News & Discussion: Adelaide Metro Buses

[Wayno]

This is a great idea. Good progressive thinking by the govt...

Is this an Australia first?

[Shuz]

Surely must be, it's quite a technological step forward, and such an easy incentive to encourage more people onto PT.

[Wayno]

i know i'm off topic again (can't help myself ), but what other "21st century features" could be added to trains & buses to entice people to become regular PT users?

[Shuz]

i know i'm off topic again (can't help myself ), but what other "21st century features" could be added to trains & buses to entice people to become regular PT users?

Well, I was on a bus the other day that had a television installed in it, run by Channel 7. It was a normal AdelaideMetro bus!

[Wayno]

i know i'm off topic again (can't help myself ), but what other "21st century features" could be added to trains & buses to entice people to become regular PT users?

Well, I was on a bus the other day that had a television installed in it, run by Channel 7. It was a normal AdelaideMetro bus!

Can you tune your own headphones to listen to the TV? or do you simply have to "listen harder" and put up with conversation going on around you?

[jlimty]

i know i'm off topic again (can't help myself ), but what other "21st century features" could be added to trains & buses to entice people to become regular PT users?

Well, I was on a bus the other day that had a television installed in it, run by Channel 7. It was a normal AdelaideMetro bus!

Wow! Thats pretty cool! I've been taking the bus lately but I've yet to see an AdelaideMetro bus with a telly

[Norman]

That bus is the Zone Cruiser, it was launched a few years ago for people living in the outer Southern Suburbs.

http://www.adelaidemetro.com.au/guides/ ... ruiser.pdf

[AtD]

Copy-pasta for perpetuity.

SA govt to rig buses for free internet

Liam Tung, ZDNet.com.au

11 July 2008 04:28 PM

Tags: bus, public transport, south australia, cisco, trial, isp, rig, internet

The South Australian Government is planning to offer free internet on the state's public transport system to make it more appealing to use — but it needs to find a hardware vendor and ISP willing to install the technology first.

The chief information officer of South Australia's Department for Transport, Energy and Infrastructure, John Maunder, told ZDNet.com.au that the government would approach the industry in the next fortnight to gauge its interest in supplying technology to give commuters free internet on public transport.

"We're getting together with a number of interested parties in two weeks and will be assessing their willingness to participate in that trial. We're trying to understand what they would want," he said.

"We're looking for a free service for the period of the trial," he added.

Maunder said he was hoping South Australia could provide something on par with a trial in San Francisco. Switch and router giant Cisco recently rigged up the city's buses with wireless internet, allowing commuters to check email, surf the Web and get bus timetable information.

Other cities Cisco is equipping public transport systems with wireless internet include Seoul, Lisbon, Madrid, and Hamburg.

According to Maunder there would be four major advantages of rolling out wireless on public transport, and not just for commuters. At least 1,000 bus drivers stand to gain from the service.

"It should provide real-time security," said Maunder. "That means there is a camera in the vehicle transmitting information to a control centre where staff can monitor if there is an incident, and from there allow them to connect to the police to investigate."

Passengers stand to gain by being able to access on-board entertainment, public transport and general location information, while bus drivers should be able to avoid congestion caused, for example, by a road accident by being fed alternative routes through the system. A major bonus for commuters would be the ability to tell how far a bus is away from arriving, or whether it has already left.

"In areas less frequently serviced, missing the bus by five minutes means a wait of another hour. To know if it's just passed or is close to arriving is very important," he said.

As for the cost of making such a system available, Maunder says he hasn't got estimates yet. "We don't know what the cost per vehicle will be until we do the trial," he said.

He would not disclose which vendors or ISPs would be approached.

Whether Wi-fi or WiMax would be used to deliver the service is not known. In fact, Maunder said: "We don't really care about the technology. We just want to provide something that works, which will be whatever the ISP that works for us decides."

[AtD]

One thing that stood out for me in that news report was all those people queuing politely to get on the bus. It’s something that doesn’t seem to happen in this side of the country. There’s more pushing and shoving here to get the best seat.

BTW, it's buses, not busses.

[mattblack]

i know i'm off topic again (can't help myself ), but what other "21st century features" could be added to trains & buses to entice people to become regular PT users?

BIKE RACKS !!! (I know they do this in Vancouver and would cost alot cheaper than WI-FI on every bus).

[Aidan]

It sounds good... except that last time I tried using a computer on a bus, I found it rather awkward. While I'd appreciate free internet, I don't think it will be as convenient as it sounds.

It would be very useful on trains, though!

[Will409]

mattblack, keep a look out for railcar 2118. Half of the passenger compartment has had the seats ripped out and replaced with a bike rack.

As for 21st century additions, I would like to see the following:

- Passenger Information Display screens in trains (next station and the like). 3001 and 3005 have had these screens fitted since 2005 but they have only worked for 3 days in that time.
- Automated passenger announcements rather then making the driver do the announcements, if they can be bothered too at all.
- Emergency passenger intercom to the driver.
- Toilets.

[monotonehell]

One thing that stood out for me in that news report was all those people queuing politely to get on the bus. It’s something that doesn’t seem to happen in this side of the country. There’s more pushing and shoving here to get the best seat.

BTW, it's buses, not busses.

I catch a lot of buses to a lot of different places, and one thing I've noticed is the different queuing habits of people from different areas waiting for their bus in the CBD.
* People in lower economic suburbs tend to cluster around the stop randomly. When the bus arrives they all crowd on, dog eat dog style.
* People in the middle income areas tend to line up in an orderly way. When the bus arrives the people who want it take one step forward from the queue, and form a second queue and all file onto the bus, first come first on style.
* People in higher economic suburbs tend to cluster around the stop randomly. When the bus arrives they all crowd on, dog eat dog style.

I've always found this interesting.

[monotonehell]

mattblack, keep a look out for railcar 2118. Half of the passenger compartment has had the seats ripped out and replaced with a bike rack.

As for 21st century additions, I would like to see the following:

- Passenger Information Display screens in trains (next station and the like). 3001 and 3005 have had these screens fitted since 2005 but they have only worked for 3 days in that time.
- Automated passenger announcements rather then making the driver do the announcements, if they can be bothered too at all.
- Emergency passenger intercom to the driver.
- Toilets.

Agree with most of this, except toilets. MUCH more trouble than they would be worth. Both from a maintenance and operational point of view, as well as sadly the idiot factor in society who would damage, misuse and otherwise make them inoperable.

(3 days is amusing)

[Norman]

Yes, I have to agree with the No Toilet stance. It was already bad enough on the Overland and Warrnambool line, and for worse, check out the coaches.