workers from the Indian subcontinent. Victoria, especially Melbourne's outer western, northern and south-eastern suburbs, has the nation's highest percentage of residents with Indian subcontinent heritage. Punjabi is also now Australia's fastest growing language with it being more widely spoken in Australia than India.
Australia's immigration program favours people of working age. Many have families. This means high rates of trip generation as people to go work, school and university.
It's important to consider migrants' financial circumstances as this affects housing and transport choices. Many are quite highly educated but often do low pay / poor conditions jobs Aussies won't touch with discrimination or difficulties accessing higher paid work including permanent residency requirements. This is due to a mix of federal and state policies including uncapped access to 457 temporary work visas with low wage thresholds, de-regulated vocational education and a wish to support education as a key export industry. The Grattan Institute has analysed these policies closely with articles and reports here, here and here.
The early 2000s saw divergences in state government attitudes to population growth between NSW and Victoria; in 2000 premier Carr said Sydney was 'full' while Bracks and Brumby unashamedly advocated a 'big Australia' with Melbourne taking the lead. Backing growth was seen as a way for Victorian Labor to win the confidence of business that it lost in the early 1990s and create jobs. .
Melbourne's value proposition was that it could provide fringe area new house and land packages for perhaps a third or more less cost than more geographically-constrained Sydney. For migrants aspiring to big city jobs this meant that only Melbourne could deliver on Advance Australia Fair's promise of 'boundless plains to share' (even if none were exactly girt by sea).
As a result Melbourne flipped from being a slower grower than more dynamic Sydney, Brisbane and Perth in the '80s and '90s to rivalling Sydney as Australia's biggest capital today. Melbourne's growth was largely driven by interstate and international migration. Sydney also had the latter but a higher rate of outmigration limited growth.
These forces have made Melbourne's outer suburbs the fastest growing and most diverse in the nation. Popular suburbs for migrants are typically along the main transport corridors in the 20 to 40 km suburban ring from the CBD. A home purchase is a major marker of success and settlement in Australia. Up to four in five buyers in some estates have Indian heritage with professionals highly represented. Large new homes on small blocks are popular with proximity to temples a selling point.
Public transport in such outer areas comprises outer suburban Metro or V/Line trains typically running every 20 to 40 minutes. Stations are typically more widely spaced than in middle suburbs. Hence the vast majority of residents only have buses within walking distance. These are typically also every 20 to 40 minutes though with shorter operating hours with little operating after 9pm most nights.
Stations and bus routes in these booming ethnoburbs are amongst the most productive on the network. This is despite them getting approximately half the number of trips common for main SmartBus routes serving generally more established demographically European and east Asian oriented suburbs in Melbourne's east and south-east. This can be verified from the very high boardings/hour figures of bus routes serving strongly Indian areas in Melbourne's north and west and strong usage of stations such as Tarneit.
Rational service planning would send more service hours resources to such high-use routes. However Melbourne has a habit of building infrastructure but starving service. Service/usage mismatches are also common, with multicultural areas often left with second-class service despite demand generated by high housing densities and lower than average car ownership (including in some outer suburbs like Tarneit).
Even though people in the Department of Transport and Planning are nice inclusive folk who can do a good 'welcome to country', the distribution effects of the services they preside over is discriminatory in outcomes if not in intentions. Inactivity here has entrenched inequalities such as the west and north getting half the south-east's train frequency and the east's nine SmartBus routes versus none in the outer west.
This inequality is not helped by a historic reluctance to review and reform bus routes in Melbourne. That can mean that poorly used or duplicative routes can run for years before anyone with influence twigs that it's worth redeploying service kilometres to routes whose improvement would benefit more people.
Temples and transport to them
Hindu and Sikh temples are often large structures in industrial or green wedge adjacent areas with sparse transport. Similar to other fast-growing religions in Australia (from Islam to evangelical Christians) their scale (and thus geographic catchment) is large.
This is opposite to the small suburb-level churches operated by longer established (and often declining) Christian faiths, though they too have consolidated churches. The larger catchments mean that especially for people without a car buses are an important way for people to connect to their faith communities.
Hindu and Sikh faith communities typically started meeting in private homes. Then they might have hired a hall as numbers grew. Tireless fundraising allowed the purchase of land (typically in outlying industrial areas) and the construction of a building. A long term approach was taken with moves towards what are now large temples starting in the 1980s and 90s when communities were very much smaller. The story continues today, especially in outer growth areas, with their own schools likely another community aim.
I found lists of temples here, here, here as well as general searches. They commonly open early in the morning and close mid-evening seven days a week. Many close for about 3 or 4 hours from midday (with siestas being common in India).
Here's a non-exhaustive list of temples and available transport. Some are large while others are small. Transport planners need awareness of them due to their community importance and ability to generate network patronage.
WEST
* Sri Sai Siva Vishnu Temple / 7 Pauljoseph Wy, Truganina @
Route 400 every 40 min passes about 500m away on Robinsons Rd but no convenient stop.
* SMVS Swaminarayan Temple / 435 Davis Rd, Mt Cottrell 🚍
Nearest bus Route 182 every 40 min but limited walking connectivity.
* Gurudwara Sahib Tarneit / 560 Davis Rd, Tarneit 🚍
Served by Tarneit North FlexiRide. Requires booking.
* Hoppers Crossing Gurdwara / 417 Sayers Road Hoppers Crossing 🚍🚍
Route 150 every 40 min passes by. Route 160 every 40 min nearby.
* Guruji Mandir Temple / 501 Sayers Rd, Hoppers Crossing 🚍
Route 150 every 40 min passes by.
* Shree Swaminarayan Gurukul / 1596 Boundary Rd, Mount Cottrell @
No buses operate in area
* Sri Durga Temple / 705-715 Neale Road Deanside 🚍
Route 456 bus every 40 - 60 min.
* Kundrathu Kumaran Temple / 139 Gray Court, Deanside @
No public transport. Nearest is Route 456 bus.
* Shree Swaminarayan Hindu Temple / 37 Sheahan Rd, Rockbank @
No public transport.
* Melbourne Murugan Temple / 17-19 Knight Ave, Sunshine North 🚍🚍
About 400m from 903 SmartBus on McIntyre Rd.
NORTH
* Dal Baba Bidhi Chand Ji Khalsa Darbar / 5 Lakeview Dr, Mickleham 🚍🚍
Approx 700 - 800m from nearest buses (529 and 541). Both operate every 20 min weekdays, 40 min weekends.
* Guru Ravidass Sabha / 24 Malcolm Place, Campbellfield 🚍
Nearest bus is limited service 531 and 538 bus reachable via indirect walk.
* Sri Guru Singh Sabha / 344 Hume Hwy, Craigieburn 🚍🚍
532 bus every 30 to 60 min nearby. No signalised pedestrian crossing.
* Kali Mata Mandir Temple / 7 Nova Ct, Craigieburn 🚍
Industrial area with no direct transport. About 15 min walk from Craigieburn station and bus interchange.
* Sri Vishnu Durga Hindu Temple / 4a Helm Ct, Epping 🚍🚍🚍
Served by 901 SmartBus and Route 357.
* Prem Prakash Mandal Mandir / 63 Miller St, Epping 🚍🚍
Bus route 358 passes. About 1.5km walk to station and other buses.
* BAPS Swami Narayan Temple / 60 Heaths Ct, Mill Park 🚍🚍🚍
Near bus routes 383, 386 and 387.
EAST
* Shree Shirdi Sai Mandir / 32 Halley Ave, Camberwell 🚍🚍🚍🚍🚍
Near 75 tram and Hartwell station. Access also possible via limited service 612 bus.
* Sri Guru Nanak Satsang Sabha / 127 Whitehorse Rd, Blackburn 🚍🚍🚍🚍🚍
Well served. Walking distance to Blackburn Station, 901 SmartBus and other routes including 703, 736 and 765. Also limited service Route 271.
* Sri Vakratunda Vinayaka Temple /1292 Mountain Highway The Basin 🚍🚍
On bus route 755.
* Shree Swaminarayan Temple / 69 Wadhurst Drive, Boronia 🚍🚍
Limited service. About 500m from Route 737 bus on Coleman Rd and longer walk to 732 and 755 on Burwood Hwy.
SOUTH & SOUTH-EAST
* ISKCON Temple / 197 Danks St, Albert Park VIC 🚍🚍🚍🚍
Near tram route 12. Route 606 bus also stops nearby.
* Sankat Mochan Samiti Temple / 1289A North Road, Huntingdale 🚍🚍🚍🚍🚍
Excellent public transport connections being near Huntingdale Station and stops for 900 SmartBus. Routes 630 and 704 also stop nearby.
* Aumsai Sanstan Temple / 12 Mechanics Lane, Mordialloc 🚍🚍🚍🚍🚍
A small temple with excellent transport access at Mordialloc Station. Also near 903 SmartBus and regular routes 708 and 709.
* Vaishnav Sangh – Shreenathji Temple / 3-5 Princes Domain Drive Hallam 🚍🚍🚍
Route 893 bus every 20 min 7 day operates nearby. Also walkable to Route 828 in Frawley Rd.
* Gurdwara Siri Guru Nanak Darbar / 33 Officer Rd, Officer @
No nearby buses. About 2km from Officer Station.
* Gurdwara Sahib Nanaksar Thath Isher Darbar / 430 Evans Rd, Lynbrook @
No nearby buses. About 1km from Merinda Park Station.
* Gurdwara Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji / 200 Perry Road, Keysborough 🚍🚍
Hourly Route 816 bus stops nearby.
* Shri Shiva Vishnu Temple / 52 Boundary Rd Carrum Downs 🚍🚍
Southern hemisphere's largest Hindu temple about 500m to 901 SmartBus on Frankston - Dandenong Rd. Also near routes 832 and 833. 778 stops nearby but has limited service.
Service ratings
Number of buses is an indication of public transport access, as below.
@ = No practical public transport nearby
🚍 = May be some buses but limited hours, long walks and very poor walking connectivity
🚍🚍 = At least one 7 day route nearby but walking connectivity may be long and poor
🚍🚍🚍 = Two or more 7 day routes nearby with reasonable access
🚍🚍🚍🚍 = Multiple 7 day / long hours routes nearby with good access
🚍🚍🚍🚍🚍 = A good range of transport options eg trains, trams and long-hours SmartBuses
Ratings are rough estimates with significant trade-offs. For instance some temples are a poor walk from good services while others have infrequent routes that stop nearer. A high value is placed on 7 day service operating to at least 9pm even if frequency is low (typically 40 - 60 min).
Temple location and transport access
Different temples have different prospects for public transport access improvement. This is largely due to their location and the often poor street permeability of suburbs they are built in.
A location like A, near an intersection, has the best prospects. It is likely already near buses on both east-west and north-south roads. Upgraded access would involve boosting bus frequencies on both roads and (if not already done) replacing any roundabouts with signals (to guarantee pedestrian access) and moving bus stops to as near the intersection as possible.
Location B is less favourable but probably already has a bus. Its main needs may include better bus frequencies and operating hours. Pedestrian signals may also be needed if traffic volumes are high.
Temple location C has least prospects due to distance from main roads and poor local street permeability. The dead-end location means it cannot support a through route with a stop right outside. The best that can be hoped for is a long walk from a frequent main road route or a somewhat shorter walk from a less frequent service on a nearer loop street.
However longer term as suburbs age and become ripe for redevelopment the prospect of purchasing properties to link dead ends and enable efficient through service should be seriously entertained.
Conclusion
Public transport to most temples is limited with some having no practically usable service nearby. This is not helped by many being located on the fringes of industrial areas which typically have little street permeability or consideration of walking in their design.
The sites for some temples may have been purchased before there was any public transport or even people living nearby. Buy what land we can afford now and worry about the transport later might have been the mantra.
Temples on non-freeway main roads have better prospects for improved transport. While buses along them may currently run infrequently (especially off-peak) higher frequency is often justified due to strong existing patronage and suburban growth. There is also scope for access improvements such as pedestrian crossings since these are often lacking despite the potential trips that a temple would generate.
Finally the train stations and bus routes near which many Hindus and Sikhs live near are also ripe for improved frequency and operating hours. These are well used relative to other public transport services in Melbourne and justify 10 to 20 rather than currently widespread 40 to 60 minute frequencies. Improvements to residential area routes reduce waiting times especially where people need to change to a bus that serves a temple.
Best wishes to all Hindu and Sikh readers for a happy and fruitful Baisakhi
