Sensational-Adelaide.com

$120m for 160 new buses
KARA PHILLIPS, POLITICAL REPORTER
December 12, 2006 12:15am

THE State Government will spend $120 million to buy 160 new buses over the next five years, it has been revealed.

Another step in our continued improvement
Premier Mike Rann yesterday said the project, which replaces old buses in the state's fleet of 808, was an extension to the $50 million included in this year's State Budget.

"This decision extends that commitment to a full five-year program until 2013," he said.

"This is an important step for South Australian passenger transport and means that every bus in Adelaide's fleet will have refrigerated air conditioning – up from the current 70 per cent."

Mr Rann said the new bus contract – which would start in 2008 – was a vital step in improving accessibility for people with a disability. "While federal disability legislation demands every bus be accessible by 2022, SA will already be at 89 per cent by 2013," he said.

The need for gas or diesel-powered buses will not be written into the tender requirements, with the Government waiting to see what tenderers are willing to offer.

It is understood the replacement program will focus on O-bahn and inner-city buses which are approaching their 25-year age limit.

Mr Rann said the procurement process would start this month and he hoped that a contract would be finalised by June, 2007.

Tenderers would be offered the opportunity of a five-year extension clause beyond 2013 as part of the negotiations.

The first bus should be delivered in 2008.

"This is another step in our continued improvement of the passenger transport system," Mr Rann said.

The original $90 million bus supply contract, announced in 2001, allowed about 170 buses to be replaced over five years.

The current bus supply contract is with Australian Bus Manufacturing and Custom Coaches at Royal Park.

Mr Rann said the further $10.08 million in this year's State Budget for additional peak services was close to being finalised.

He said that would help achieve the State Government strategic plan target to double week day travel on the public transport system by 2018.

That's what i'm talking about.

This is a visionary step forward for SA.

Will wrote:This is a visionary step forward for SA.

..Crawf?

I'm just pleased the buses have such a long (~25 year) lifespan. That's pretty good bang-for-buck.

bdm wrote:

Will wrote:This is a visionary step forward for SA.

..Crawf?

I'm just pleased the buses have such a long (~25 year) lifespan. That's pretty good bang-for-buck.

What?

Investing in public transport is a good thing. I apologize if I think it is a good thing.

Will wrote:This is a visionary step forward for SA.

Dont know about that, they should be replaced regardless

but yes it is good news.

Thanks Crawf

Just curious to know, the older buses in our fleet system, the ones that are going to be replaced, do they run on pure petrol? If it is, it's really not efficient at all.

Diesel mostly.

Here in Perth, back in 1993 bus number 1133 was put in to service. It was the first natural gas bus in the fleet, and basically the equivalent of the Hydrogen buses we have today.

It would be 10 years later that bus 1854 would roll off the production line, and put in service as our first standard CNG bus. Perth now has a fleet of more than 184 cng buses, and they now make up the back bone of the transperth fleet. No new diesel buses have been introduced since 2003.

I think with EV cars such as the Tesla roadster, the Reva, and a few other less practical ev's that are already in production, plus the new EV colt due for release around the end of 2008, May be we are looking at the start of more normal usage of the EV.

I'm afraid your EV bus will struggle with low range, but that will be improved as battery technology improves.

Adelaide's had CNG buses for some time, but I don't know the statistics. They don't seem to be bringing new ones in, they're all diesel.

Hi new to the forums

Also some buses run on CNG but Diesel is number one choice due to the fact the have more torque to carry large amounts of passengers and travel up steep inclines with ease. Also thats why metro tickets went up last year due to the price of oil to run buses and trains.

AtD wrote:Adelaide's had CNG buses for some time, but I don't know the statistics. They don't seem to be bringing new ones in, they're all diesel.

The drivers dont like them because there so top heavy due to the huge tanks mounted on the roof towards the front of the vehicle also they cant acclerate aswell as as diesel buses.

I am actually for the idea of using a solar powered bus. It may be a white elephant but it could also be a success. There is only one to find out I suppose. It costs so much at the moment because the technology is still being developed and at the moment, it would surely be the most basic system for successful operation. If this experiment is a success, then the price of the equipment will decrease because more people are using it and the presses etc etc will already exist as well.

The new Goodwood Rd routes are a disgrace. The existing routes that I would catch to and from the city were mainly the 210 and 216. These would come either every 10 or 20 minutes during off-peak times.

Now they have the..
210 (city to flinders uni via goodwood rd, and backstreets on panorama)
211 (city to colonel light gardens via goodwood rd)
213 (city to marion via goodwood rd, daws rd etc.)
215 (city to marion via goodwood rd, fiveash drive & sturt rd)
216 (city to flinders uni)

My stop is on Fiveash Drive at Pasadena, so I can catch either the 210, 215 or 216. However, they come much less frequently. I guess the main complaint i have with these changes is the 211. Why have it terminate at the corner of Goodwood Rd and Springbank Rd, when it should just be a 210, 215 or 216 and continue on to Marion or Flinders? Ridiculous! It's such a pain waiting in town for a bus, especially when you see 211's arriving and you cant catch them because they terminate before your neighbourhood.

There was no problem with the old service in my area to begin with. All they needed to do was make the buses come more frequently if thats what they wanted.

The idea of changing the MA1/MA2 Marion Loop buses with the 213/215 services from the city to marion was not a bad idea though. Although these buses do not service Flinders Medical Centre like the old MA buses did, which does give me less options when commuting to and from work.