News & Discussion: Public Transport Contracts, Service & Policy

[crawf]

So they god damn should.

I am so fed up with these three bus companies (mainly one), it's beyond a joke.

[Omicron]

I sat in Victoria Square from 6:30 until 7:15 for a bus that was due at 6:37. Eventually it was discovered by the (very kind and helpful) driver of the bus I gave in and caught in desperation that that particular run happens to be on a shift change, and inevitably gets delayed at the depot whilst the replacement driver eventually emerges from Narnia. That would explain why it's late every single day.

Bus scheduled to pass depot at X. Driver finishes at X. Replacement ensures they are in position at X or five minutes prior to ensure smooth transition. Apparently this doesn't make sense to the powers that be?

[[Shuz]]

I wrote a very lengthy letter to Minister Fox about the unreliability of my bus route and the public transport service in general.

I received a reply today via email with a letter PDF attached informing me that in order to get a reply I had to provide a postal address!

Having worked in a Minister's Office before, I can tell you right now that is absolute baloney and is an extremely poor showing of the Minister's (and her office) capability to deal with these public transport issues.

[fabricator]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-02/b ... section=sa

The South Australian Government has slapped fines of a combined $218,000 on Adelaide public transport operators for poor performance.

In the latest round of fines imposed for failure to meet benchmarks, Transfield Services has received the biggest contract penalty of more than $121,000.

Another operator Southlink has been fined $50,000 and Torrens Transit about $46,000.

The head of the Transport Department Rod Hook said timetables were being reviewed to help the bus operators meet their contract obligations.

But he said there were no plans to seek other operators for metropolitan bus services.

"We've got contracts going with these guys, they're eight-year contracts," he said.

"We have to make these contracts work.

"We have to have a relationship with these contractors where we work together to deliver the outcomes that we want so we can't go in and break contracts."

Transport Services Minister Chloe Fox said the operators were certain to be unhappy with the penalties.

"I do not expect the bus contractors to be happy with these penalties nor do I expect the penalties to ease the legitimate frustration of commuters," she said.

"However the Government believes these penalties are an important message that the bus companies must lift their performance and work with the Government as important changes are implemented to improve the experience of passenger transport commuters."

Greens leader Mark Parnell tweeted: "Minister Fox @saparli announces fines for poor service by bus operators. Surely it's time to abandon ... failed privatisation experiment?"

From $40,000 last year, to $218,000 for just the first 3 months of this year, oh boy they really screwed up big time.

Transfield, for $121K you could have employed a proper bus expert to manage the shift timetables, and more than a few extra bus drivers. Its not rocket science though, if driver arrives at shift change x minutes late, that means he needed to leave x minutes earlier, same goes for late running buses.

[muzzamo]

I saw (and heard) someone use the metrocard on the 721f this morning.

I wonder how you get onto the trial? Do you need to be a hills resident? DTEI staffer?

[Tonsley213]

DPTI staffer I heard when I rang up about it.

[[Shuz]]

DPTI staffer I heard when I rang up about it.

There's a priority system in place.

DPTI / Adelaide Metro staff are first priority, other Government department and agency staff are second priority and general public are third priority (the finalisation of the rollout).

[metro]

I've got one, picked it up last week. On the bus it's usually fine, but using the trains to and from the city is a bit more of a problem. Leaving the city you still need a valid paper ticket to get through the gates, but can touch the card on the trains with no problem. Heading to the city it's best to just use paper tickets as you need a paper ticket validated on a train to exit the station. They really need to fix the gates or at least remove them until a new system can be put in.

[muzzamo]

I've got one, picked it up last week. On the bus it's usually fine, but using the trains to and from the city is a bit more of a problem. Leaving the city you still need a valid paper ticket to get through the gates, but can touch the card on the trains with no problem. Heading to the city it's best to just use paper tickets as you need a paper ticket validated on a train to exit the station. They really need to fix the gates or at least remove them until a new system can be put in.

It seems pretty obvious to me that they will be replacing all of the adelaide gates with a much more modern (and wheelchair friendly) setup. Hopefully they remove some of the dead wood that is there all day while they are at it.

How do those on the trial recharge the cards? Is there an online facility yet? Is there a FAQ for those on the trial somewhere public?

[Aidan]

I've got one, picked it up last week. On the bus it's usually fine, but using the trains to and from the city is a bit more of a problem. Leaving the city you still need a valid paper ticket to get through the gates, but can touch the card on the trains with no problem. Heading to the city it's best to just use paper tickets as you need a paper ticket validated on a train to exit the station. They really need to fix the gates or at least remove them until a new system can be put in.

Why not just use the wide gate?

[crawf]

I've got one, picked it up last week. On the bus it's usually fine, but using the trains to and from the city is a bit more of a problem. Leaving the city you still need a valid paper ticket to get through the gates, but can touch the card on the trains with no problem. Heading to the city it's best to just use paper tickets as you need a paper ticket validated on a train to exit the station. They really need to fix the gates or at least remove them until a new system can be put in.

It seems pretty obvious to me that they will be replacing all of the adelaide gates with a much more modern (and wheelchair friendly) setup. Hopefully they remove some of the dead wood that is there all day while they are at it.

How do those on the trial recharge the cards? Is there an online facility yet? Is there a FAQ for those on the trial somewhere public?

That's what is going to happen, you will also be able to validate your card/ticket using the turnstiles.

[[Shuz]]

I've just been advised by the Minister for Transport Service's office that AdelaideMetro will have a new website operational in early 2013, alongside the introduction of the new MetroCard ticketing system and its in-built GPS system.

Part of the changes to the website will encompass the use of the GPS technology to publish real-time information. IT gurus will be invited to create smartphone-friendly applications which captures the real-time information from the website and/or GPS systems to assist in answering queries instantly.

Where is my train/tram/bus right now, and how long do I have to wait for it?
How has my route performed today and how does it compare to a period of time (weekly, monthly, yearly) etc.

Yes, this technology has been around for some years in other major cities worldwide, but the signifcant part is that we will be the first Australian city (so I'm led to believe) to have real-time information available across all transport nodes, bus, tram and trains.

From a commuter's perspective, this represents a hugely significant shift in the way the system is currently run. Most people rely on blind faith now that their service will show up (if at all). But the future is looking bright and optimistic now that we can rely on real-time information to make informed decisions about how to best travel, get to and from destinations,quickly, on time and conviniently.

[muzzamo]

An official flyer for the public trial was handed to me today.

If you travel at least 3 days a week you need to text 'interest' along with your name and email address to 1300 311 108

You will then be contacted with more information and an eligibility check.

[crawf]

Thanks Shuz. I for one can't wait for the GPS system, once again I was left frustrated today by our useless public transport network.

After going to Sydney last week, we really are years behind the rest of the country. It was so good to use a network that was extremely frequent, fast and most importantly on time. Even their trams are faster!... Another thing I noticed there was many buses showed 'prepaid only' in their destination sign. I would love to see something like that introduced for some routes when the metrocard is in full swing.

[muzzamo]

A great choice by the government to open up an API and let developers develop their own systems based upon the data.

No doubt google transit will be the target here, and the API is probably going to be the google transit API. This is good because google makes it public and plenty of other developers are able to utilise it also. Adelaide metros current google transit integration is very good but doesn't have the live updates.

http://maps.google.com/help/maps/transi ... dates.html

I suspect this is all possible because they are purchasing the off-the-shelf Atlas system. What was melbourne thinking in developing myki? We now have a situation where Perth, Adelaid and Brisbane have rolled out smartcard systems with little expense and Sydney and Melbourne have been catastrophic failures with an order of magnitude more expense.