Australasian Bus & Coach Issue 338

How coincidental that just last month I was writing about the Bus Industry Confederation’s (BIC) efforts to lobby all levels of Australian government on the importance of public transport in our cities. I refer to Tony Abbott’s loss of Liberal Party leadership during the recent spill to our new, pro-public transport prime minister Malcolm Turnbull. BIC executive director Michael Apps says it was obvious a change of political leadership was needed and is confident Turnbull will be more receptive than Abbott to investing Federal Government funds into key public transport infrastructure (p14). “It was clear that the coalition needed to move forward,” he says. “We hope the new prime minister, who is accustomed to riding the bus and train, and wife Lucy — who is ex-lord mayor of Sydney —…

Bus fares in Australia are relatively affordable, according to a study comparing public transport fares to minimum wages in various cities across the world released recently. Beijing has the most affordable public transport network on this minimum wage comparison basis and London is the most expensive. Sydney came in as the most affordable Australian city, followed by Perth and Hobart in the NineSquared 2015 Fare Benchmarking Report. Bus Industry Confederation (BIC) executive director Michael Apps is encouraged by the findings, particularly as it is reassuring to know bus travel is affordable in Australian cities, but noted a broader study into quality of service may be more informative. “It’s an interesting study in affordability and is important in the context of encouraging people to use public transport and leave the car…

The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) is set to engage with bus operators ahead of electronic work diary (EWD) adoption in 2017. The introduction of EWD will include long-distance bus and charter coach operators and is presented as a voluntary alternative to written work diaries, (NHVR) announced recently. The Transport Certification Australia (TCA) will head the certification process for industry introduction in early 2017 and NHVR will soon begin wider industry engagement with bus operators and telematics service providers to discuss this initiative and the opportunities it brings. NHVR executive director of productivity and safety Geoff Casey says the organisation is committed to ensuring heavy vehicles operate safely on Australian roads. The recent passing of the Heavy Vehicle National Law Amendment Bill 2015 is the first important milestone for a…

A new bus rapid transit (BRT) system with bus priority lanes will be integral to the transformation of the Sydney to Parramatta route over the next 30 years. Regional buses experience slow travel times, often less than 10km/h in the peak and unreliability, due to unpredictable traffic conditions and congestion between the two centres. New South Wales planning minister Rob Stokes released the draft Parramatta Road Urban Transformation Strategy recently, which aims to reduce congestion by improving bus and rail services. The corridor presents a challenge for planners, with more jobs and public transport services situated in the east, closer to the Sydney CBD, and higher than expected population growth in the west. New kerbside bus lanes along Parramatta Road from Burwood to the CBD will be created, with more…

Commuters are being advised to ensure they know which bus they are catching as the biggest change in a generation to bus routes in Sydney’s CBD was rolled out on October 8. The changes were undertaken as the city prepared for construction of a light rail network. “We couldn’t have beat the drum any more to ensure bus customers knew that an immense change was coming,” CBD transport coordinator general Marg Prendergast says. “Our street teams — patrolling busy bus stops, dressed in bright pink — have handed out more than 300,000 pamphlets and bus route brochures, and we hope everyone has gone to www.transportnsw.info to plan a new journey or looked at www.mysydney.nsw.gov.au, where there’s an interactive tool to show you how your route is changing. “The catalogue of…

New Zealand fare evaders will face penalties under changes to fare evasion to be made to the Land Transport Act in 2016. NZ transport minister Simon Bridges says while previously there has been a fare evasion offence it’s been very difficult to enforce. Under changes to the Act, councils may appoint warranted enforcement officers who will have powers to ask passengers to provide evidence they have paid a fare, ask passengers to advise their name, address and date of birth if they cannot produce evidence of a valid ticket, advise the passenger to get off the public transport service. As before, fare evaders face an infringement fee of $150 or a maximum fine of $500 on conviction if evidence of a fare can’t be provided. But there will now also…