News & Discussion: Public Transport Contracts, Service & Policy

[adelaide transport]

2 very good apps that have been available for a while-"whereDaBus"(developed by a local developer-excellent and free).
The second one is "any trip"-also excellent,but there is a $4.99 if you want to save more than 3 stops-well worth the money-I use both.

[Waz]

This Adelaide metro page regarding many bus route changes was linked in the advertiser this morning:-

https://dpti.sa.gov.au/new_public_trans ... /ew_one_ns

The referring article, if you have access:-

https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/sou ... 59374a2237

I personally feel their article headline was a bit of a ruse from the government, as they've axed entire routes in some cases, rather than just a few stops. My local route being one. I now have to walk 200m further.

[PeFe]

New Adelaide Metro fares

Fare Changes 2020
When: Sunday 5 July 2020

From Sunday, 5 July 2020 new fares will apply for all Adelaide Metro bus, train and tram services:

As with previous years, bus, train and tram fares will increase by approximately 2% in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
Options are available for regular passengers to save by using a metroCARD 28-Day or 14-Day pass, as well as Regular, Concession, Student or Senior fares.
On this page you can find information on:

New fare prices
Buying a metroCARD
Great travel options


New fare prices
Fare Type Singletrip (Peak) Singletrip (Interpeak) Daytrip
Weekdays before 9.01am and after 3pm. All Day Saturday Weekdays between 9.01am and 3pm. All day Sunday and SA public holidays Valid from first validation until 4.30am the following day
Regular
metroCARD $3.84 $2.11 -
MetroTicket $5.70 $3.80 $10.80
Concession and tertiary student
metroCARD $1.91 $1.02 -
MetroTicket $2.90 $1.40 $5.40
Primary and secondary student
metroCARD $1.28 $1.02 -
MetroTicket $2.80 $1.40 $5.40
Seniors Card holders*
Seniors card $1.91 FREE -
* South Australian Seniors Card holders travel free on all Adelaide Metro public transport services at the following times: Monday to Friday, Midnight to 7.00am, 9.01am to 3.00pm, 7.01pm to Midnight. All day Saturday, Sunday and public holidays. At all other times a concession fare is required.

metroCARD 28 Day Pass
Regular $103.00
Concession and tertiary student $51.50
Primary and secondary student $25.50


metroCARD 14 Day Pass
Regular $62.00
Concession and tertiary student $31.00
Primary and secondary student $15.50
MetroTickets are not available for purchase on board bus services as driver do not carry cash. MetroTickets can be purchased from vending machines on all trains and trams and at many interchanges.

Buying a metroCARD
When first purchasing a metroCARD, you need to pay for the card and add a minimum of $5 value to the card.

New Regular metroCARD • $5.00 (with an additional minimum recharge of $5.00 required).
New Concession and Student metroCARD • $3.50 (with an additional minimum recharge of $5.00 required).
You can buy metroCARDs online, from vending machines on trains and trams or from metroCARD retailers across metropolitan Adelaide.

Great travel options
Passengers are reminded that the 28-Day pass and 14-Day pass continue to provide great value-for-money travel options on all bus, train and tram services.
On weekends, school holidays and South Australian public holidays, two children under 15 years of age can travel free when accompanied by an adult using a Daytrip MetroTicket.
South Australian Seniors Card holders can also travel free on all Adelaide Metro public transport services at the following times: * Monday to Friday, Midnight to 7.00am, 9.01am to 3.00pm, 7.01pm to Midnight. All day Saturday, Sunday and public holidays. At all other times a concession fare is required.

https://www.adelaidemetro.com.au/Announ ... anges-2020

[Eurostar]

New Adelaide Metro fares

Fare Changes 2020
When: Sunday 5 July 2020

From Sunday, 5 July 2020 new fares will apply for all Adelaide Metro bus, train and tram services:

As with previous years, bus, train and tram fares will increase by approximately 2% in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
Options are available for regular passengers to save by using a metroCARD 28-Day or 14-Day pass, as well as Regular, Concession, Student or Senior fares.
On this page you can find information on:

New fare prices
Buying a metroCARD
Great travel options


New fare prices
Fare Type Singletrip (Peak) Singletrip (Interpeak) Daytrip
Weekdays before 9.01am and after 3pm. All Day Saturday Weekdays between 9.01am and 3pm. All day Sunday and SA public holidays Valid from first validation until 4.30am the following day
Regular
metroCARD $3.84 $2.11 -
MetroTicket $5.70 $3.80 $10.80
Concession and tertiary student
metroCARD $1.91 $1.02 -
MetroTicket $2.90 $1.40 $5.40
Primary and secondary student
metroCARD $1.28 $1.02 -
MetroTicket $2.80 $1.40 $5.40
Seniors Card holders*
Seniors card $1.91 FREE -
* South Australian Seniors Card holders travel free on all Adelaide Metro public transport services at the following times: Monday to Friday, Midnight to 7.00am, 9.01am to 3.00pm, 7.01pm to Midnight. All day Saturday, Sunday and public holidays. At all other times a concession fare is required.

metroCARD 28 Day Pass
Regular $103.00
Concession and tertiary student $51.50
Primary and secondary student $25.50


metroCARD 14 Day Pass
Regular $62.00
Concession and tertiary student $31.00
Primary and secondary student $15.50
MetroTickets are not available for purchase on board bus services as driver do not carry cash. MetroTickets can be purchased from vending machines on all trains and trams and at many interchanges.

Buying a metroCARD
When first purchasing a metroCARD, you need to pay for the card and add a minimum of $5 value to the card.

New Regular metroCARD • $5.00 (with an additional minimum recharge of $5.00 required).
New Concession and Student metroCARD • $3.50 (with an additional minimum recharge of $5.00 required).
You can buy metroCARDs online, from vending machines on trains and trams or from metroCARD retailers across metropolitan Adelaide.

Great travel options
Passengers are reminded that the 28-Day pass and 14-Day pass continue to provide great value-for-money travel options on all bus, train and tram services.
On weekends, school holidays and South Australian public holidays, two children under 15 years of age can travel free when accompanied by an adult using a Daytrip MetroTicket.
South Australian Seniors Card holders can also travel free on all Adelaide Metro public transport services at the following times: * Monday to Friday, Midnight to 7.00am, 9.01am to 3.00pm, 7.01pm to Midnight. All day Saturday, Sunday and public holidays. At all other times a concession fare is required.

https://www.adelaidemetro.com.au/Announ ... anges-2020

Adelaide's daytrip ticket is expensive compared to our neighbour captial city Melbourne.

myki Money Daily fare
Daily Zone 1 + 2 Zone 2
Full fare $9.00 $6.00
Concession $4.50 $3.00

[Norman]

Adelaide's daytrip ticket is expensive compared to our neighbour captial city Melbourne.

myki Money Daily fare
Daily Zone 1 + 2 Zone 2
Full fare $9.00 $6.00
Concession $4.50 $3.00

I guess it depends how you use it.

I always buy a 28-day pass, which is $50 for concession ($100 full fare). That works out to $1.70 per day, or $3.40 per day when I'm back to full-time work.

I don't know anyone who buys a daytrip, and I personally haven't purchased one for over 10 years.

[PeFe]

I wish Adelaide's daytrip was just a limit on your Metro card ie $10 maximum till 3 am next morning. I don't understand why Metrocard can not be reconfigured this way.
A single daytrip paper ticket could be $12.

Daytrips are needed for visitors and casual users of public transport.

[PeFe]

Will Covid-19 decimate public transport use in Adelaide?
Article from In Daily

Fears coronavirus will make Adelaide more car-centric than ever

As COVID-19 wipes out demand for public transport in Adelaide, urban planning experts fear the pandemic will derail long-term plans to reduce car use, resulting in higher carbon emissions and congestion.


"If you have even a small proportion of commuters moving from public transport to cars, that means increased road congestion..." Photo: Tony Lewis/InDaily

The pandemic has seen Adelaidians increasingly turn to their cars for their daily transit needs, whether for commuting to work, going to the shops, drive-through medical check ups, or even drive-in footy screenings.

Before the virus, Adelaide was already the most car-centric state capital in Australia with nearly 80 per cent of locals driving to work, according to the last national census in 2016.

That preference for getting behind the wheel has only increased since the pandemic began.

Although Apple Maps data indicates car travel in Adelaide dropped by up to 60 per cent at the height of the crisis in early April, public transport fell even further, by 80 per cent.

Trips by car have recovered to 12 per cent below pre-pandemic levels as of June 24, but public transport is still down 25 per cent, and walking by 32 per cent.

The collapse in demand comes as public transport undergoes a radical shake-up, including plans to remove almost 700 seats from trains to facilitate social distancing.

This week it was revealed that the State Government is proposing to axe nearly 1000 bus stops around the city in exchange for more frequent service along key routes.

University of South Australia urban planning expert Dr Andrew Allan fears that lingering concerns over exposure to the virus could calcify into permanent returns to car commutes.

“There’s a danger of a gradual scaling down through COVID-19,” he told InDaily.

“The State Government will say it is demand response: if no-one sitting on buses, why provide that service?”

He warns that public transport was already running at “crush capacity” during peak hours prior to the pandemic, so social distancing measures will reduce the number of people able to take up that option even if they want to.

Concerned that this will lead to increased carbon emissions from car travel, Allan suggests a range of measures to restore confidence in public transport, from better ventilation systems on public transport to the linking of contact tracing apps with public transport cards, to encouraging use of masks and gloves during spikes in community transmission.


Source: Apple Maps

University of Melbourne urban planning expert Dr John Stone suggested that the State Government plan to increase the frequency of buses on key routes could be helpful, with commuters seeking faster and more direct connections.

He is undertaking research about the impact of reduced public transport due to COVID-19 on congestion in Australian cities.

“If you have even a small proportion of commuters moving from public transport to cars, that means increased road congestion and quickly gets you into trouble,” he says.

The Adelaide City Council revealed to InDaily that Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor, Transport Minister Stephan Knoll, Health Minister Stephen Wade and agency executives met for an initial meeting of a taskforce examining how to stagger peak commuter demand.

Verschoor told InDaily that the council is responding to changing travel needs during the pandemic by supporting all forms of commuting, including cycling and public transport, but cited an incentive to drive as the only example.

“As part of our planned response to protect the health and wellbeing of our community, we quickly delivered UPark Plus – safer touch-free parking, with discounted pricing at all UParks,” she said.

Cycling has also boomed across the country during the shutdown, including in Adelaide.

Data from the City of Charles Sturt indicates that cycling increased 200 per cent along the River Torrens Linear Park Trail, from 800 riders per day in April 2019 to over 1600 daily riders in April this year.

Allan recommends increasing the number of cycle paths to further encourage this, and for more workplaces to provide secure parking for bikes.

Longer term, he says the key to weaning residents off cars is continuing the trend for greater population density in the inner city, and moving more jobs into suburban areas.

Just as people are forming new habits in preferencing car journeys over public transport, urban planning experts also anticipate that more people will continue to work from home by choice beyond the pandemic.

Even a modest number of people doing so would reduce pressure on roads at peak transit times.

Peter Ciemitis, urban designer at RobertsDay, believes it could see the neighbourhood centre experience a resurgence and divert people away from the CBD.

“If we see long-term work from home practices remaining in place, these reposition the role of the local centre in delivering business support, food and beverage options, business accommodation, and entertainment and cultural options,” he said.

Allan warns that such changes need direction, however.

“If we don’t have policy signals to reinstall confidence, we are likely to end up with a norm that is more car-dependent,” he said.

This article is supported by the Judith Neilson Institute for Journalism and Ideas.

https://indaily.com.au/news/2020/06/25/ ... than-ever/

[SRW]

Verschoor told InDaily that the council is responding to changing travel needs during the pandemic by supporting all forms of commuting, including cycling and public transport, but cited an incentive to drive as the only example.

“As part of our planned response to protect the health and wellbeing of our community, we quickly delivered UPark Plus – safer touch-free parking, with discounted pricing at all UParks,” she said.

Cycling has also boomed across the country during the shutdown, including in Adelaide.

The lack of leadership from the Lord Mayor has been really disappointing. At no point has she challenged the conservative 'Team Adelaide' faction as they continue to undermine the council's own active transport policies and prevent the construction of the East-West cycling route years after it was due.

[Nathan]

It's so very Adelaide that while cities around the world are seeing the growth in cycling during Covid-19 and using it as an opportunity to, at least on a trial basis, increase cycling infrastructure, we're digging in on cars even more and using it as an excuse to delay already planned cycling projects.

[SRW]

Most maddening, for a council that constantly cries poor, is that bikeway funding from the state government has been just sitting there and will now likely lapse.

[SBD]

It's so very Adelaide that while cities around the world are seeing the growth in cycling during Covid-19 and using it as an opportunity to, at least on a trial basis, increase cycling infrastructure, we're digging in on cars even more and using it as an excuse to delay already planned cycling projects.

The stats showed that cycling is increasing in Adelaide too. It's only Adelaide City Council that is failing to take the opportunity to grow the infrastructure to match.

[Eurostar]

Well when that bus has no bus lane its stuck in the traffic jam like everyone else. The very least State Government should be doing is bus priority at more traffic lights. For example stop 16 southbound Main North Road could have a B Light allowing the bus jump ahead similiar to arrangement at James Pl pedestrian crossing in CITY

[SBD]

Well when that bus has no bus lane its stuck in the traffic jam like everyone else. The very least State Government should be doing is bus priority at more traffic lights. For example stop 16 southbound Main North Road could have a B Light allowing the bus jump ahead similiar to arrangement at James Pl pedestrian crossing in CITY

Is it possible for a car to get in the gap between a bus at the stop and the traffic light stop line? If so, a bus priority light would delay the car getting out of the way. I'm not sure that giving the bus a 4 second head start really gives it anything, but delays all the other vehicles by that long, until they catch up again anyway.

It looks like James Place needs the head start so the bus can merge into a through lane immediately, which isn't the case at Stop 16 which has a much longer merge, and is used for all traffic.

[1NEEDS2POST]

The interpeak fare should be much lower than the peak to encourage a flatter peak. Australian cities have very narrow peak periods, much worse than cities in other countries. This is a problem because it makes it hard to organise shifts for transport workers and we need larger vehicles than with a flatter peak. This article goes shows it: https://humantransit.org/2020/05/the-co ... -dive.html

Running service only at rush hour is expensive, for three reasons.

• A vehicle must be owned and stored that isn’t used very much.
• A driver must report to work for just 2-4 hours, which is less efficient, hard on the driver and will cost the agency more per hour of service.
• Most peak demand is massively one-way in the morning and the other way in the evening. Drivers’ shifts must end where they began, so every bus or train that runs full in one direction has to return empty in the other, often over long distances.

[Norman]

The interpeak fare should be much lower than the peak to encourage a flatter peak. Australian cities have very narrow peak periods, much worse than cities in other countries. This is a problem because it makes it hard to organise shifts for transport workers and we need larger vehicles than with a flatter peak. This article goes shows it: https://humantransit.org/2020/05/the-co ... -dive.html

Running service only at rush hour is expensive, for three reasons.

• A vehicle must be owned and stored that isn’t used very much.
• A driver must report to work for just 2-4 hours, which is less efficient, hard on the driver and will cost the agency more per hour of service.
• Most peak demand is massively one-way in the morning and the other way in the evening. Drivers’ shifts must end where they began, so every bus or train that runs full in one direction has to return empty in the other, often over long distances.

I don't think fare costs are the issue here, but not enough workplaces adjusting work hours or offering flexible working hours. Besides, Adelaide's peak hour is nothing compared to other cities.