Australasian Bus & Coach Issue 350

Like all businesses, Australasian Bus & Coach (ABC) is not standing still as we seek to survive and thrive in a rapidly changing market. Our monthly print magazine remains Australia’s largest-circulating and most-read bus and coach industry title, with an audited circulation of 3,903 copies per issue as at March 2016. The bi-monthly Coach & Bus Today (CBT) magazine does not participate in the official industry audit process. But, at the same time, ABC’s digital audience is exploding, with BusNews.com.au averaging almost 13,000 unique visitors a month in the period January-August 2016, up 104 per cent on the previous corresponding period of 2015. Truckandbus.net.au, the digital platform of CBT and sister trucking title Transport & Trucking Today, claims average monthly UBs of 4466 – 45 per cent of which are…

Transdev Melbourne has opened a new $10.6 million bus depot at Heatherton as the operator works with the Victorian Government and Public Transport Victoria (PTV) to expand services. Transdev Melbourne managing director Harry Wijers, Parliamentary Secretary for Public Transport Ros Spence, and PTV acting executive director of performance and contract management Warwick Horsley officially opened the depot on September 7, though operations had commenced a couple of weeks earlier. With a 44-bus capacity and enough space for 110 staff, the depot seems future-proof compared to Transdev’s previous Sandringham depot in Doncaster. Features of the Heatherton depot include an automatic bus wash, a fuel refilling station, rainwater tanks and recycling, and a bodywork spray booth. The depot is a government-owned asset, which means another operator would be able to use the…

MAN has been selected to deliver 38 double-decker buses for use on a new ‘B-Line’ service north of Sydney, ABC has confirmed. Although Transport for New South Wales (TfNSW) has not officially announced the successful bidder, various industry sources confirm MAN double-deckers will soon be a common sight on Sydney’s northern beaches. MAN’s newly designed A95 – with a body built by Gemilang – will service the route, as the only other eligible double-decker, the Bustech CDI, has since been confirmed as unsuccessful in its bid. To pave the way for the new services, a TfNSW spokesperson says there will also be improvements to roads and infrastructure. “The NSW Government is taking action to deliver transport improvements for the northern beaches, including an integrated program of service and infrastructure improvements…

Transit Australia Group (TAG), Queensland’s largest privately-owned public transport operator, has been named Large Employer of the Year at this year’s Queensland Training Awards. The company conducted an 18-month-long survey of the company’s training needs, which resulted in the People Excellence Program – a program designed to “improve the performance of the organisation and encourage new and existing workers at all levels to develop a dynamic and successful career”. After investing $2.7 million into the program, TAG offers about 25 different courses ranging from entry-level training to senior management education, which all 1400 employees are able to access. As well as a driver training course, the People Excellence Program includes training for senior management in the ‘Six Sigma’ methodologies that use data to weed out issues within – and improve…

Fuel used in a heavy vehicle when idling on a public road or powering the air-conditioning unit of a main cabin when travelling on a public road is exempt from the road user charge, according to a new Australian Taxation Office (ATO) ruling. However, fuel used for air-conditioning while the vehicle is stationary is not subject to the road user charge and is, therefore, not exempt, the determination, Fuel tax: fuel tax credits – fuel used for idling and cabin air-conditioning of a vehicle on a public road (FTD 2016/1), states. The ATO has also issued a practical compliance guideline, Fuel tax credits – apportioning taxable fuel used in a heavy vehicle with auxiliary equipment (PCG 2016/11), which includes percentages operators can apply so they don’t need to do complex…

Transit Systems has opened a new ‘futureproof’ depot at Hoxton Park in Sydney. The depot will initially house 105 buses and is the second one built by the company since it began contracting to Transport for New South Wales in 2013. As Australia’s largest privately-owned public transport contractor, Transit Systems has seen rapid growth over the years, employing 5000 people, operating more than 2200 vehicles, and moving 265 million people annually. Around 350 of those employees work in the region the Hoxton Park depot services, as well as 220 buses in service. Transit Systems CEO Clint Feuerherdt says the new depot will facilitate significant improvements in the future, as well as being an efficient way to supply better service to passengers. “Transit Systems is proud to have invested more than…