Australasian Bus & Coach Issue 345

Public transport smart cards have long since been the bane of many commuters. It’s not uncommon to hear capital city natives complaining about their myki or Opal card, and many of the issues associated with them. But commuters in New South Wales will soon be able to use their credit cards to tap on to public transport, following the announcement of a trial in 2017 (p8). “New South Wales is proud to be leading this Australian first. Contactless payment with credit and debit cards would offer customers another easy to use and convenient option for travelling,” New South Wales Minister for Transport Andrew Constance says. “Only a few major mass transit systems, similar in scale and complexity to Sydney’s, have introduced contactless payments. London’s Oyster card system is a well-known…

New South Wales (NSW) commuters could soon use their credit cards to ‘tap on’ to public transport, following the announcement of a trial in 2017. NSW Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Andrew Constance kicked off the Future Transport Summit recently, announcing the State Government’s commitment to a trial to allow customers to pay for public transport by tapping on and off with their credit and debit cards. “New South Wales is proud to be leading this Australian first. Contactless payment with credit and debit cards would offer customers another easy to use and convenient option for travelling,” Constance says. “Only a few major mass transit systems, similar in scale and complexity to Sydney’s, have introduced contactless payments. London’s Oyster card system is a well-known example, where they only finalised their…

The New Network for the North Shore plan has been finalised with major improvements to the network. Auckland’s North Shore residents can look forward to an improved bus network which reflects the community’s needs, as the final decisions on the New Network for the North Shore have been released. More than 3100 pieces of feedback were analysed from the consultation that ran for two months, and as a result more than half of the initially proposed routes have been modified. Of the 40 bus services proposed, route changes were made to 21 of these, 15 had timetable changes, two entirely new routes were added, and one route was removed. Due to the scale of change, the New Network will be implemented in phases by area. The North Shore changes are…

Transport for NSW (TfNSW) has announced major staff changes, importing talent from Western Australia. The New South Wales (NSW) Government appointed Stephen Troughton as deputy secretary infrastructure and services at TfNSW. Troughton is currently managing director of Main Roads Western Australia and has extensive experience in major infrastructure and project management in both the public and private sector across Australia, the United Kingdom and Middle East. The deputy secretary infrastructure and services oversees services and contracts for trains, buses, ferries and light rail, as well as delivering the massive infrastructure build now underway in NSW, including the $890 million Transport Access Program, new intercity train fleet and Parramatta and Newcastle light rail projects. TfNSW secretary Tim Reardon made the announcement this week. He says TfNSW is getting on with delivering…

BusVic has welcomed the announcement of the Victorian Budget 2016/17, which includes nearly $700 million for bus services. The budget allocates $661 million for the provision of metropolitan bus services, and regional bus services have been allocated $120 million. Both amounts are a significant increase on the level of expenditure in 2015/16. The government also brought forward expenditure on new bus services identified in the Plan for Victoria’s Bus Network (2014), as announced by the State Government in April. “The budgeted growth in investment and service kilometres sustains the government’s intention to improve the connectivity and frequency of bus services in the outer suburbs” BusVic executive director Chris Lowe says. “The 2016/17 Victorian Budget is a step in the right direction for recurrent bus service investment, and we look forward…

The contract for the removal of every dangerous and congested level crossing between Dandenong and the city is signed, and work will start within weeks. Victoria Minister for Public Transport Jacinta Allan and Treasurer Tim Pallas have announced an alliance, including Lendlease, CPB Contractors, WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff, Aurecon and Metro Trains Melbourne has been formally awarded the contract for the Caulfield to Dandenong Level Crossing Removal Project. The $1.6 billion project will remove nine dangerous level crossings, build five new stations, upgrade signalling and power and create 11 MCGs worth of new public open space. The upcoming development will improve the reliability of the metropolitan, regional and freight services, meaning trains will arrive on time more often. Work on the Caulfield to Dandenong project starts at the end of April,…