Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 348 i Australasian Bus & Coach

The rather timely theme of the 2016 Bus Association of Victoria Maintenance Conference was regional development, with a particularly strong focus on school bus operation as a means of helping to keep regional Victoria moving. The Grand Ballroom of the Pullman Albert Park in Melbourne became a half-showroom, half-conference hall on July 7 and 8, as it was the venue of choice for this year’s gathering. A variety of well-known speakers were lined up for the significant event, including industry heads, government representatives, a comedian, a winter Olympian, and a world-championship Sudoku player. The first speaker to address the 550 delegates was Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Kate Carnell, who set a main agenda for the conference: employee wellness and happiness. “I wanted to focus on something today…

“Gold Coast Light Rail has increased patronage” Gold Coast Light Rail has increased public transport usage in the region as the mode marks its second anniversary. Queensland Minister for Transport Stirling Hinchliffe says the average number of passenger trips per month on Gold Coast Light Rail has climbed to 639,699 for the last financial year. He says light rail has increased the overall use of public transport on the Gold Coast since operations commenced. “Almost 21,000 passengers on average now ride the light rail each day, with around 14 million trips achieved up to 30 June this year,” Hinchliffe says. “Investment in light rail as part of an integrated public transport network has increased the use of buses and other modes in the city, while also serving to create jobs…

After a lengthy election campaign, Australia needed to wait an extra week to find out who was going to be running the place for the next three years. Eventually, the Liberal party mustered up enough support to win – barely. This would have been bad news for public transport in the past, when the Coalition was more focused on allowing more space for cars than reducing car usage through public transport. Now, however, a few bus association heads say Turnbull might be leading the Liberals in the right – that is the left – direction. With pressure from the Greens in the senate and Labor nipping at its heels, the Liberal party will need to keep the public transport industry and its patrons happy. VICTORIAN VALUES BusVic executive director Chris…

Alright, I admit it. I drive a Toyota Camry, and love it. It’s got the room of a Falcon or Commodore, but the fuel efficiency that comes with a four-cylinder engine – and it’s a pleasure to drive, albeit with less power for overtaking. My Camry has done nearly 100,000 kilometres, and absolutely nothing has gone wrong with it – except for the time a son backed it into a carport pole. Same with my parents’ Corolla from the early 80s – it did a stack of country and city miles, and the only thing that ever failed was a clutch spring. So it comes as no surprise to this reviewer to hear the anecdotal reports of the great reliability of the Toyota Coaster. And it’s no surprise on driving…

PERCENTAGE BY REGION PERCENTAGE BY APPLICATION SALES BY CHASSIS There were 104 buses reported as delivered in July, representing a large increase over the 91 delivered in June. Volvo had the most chassis deliveries at 44, while Scania delivered 27. Both companies bested their previous month of deliveries. SALES BY BODY Volgren dominated July in terms of numbers, with 37 bodies delivered. The next most prolific builders were Custom Bus and Yutong with eight bodies each. Marcopolo had a relatively big month with six bodies delivered, but all other builders were involved in five deliveries or less. SALES BY AIR-CONDITIONER Thermo King continues to be involved in the most deliveries, with 47 buses delivered in July being kept comfortable by its A/C units. Spheros (15) and Denso (13) also had…

BusNSW has announced online registration is now open for the Australian Bus + Coach Show 2016. The show will be held at Sydney Showground at Sydney Olympic Park on October 5 and 6. While entry to the show is free and open to all industry participants, visitors are encouraged to register online before the event. BusNSW executive director Darryl Mellish says all attendees will be required to provide some basic details to allow entry and this is best done online before the show to ensure quick admission. “For this world class show to continue to evolve, it is important that we understand who is attending and seek feedback on how the show can add value to making decisions on the procurement of vehicles and other services,” he says. “We strongly…

The Victorian Government’s hugely popular trial of all-night public transport on weekends has been extended until June next year. Premier Daniel Andrews recently announced a six-month extension to Victoria’s Night Network of trains, trams, buses and regional coaches. All-night public transport will continue to run through summer and autumn, ensuring people out for the night or working late continue to have access to public transport on Friday and Saturday nights. It will allow services to be assessed over a full 12-month period and help organisers plan for the massive line-up of events between January and June, including the Australian Open, Formula 1 Grand Prix and the Comedy Festival. It will also ensure all-night public transport is on offer for the start of next year’s footy season, so fans who have…

It’s hard to ignore the incredible popularity of the augmented reality mobile game Pokémon Go, as people of all ages have been out in public catching the small digital creatures. Despite its success, the dangers of driving and playing Pokémon are becoming more apparent, and an Adelaide photographer has come up with a solution. Poké Bus is the work of Benjamin Liew, a professional photographer from Adelaide, who is hiring Kanga Coachlines for the specific purpose of touring the city to play Pokémon with like-minded fans. Because of Pokémon, a strange new opportunity has arisen for Kanga CEO Julian Roeger. The sheer popularity of the game, which has overtaken apps like Instagram and Twitter, means operators could benefit from the need to travel while playing. Roeger says the Pokémon tour…

The Sydney Bus Museum held a grand opening on August 7 to celebrate its new schedule, which will see the museum open every second Sunday. The museum, which is located in the Old Tramshed in Leichhardt, is host to dozens of classics, ranging from AEC and Leyland buses of the early 20th century up to 1980s Mercedes-Benz city buses. The first exhibition the museum will have on display upon its reopening is ‘Sydney Buses during WWII’, produced by museum volunteers and funded by the NSW Government. The museum is also offering rides across ANZAC Bridge into the CBD and back on one of the museum’s many vintage double-decker buses. NSW Minister for Transport Andrew Constance was present to officially open the museum on the day. Since 1986, the museum has…

“Bus journeys, which previously had the steadiest increase in volume, took a huge hit” The newest Public Transport Authority (PTA) figures showing public transport patronage for each financial year indicates a massive drop across the board. In the 2014-15 financial year, almost 148,800,000 trips were made across bus, rail and ferry networks. In 2015-16, less than 145,600,000 trips were recorded, a decrease of almost 3.2 million journeys. Bus journeys, which previously had the steadiest increase in volume, took a huge hit with almost 1.8 million less than the previous year. The new Perth Busport is an undetermined factor in possibly restoring patronage previously lost by buses in Perth. The numbers, which had been rising steadily by a few million per year since the early 2000s, are only defied by ferry…

“What today is really all about is ensuring ACT residents continue to have access to quality public transport” Public transport in Canberra reached an historic milestone recently, after moving people for 90 years. The celebration comes at a time when the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) is undergoing some major public transport changes. Minister for Transport and City Services Meegan Fitzharris joined Transport Canberra staff and members of the Retired ACT Transport Employees Club (RATEC) to celebrate 90 years of bus services in the territory. “Public transport in the ACT has come a long way in 90 years, and it is great to be able to celebrate this milestone at what is a really exciting time for public transport here in Canberra,” Fitzharris says. “We recently launched our brand new transport…

“It flourished, it has gone gangbusters” Shopping centre giant Westfield must have thought all its Christmases had come at once. Fifteen years ago, the Queensland Government built the billion-dollar South East Busway in Brisbane, right past the door of Westfield Garden City in Upper Mt Gravatt. That means a lot of passengers and a lot of shoppers. Westfield, co-founded by multi-billionaire Frank Lowy, got all this extra patronage for free. “Westfield basically provided next to no contribution whatsoever to a very large busway that was built to service their site, that’s now responsible for delivering a very large proportion of their customers,” Associate Professor Matthew Burke from the Cities Research Centre at nearby Griffith University says. “They are the one big shopping centre along that route. The 150 bus service…

Business is always risky. Whether it’s investing large amounts of money into brand new assets or acquiring business from one of the most well established operators in town, without change, there cannot be any growth. And one South Australian operator has done just that. From July 2016, Adelaide’s Kanga Coachlines began operating the tour and charter division of Premier Stateliner. If that doesn’t sound like enough of an exciting new business venture on its own, Kanga will also be doing it in its brand new coaches. Both projects are a large investment for a company which began as a self-drive hire business in the mid 80’s. Kanga chief executive Julian Roeger – better known as Jules – is the second generation to run the family business, and has been at…

"Drivers are providing positive feedback" Volvo Bus Australia has delivered the first of 23 coaches to Western Australia operator Transwa, with some features yet to be seen in the Australian market. The vehicles will service more than 240 regional towns across the state, after the State Government decided to invest millions in the feet in 2014. The investment was made in order to replace the existing decade-old Transwa feet and improve road coach services for people living, working and travelling in regional communities. Regional development minister Terry Redman says government is committed to supporting the people of regions and connecting towns through public transport. “Connecting communities through public transport will help build a stronger economy and better quality of life in the state’s regions,” he says. Most journeys on the…