News & Discussion: Public Transport Contracts, Service & Policy

[1NEEDS2POST]

It's rather ironic that interstate people were employed. This is the classic job market situation. I'm sure people applied that were from here and could easily do the work, but they just went for their mates.

We also have people on this forum who argue that the government should hire experts in public transport from interstate or overseas, because they believe the DPTI/DTI is incompetent, and the consultant's expertise might rub off. We can't have it both ways.

Yes we can, we don't need to hire just one expert. There are plenty of experts that can be hired for less than $1 million. This is just corruption.

[ChillyPhilly]

Or spend far less for necessary education - e.g. addressing the lack of light rail knowledge in SA.

[rubberman]

Or spend far less for necessary education - e.g. addressing the lack of light rail knowledge in SA.

Yes. However, for education to happen, you need to have someone with appropriate knowledge doing the educating. With something like light rail vehicle selection, who do we have? Sure, Yarra trams has experience with a limited range of trams, but overall knowledge? Where would they get that from?

Australia has lost the depth of knowledge that used to reside in the old MMTB in Melbourne. Australia has no VUKV equivalent, for example:
https://www.vukv.cz/

So, how do you educate, if there are no local educators?

[SBD]

Or spend far less for necessary education - e.g. addressing the lack of light rail knowledge in SA.

Yes. However, for education to happen, you need to have someone with appropriate knowledge doing the educating. With something like light rail vehicle selection, who do we have? Sure, Yarra trams has experience with a limited range of trams, but overall knowledge? Where would they get that from?

Australia has lost the depth of knowledge that used to reside in the old MMTB in Melbourne. Australia has no VUKV equivalent, for example:
https://www.vukv.cz/

So, how do you educate, if there are no local educators?

There are usually plenty of experts in the comments section of articles in The Advertiser, and often a few on this forum too.

[Modbury_Man]

Following the failed attempt at Bus Network reform by the Government mid last year, does anyone know what the plans are for future Bus Network reform? There seems to have been no mention of the SA Public Transport Authority (SAPTA) of late. Or is it a case of waiting until after the March 2022 State Election?

[adelaide transport]

Following the failed attempt at Bus Network reform by the Government mid last year, does anyone know what the plans are for future Bus Network reform? There seems to have been no mention of the SA Public Transport Authority (SAPTA) of late. Or is it a case of waiting until after the March 2022 State Election?

I doubt there will be any changes before next election due March next year. Any new reforms will not be announced until after the next election.
Reform is desperately needed as the current route structure is in need of an overhaul.

[mawsonguy]

An interesting article in the Sydney Morning Herald https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-eco ... 57sf5.html

A study of 52 transport infrastructure projects since 2006, each worth more than $1 billion, has concluded governments pay too much for megaprojects because they don’t drive a hard enough bargain on contracts signed with construction firms. The report, by the Grattan Institute think tank, also identifies a culture of governments “caving in” to contractor demands after agreements are signed, resulting in frequent cost overruns.

International data shows Australia’s transport infrastructure projects are more expensive, on average, than other comparable countries. Australia’s rail infrastructure costs are 26 per cent higher than in Canada, 29 per cent higher than in Japan, and more than three times higher than in Spain, the report found.

The report’s lead author, Marion Terrill, said larger, more complex contracts had reduced the number of firms with the capacity to deliver, resulting in less competition in the sector.

[ChillyPhilly]

Following the failed attempt at Bus Network reform by the Government mid last year, does anyone know what the plans are for future Bus Network reform? There seems to have been no mention of the SA Public Transport Authority (SAPTA) of late. Or is it a case of waiting until after the March 2022 State Election?

I doubt there will be any changes before next election due March next year. Any new reforms will not be announced until after the next election.
Reform is desperately needed as the current route structure is in need of an overhaul.

My gut tells me there will be a second crack at Knoll's failed plan if the Libs are somehow re-elected.

[Spotto]

There seems to have been no mention of the SA Public Transport Authority (SAPTA) of late.

Even when it was created and staff moved from DIT to SAPTA there was very little information about them full stop. They seem to be some kind of agency inside of DIT but to the regular consumer it might as well not exist, there's no customer-facing information about them in person or online, which seems like an odd way to treat it considering it's creation was touted to be one of Marshall's biggest election promises. The most I could find online from a government site was a press release from the premier about the SAPTA Board appointments. I was expecting some kind of rebrand and new public face in a similar fashion to PTV or TfNSW, almost like a return to the days of the State Transport Authority.

[ChillyPhilly]

There seems to have been no mention of the SA Public Transport Authority (SAPTA) of late.

Even when it was created and staff moved from DIT to SAPTA there was very little information about them full stop. They seem to be some kind of agency inside of DIT but to the regular consumer it might as well not exist, there's no customer-facing information about them in person or online, which seems like an odd way to treat it considering it's creation was touted to be one of Marshall's biggest election promises. The most I could find online from a government site was a press release from the premier about the SAPTA Board appointments. I was expecting some kind of rebrand and new public face in a similar fashion to PTV or TfNSW, almost like a return to the days of the State Transport Authority.

SAPTA was just a load of nothing.

[adelaide transport]

There seems to have been no mention of the SA Public Transport Authority (SAPTA) of late.

Even when it was created and staff moved from DIT to SAPTA there was very little information about them full stop. They seem to be some kind of agency inside of DIT but to the regular consumer it might as well not exist, there's no customer-facing information about them in person or online, which seems like an odd way to treat it considering it's creation was touted to be one of Marshall's biggest election promises. The most I could find online from a government site was a press release from the premier about the SAPTA Board appointments. I was expecting some kind of rebrand and new public face in a similar fashion to PTV or TfNSW, almost like a return to the days of the State Transport Authority.

SAPTA was just a load of nothing.

Yet they were recently advertising for a new CEO as the previous CEO had retired. Also earlier in the year they appointed a lady as their Marketing and PR guru?
Information these days is very restricted-the only place(except for a few newsagencies with a limited range) to get timetables is basically the "info" centre at Adelaide Railway Station. I rang the Adelaide Metro info line this week to enquire why there were still notices(blue) on bus stop timetable holders advising of timetable changes from the 26th January-nearly 4 months ago?
Their reply was that they were no longer placing timetables at bus stops except major Interchanges like Marion or Tea Tree Plaza.
And they want to increase patronage on our Public Transport? they need a clean out of their Senior Management from the top down and employ people who have extensive Public Transport experience.

[1NEEDS2POST]

Following the failed attempt at Bus Network reform by the Government mid last year, does anyone know what the plans are for future Bus Network reform? There seems to have been no mention of the SA Public Transport Authority (SAPTA) of late. Or is it a case of waiting until after the March 2022 State Election?

I doubt there will be any changes before next election due March next year. Any new reforms will not be announced until after the next election.
Reform is desperately needed as the current route structure is in need of an overhaul.

The complaints from the last reform proposals have set back any reforms for a decade at least. Any politician who suggests to do anything will get hounded. The last reform proposal was good, it would have benefited far more people than it would have hurt. But noisy people made the government back down, even though many of those noisy people would have benefited from the reforms.

[NTRabbit]

Except the last proposal wasn't good, it was bad. It cut services for no good reason and hid them beneath a cosmetic update to bus numbers that made little sense and little difference.

An actual reform proposal, instead of the standard 'slash and burn and call it reform in the press release', would get actual public support.

[PeFe]

I read on the Melbourne Transit blog that the SA bus reforms would have increased the number of people living close to Go Zones from 500,000 to 700,000......how is that bad...

Also the bus numbering system would be much simpler and clearer......how is that bad.....

Yes there were cuts to services off the main roads, maybe too many cuts, but you don't throw the baby out with bath water....

https://melbourneontransit.blogspot.com ... -part.html

[NTRabbit]

The cuts were far and away the most important aspect, the entire "reform" was built around them, so forcing the government to dump that plan and come up with a new one that actually improved the system was the right thing to do. That they have decided to not come up with anything else at all speaks volumes about their true aims and competency.

Also the numbering system was not simpler and cleaner, it was exactly as simple and clean as the current setup, just different letters and numbers.