News & Discussion: Public Transport Contracts, Service & Policy

[AtD]

Fences wont work, people just walk down the wrong side of them.

We can't bubble wrap everything.

[AG]

I noticed in the past couple of days some Adelaide Metro reps from the Infoteam going around all the major stops in the city issuing and reporting changes to timetables, which take place on October 2, due to changes in the bus operator contracts. Some routes are unaffected, others have minor timetable changes while some have altered routes or different numbers through the city due to different cross town connections.

[jk1237]

wtf have they done to my Payneham Rd buses. I cant believe they would do as stupid a change as now putting some down Grenfell St when they reach the city. So what the fu.k am I meant to do tonight. Instead of waiting a few mins to get the 1st one that comes along, I now need to buy a crystal ball and wonder if I should wait on Grenfell St for a random 174, or normal North Tce for a random 177. Which one will come first. Idiots

[metro]

wtf have they done to my Payneham Rd buses. I cant believe they would do as stupid a change as now putting some down Grenfell St when they reach the city. So what the fu.k am I meant to do tonight. Instead of waiting a few mins to get the 1st one that comes along, I now need to buy a crystal ball and wonder if I should wait on Grenfell St for a random 174, or normal North Tce for a random 177. Which one will come first. Idiots

this has been the stupidest thing, i've heard a lot of complaints, Payneham rd buses are just for starters, the J1 which was the city's longest and most successful bus route does not go straight through from Glenelg to the City and then TTP and Elizabeth anymore, it now requires a change in the city from the J1 to the SH1T or some shit..

I certainly wasnt happy this morning when my usual Torrens Transit service which was usually on time, showed up 30min late and with another bus of the same number right behind it

Not impressed with the timetable changes and the new operators

[metro]

from the ABC

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-10-05/b ... section=sa

New bus operator leaves commuters stranded

Problems for new contractor, Light-City Buses, have left many Adelaide commuters stranded.

Intending travellers complained of buses running between 30 minutes and one hour late on Tuesday, and some said their buses failed to arrive.

Acting executive director of public transport, Terry Crackett, said the first day for the new contractor was 'certainly not as we would have liked'.

"Effectively we moved a third of our bus services across from Torrens [Transit] to Light-City Buses or Transfield yesterday," he said.

"We certainly had a number of buses that ran late. We also had a couple of missed services."

The company was awarded the $567 million contract in April to serve two of the city's six public transport regions.

Mr Crackett said more than 500 staff were involved in the services covered by the new bus contract.

Light-City's parent company Transfield Services also runs energy and defence services in South Australia.

Mr Crackett said he had been assured there would be a 'dramatic improvement' in its bus operations.

He said shifts were now being heavy staffed to ensure the delays or cancellations did not continue.

One 891 ABC listener, Paul from Marden, reported the 7:17am bus from Marden to the city arrived at 7:25am at his stop on Wednesday.

He said two scheduled buses after the 7:17am service failed to arrive, then the 7:55am service arrived and picked up all the waiting commuters.

Mr Crackett promised to follow up complaints of missed or late services with the new bus contractor.

and from AdelaideNow

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/sout ... 6158897624

TRANSFIELD Services is struggling to meet demand as the business experienced its first real tests since taking over a third of Adelaide's buses.

Transport Department spokesman Terry Crackett said on ABC radio this morning that Light City Buses "did have issues" meeting its $567 million bus contract.

"We certainly had a number of buses that ran late. We had about 550 staff that had to start on board with the new business and yesterday of course was the full workload day there were some issues," Mr Crackett said.

" I've spoken to the manager of Light City this morning and he's saying to expect a dramatic increase from as early as today."

Twitter has been inundated with complaints from the public regarding late buses, services not showing up and overcrowded bus stops but Mr Crackett defended Light City buses..

"Every bus left on time this morning and every shift was scheduled," Mr Crackett said.

[Pants]

Um, why are bus drivers wearing hi-vis vests?

[medo]

this has been the stupidest thing, i've heard a lot of complaints, Payneham rd buses are just for starters, the J1 which was the city's longest and most successful bus route does not go straight through from Glenelg to the City and then TTP and Elizabeth anymore, it now requires a change in the city from the J1 to the SH1T or some shit..

I certainly wasnt happy this morning when my usual Torrens Transit service which was usually on time, showed up 30min late and with another bus of the same number right behind it

Not impressed with the timetable changes and the new operators

ditto

Killing J1 is a big mistake. Wen morning same story as tus morning. It's true we don't know what we've got until its gone.

[AG]

New bus operator leaves commuters stranded

One 891 ABC listener, Paul from Marden, reported the 7:17am bus from Marden to the city arrived at 7:25am at his stop on Wednesday.

He said two scheduled buses after the 7:17am service failed to arrive, then the 7:55am service arrived and picked up all the waiting commuters.

Mr Crackett promised to follow up complaints of missed or late services with the new bus contractor.

This must've been the really irate guy I saw sitting on my bus this morning (W90). Mind you the bus wasn't exactly full, just most of the seats were taken (W90 and W91 services are almost never full, even in peak hour). I do feel for those navigating the changes to routes though, some of them aren't exactly intuitive.

[AG]

Killing J1 is a big mistake. Wen morning same story as tus morning. It's true we don't know what we've got until its gone.

J1 hasn't been killed, just morphed into a shadow of its former self because of forbidden inter-contract running. (It still exists between the city, airport and Glenelg)

[[Shuz]]

RE; New bus operator - Light City.

A couple of mornings ago I'd left the house at 8:00, bus is literally at my doorstop, a fifteen second walk with the intention to start at 8:30am. A bus half-full went past and didn't bother to pick myself and the other 5-6 passengers up waiting at about 8:15am, no signage, nothing. A 252 didn't come until 8:25am, and was immediately followed up by a 251 right behind it just as it arrived at my stop. Not impressed to say the least.

Just only today, I'd decided to treat myself and left work early at 4:30pm today... instead ended up having to wait 35 minutes for the 251 to come at 5:10pm.... followed up with a 252 and 254 behind it all at once!

One lady claimed that she had been waiting 50 minutes for the same bus, and there were a lot of furious people onboard; left stranded from the long wait.

Things were perfectly fine beforehand! They ran reasonably on time, 5-10 minutes late in some instances, but not like the unacceptable delays I've been experiencing in the last 3 days.

Adelaide Metro

[Pants]

No really, why are they wearing hi-vis vests?

[metro]

No idea why they're wearing Hi-vis vests, perhaps the new operators think we will be able to see their drivers better

Also,Light-City buses, now have no coin things and arent selling people tickets but those of us with multi-trips still have to validate.. and Light-city dont keep the buses as clean either, my bus this morning and this afternoon had more rubbish lying around than usual. Buses are still running late, there are still 2-3 of the same route together, lots of passengers complaining to the drivers, the radios are going non-stop with drivers saying they're lost or having trouble.. and have the drivers forgotten how to drive on the Obahn?? both this morning and this afternoon the driver slowed right down to enter the track and from what i could see he was holding the wheel and the bus was shaking and bouncing around, has never done that in the 15 years i've been riding it

Not impressed with Light-City at all.. As the operators of the O-bahn their buses have to run on time and be clean and reliable. The state government should give them one month to improve or they will be replaced.

[AG]

New Metrocard trial commenced today on some of the Hills services. It's not currently available to the general public yet though.

[metro]

with the new info-centre at the railway station, it looks like you can just walk into the info centre and then in and out of the platform area bypassing the turnstiles

[ac83]

with the new info-centre at the railway station, it looks like you can just walk into the info centre and then in and out of the platform area bypassing the turnstiles

It certainly looks that way. I was there yesterday and was trying to work out how the hell it works! There's arrows on the ground showing "queue here" but how the hell can you simply bypass the turnstiles? Is it just unfinished? Or another typical half cut project?