News & Discussion: Public Transport Contracts, Service & Policy

[ChillyPhilly]

Just saying, but the London Underground remains government-owned and run.

I just can't see this latest Marshall and Knoll initiative working in the long run.

[Nathan]

Just saying, but the London Underground remains government-owned and run.

I just can't see this latest Marshall and Knoll initiative working in the long run.

Not just that, but they did change to a public/private partnership and it was an unmitigated disaster, before TfL bought it back into public ownership.

[Waewick]

Just saying, but the London Underground remains government-owned and run.

I just can't see this latest Marshall and Knoll initiative working in the long run.

I don't think it will work either, we are to small.

What will be interesting is if the new operations can bring some of the user experiences that we want. Like integrated tickets etc.

I also assume the Libs get rid of a heap of union employees which make their job easier.

[PD2/20]

Just saying, but the London Underground remains government-owned and run.

I just can't see this latest Marshall and Knoll initiative working in the long run.

I don't think it will work either, we are to small.

What will be interesting is if the new operations can bring some of the user experiences that we want. Like integrated tickets etc.

I also assume the Libs get rid of a heap of union employees which make their job easier.

What is meant by 'integrated tickets'? We already have an AdMet wide ticket system.

[1NEEDS2POST]

If it's an open tender, then why don't we put in a bid? Sensational Adelaide posters could run the system better than the politician's mates.

[Brucetiki]

With all of the above, why, then, over the past 25 years is Melbourne the only other city to outsource the metropolitan train system, and not Brisbane, Perth or Sydney despite stints of Liberal Governments in those states?

I seem to recall that one of the companies that bid for and won the right to run about half of the Melbourne tram routes just walked away from it after about 2 years, stating that it simply could not be run at a profit (mainly because Melbournians simply refused to pay to use the system - the place was rife with fare-jumpers)

National Express had half the tram/train network in Melbourne (under the MTram/MTrain brand) when they walked away and gave it back to the Victorian government, who promptly have it to Connex/Yarra Trams (who ran the other half of the train and tram network respectively).

Serco also opted not to bid for the bus network in Adelaide following a change in government (interestingly they've recently won the contract to run the privatised Remand Centre).

With the trains, I wonder if Knoll will award it to one company, or a number of companies (ala what Kennett did in Melbourne in the 90's, resulting in the above situation of one of the providers walking away).

[Nathan]

Is it just me, or is purposely hostile that the government chose to abolish the 2 section ticket on the same day they shut down the tram system for 3 weeks? There would be many who catch the tram from the Entertainment Centre that would switch to the train from Bowden for the 3 weeks, but now that one stop in is a full fare.

And who the fuck designed the substitute bus routes? There is no substitute bus that runs from Entertainment Centre to Botanic Garden You have to get off at the RAH, cross to other side of North Tce and catch a seperate bus heading the opposite direction before it loops back around via Currie St (and does the same at the other end looping around Frome, Grenfell and East Tce before you get to the Botanic Garden stop). Fucking absurd.

[adelaide transport]

The demand is far greater for commuters heading into the City(King William Street) than for Botanic Gardens.
Anyway it doesn't require much effort to change buses at either RAH or Railway Station.
DPTI planned it sensibly.
They should do the same with the trams when the system is up and running from the 23rd July.

[Nathan]

The demand is far greater for commuters heading into the City(King William Street) than for Botanic Gardens.
Anyway it doesn't require much effort to change buses at either RAH or Railway Station.
DPTI planned it sensibly.
They should do the same with the trams when the system is up and running from the 23rd July.

Strongly disagree. Since the extension opened, I've seen a steady rise in the amount of people from the Entertainment Centre staying on towards the Botanic Garden, particularly the University stop. When they're running trams to both Glenelg and Botanic Garden in the morning peak, I'd say the Botanic tram is now the busier of the two.

I don't regard having to transfer on city running buses as a practical solution. Both buses are running in high traffic, so there's zero chance they'll be synchronised unlike transferring between trams. I've caught the bus plenty of times down North Tce before the tram extension opened, and it takes absolutely forever.

[ChillyPhilly]

Los Angeles have recently launched a new alternative take on their public transport cards.

Not my photos. I wonder when the next potential innovation can occur for Adelaide's Metrocard.

.

[SRW]

Single purpose wearables seem pretty outdated to me. The real innovation will be being able to pay with your own smartphone/watch so you don't have to carry anything extra, which you can do in Sydney now.

[PeFe]

Having to wear a wrist band to use public transport is counter intuitive.....you wouldn't wear it at home, you would take it off and put it down somewhere.
Every time you left the house you would have to remember to take it with you.
I am sticking with a transport card shaped like a credit card, always in my wallet.

[SRW]

Someone mentioned hearing on the radio about researchers working out a new algorithm to figure out origin/destination data from our metro card. The ABC has done a write up on the study and the government's intentions. Basically more buses, more park-and-rides (and likely thereby more congestion): https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-13/ ... s_adelaide

[SBD]

Someone mentioned hearing on the radio about researchers working out a new algorithm to figure out origin/destination data from our metro card. The ABC has done a write up on the study and the government's intentions. Basically more buses, more park-and-rides (and likely thereby more congestion): https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-13/ ... s_adelaide

You make it sound like a bad thing to have buses that go from where people are to where they want to be, without having to go somewhere they don't want to be to change bus.

Park-n-ride is a solution for people who recognise that public mass transit is the right solution for the majority of their journey, but the tail is unsuitable. Maybe self-driving personal transport system will change that, but I imagine that a lot of people would feel silly taking a taxi (by whatever branding) to a bus stop or train station.

[SRW]

Someone mentioned hearing on the radio about researchers working out a new algorithm to figure out origin/destination data from our metro card. The ABC has done a write up on the study and the government's intentions. Basically more buses, more park-and-rides (and likely thereby more congestion): https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-13/ ... s_adelaide

You make it sound like a bad thing to have buses that go from where people are to where they want to be, without having to go somewhere they don't want to be to change bus.

Park-n-ride is a solution for people who recognise that public mass transit is the right solution for the majority of their journey, but the tail is unsuitable. Maybe self-driving personal transport system will change that, but I imagine that a lot of people would feel silly taking a taxi (by whatever branding) to a bus stop or train station.

No, I mostly agree with your first point in terms of transfers, which is why I'm sceptical of park-and-rides (at least when then they're implemented within 15-kms of the city). They might be an acceptable solution for the system we have, but I don't think we should pretend they don't still put people in cars on main roads.