News & Discussion: Adelaide Metro Buses

[The Scooter Guy]

New bus information units have been installed at Paradise interchange.

[timtam20292]

Did they get rid of the previous information units? I'm talking about the large screens.

[PeFe]

Article from In Daily on bus services, not bus services in Adelaide, but bus services in general.

https://indaily.com.au/opinion/2018/05/ ... -services/

I found it a bit "pie in the sky", it's very easy say run "on demand" services but much harder in the real world to make it better than a bus scheduled every 15 minutes, nor do they mention the cost either.
Nor do they differentiate between small sprawling low density cities and Chinese megalopolises.

Still it is worth reading getting "another take" on what public transit bus services could be.

[Algernon]

IMO you're right in that this "on demand" stuff is a fancy way of solving problems we don't have. From my experience driving buses in Adelaide, the biggest problems for reliability are traffic and loading. Always was, always will be. Going cashless is the best thing Adelaide could do to improve network wide reliability. If I were to compare Adelaide buses with Prague, in Prague (and other Czech cities like Brno) there are ticket machines on footpaths in the urban centres and major stops in the further out areas. However, most people use a metro card which they recharge with a coupon of 1-12 months. In theory you can buy a ticket from a driver, but it costs more and I'm not exagerating when I say you try to buy the ticket and the driver looks at you and says "fuck off" Also they have all door loading which greatly improves loading time. Another thing they do to improve reliability is... they don't wait for anything. Ever. If you're running for the bus and are late they will close the door in your face. Seems harsh but it's fair - why should 1 person who is late make 50 people late? In Adelaide there is this culture of waiting for stragglers and it adds up on a run. The drivers do it because they will get complaints - people who are late will always insist the bus left early, and that's an instant sackable offense.

The point to it all is that if you've spent all the money on buying the bus and you're paying the driver, then as much of their time as possible should be spent driving the bus. In Adelaide they spend far too much time doing things that can be done at a fraction of the cost with ticket machines and online purchases.

[rubberman]

IMO you're right in that this "on demand" stuff is a fancy way of solving problems we don't have. From my experience driving buses in Adelaide, the biggest problems for reliability are traffic and loading. Always was, always will be. Going cashless is the best thing Adelaide could do to improve network wide reliability. If I were to compare Adelaide buses with Prague, in Prague (and other Czech cities like Brno) there are ticket machines on footpaths in the urban centres and major stops in the further out areas. However, most people use a metro card which they recharge with a coupon of 1-12 months. In theory you can buy a ticket from a driver, but it costs more and I'm not exagerating when I say you try to buy the ticket and the driver looks at you and says "fuck off" Also they have all door loading which greatly improves loading time. Another thing they do to improve reliability is... they don't wait for anything. Ever. If you're running for the bus and are late they will close the door in your face. Seems harsh but it's fair - why should 1 person who is late make 50 people late? In Adelaide there is this culture of waiting for stragglers and it adds up on a run. The drivers do it because they will get complaints - people who are late will always insist the bus left early, and that's an instant sackable offense.

The point to it all is that if you've spent all the money on buying the bus and you're paying the driver, then as much of their time as possible should be spent driving the bus. In Adelaide they spend far too much time doing things that can be done at a fraction of the cost with ticket machines and online purchases.

I agree with most of this. Two years back, I was in Ostrava while tram track was being relaid in Nádražní street. The replacement was with bendy buses with four double doors. I watched as one bus drew up in Poděbradova street on the return journey. Thirty five seconds from pulling up at the kerb to doors closed and leaving. The bus was packed, and they have a capacity of 170plus.

The reason this is important, apart from the obvious time factor, is that with slow loading narrow doors, you need more stops on streets like Grenfell in Adelaide, because otherwise they have to wait while previous buses load and unload. When Adelaide had three door buses operated by the MTT, the number of stops in major streets like King William and Grenfell was much fewer.

Point is, with very little cost, bus services could be boosted hugely. Twenty seconds per stop in peak hours is achievable with 3 wide doors. Buy these buses as they come up for replacement. Then use the extra time to reduce stop numbers in CBD streets. Huge decrease in travel time, release of street spaces and less weaving in and out randomly.

[EBG]

A minor point - on Glen Osmond Rd between stops 1 -5, stops 2 and 4 have been removed in both directions. I am not sure when this occurred. Also I think stop 6 may have been removed as well.

[PeFe]

Less bus companies now running Adelaide buses. One major player has bought out a smaller one. Not sure if this will effect serices in any way.

From In Daily

Single operator to control bus services across central Adelaide

A single company will operate the bus network across central Adelaide after Torrens Transit acquired the company that runs services to the inner northern and southern suburbs, as well as O-Bahn buses.

About 700 employees and more than 370 buses are to be drawn under the Torrens Transit banner by the middle of the year after the Australian company signed a contract to acquire Light City Buses from Broadspectrum (formerly known as Transfield Services).

LCB has been servicing the Inner North, Inner South and Outer North East contract regions of Adelaide since Torrens Transit offloaded the areas in 2011.

Now that Torrens Transit has taken them back, the only other remaining Adelaide Metro bus service operator is SouthLink, which runs the Outer North, Outer South and Hills areas.

Clint Feuerherdt, CEO of Transit Systems Group which owns Torrens Transit, told InDaily there would be no change to bus timetables or routes for now but the company intended to propose new services to link north-south and east-west routes.

Fueurherdt said the acquisition opened the possibility of more seamless routes.

“It breaks down the barriers between the contract regions,” he said.

“We have a successful history of performance in Adelaide.

Full article : https://indaily.com.au/news/2018/05/09/ ... -adelaide/

[Norman]

Nothing in the short term, but hopefully they will find some efficiencies in the services and link some services together.

[[Shuz]]

A step in the right direction. Would rather it come back under full government ownership or just under one sole operator. There are a lot of efficiencies to be made.

[Brucetiki]

So we're back to the 2005-2012 set up.

Perhaps the J1 goes back to Elizabeth, and J2 to Greenwich?

[Waewick]

A step in the right direction. Would rather it come back under full government ownership or just under one sole operator. There are a lot of efficiencies to be made.

It makes you wonder how 1 operator with no competition is going to do it any different doesnt it.

[muzzamo]

full government ownership ... a lot of efficiencies to be made

I would never use those two in the same sentence.

[Kasey771]

full government ownership ... a lot of efficiencies to be made

I would never use those two in the same sentence.

The problem I have with government ownership is that many in govt/DPTI have failed to realise tht you can't/shouldn't run PT like a business. Yes it should be run efficiently(ie not wasting taxpayer dollars) but you shouldn't be trying to make it turn a profit. PT is a service provided to reduce the strain on the road network from having too many single occupant vehicles using it. Its also supposed to be a viable alternative to those people who choose not to own a car or cant afford the costs associated with doing so.

[HeapsGood]

Does anyone know when the old buses will be phased out at Southlink?

By old, i mean the uncomfortable, loud, lacking air conditioning, lacking window tinting, old brown seaters... they are by far the worst buses out and I deliberately avoid them. I would rather spend another 5-10 minutes waiting for the next bus then catch them.

[adelaide transport]

The oldest buses operated by Southlink are the NL 202's,the oldest being built in 1997,meaning they still have 4 years left before they are retired.