Just look at my new bendy buses says the Chief Minister

I meant the new white buses as opposed to the orange buses.

Madam Cholet said :

If memory serves me almost correctly, these new buses were introduced quite a few years ago – perhaps 2005?

You’ll find your memory has failed. This is the first new articulated bus ACTION has bought in 20 years as the OP states.

If memory serves me almost correctly, these new buses were introduced quite a few years ago – perhaps 2005? I catch the 111 to work regularly and in 2012, it has only just been updated on the city bound journey to a new one. We still have an old bus on the way home that will either burn your legs of with the underseat heaters, freeze you if the heaters fail, or cook you in the summer becauset here is no air conditioning.

Why has this taken 7 years?

So when they hearld a new arrival of buses I think I can be forgiven for not bursting into a round of applause.

How old are kids. Any kids above 7 or 8 attending local schools can ride to school with one parent who then continues on to work on a bike.

There are plenty of ways you can work around it if you choose to. Riding to school with the kids is great exercise and education for them and teaches them how to be safe. Then I do my own trip to work.

Reverse the roles for the return journey or have other parent pick up kid and bike. Kids over 10 can ride to school unaided.

KB1971 said :

So I am wrong when I get on my bus in Conder at 7am – ish & sit at my desk at 7:35?
So I am wrong when I get on the 788 at 4:32pm & get off it a 5:45pm?
Or the 319 that picks me up at 7:15am & drops me off at 8:10?
Or the reverse, 4:32pm & drops at 5:25?…

Sounds like you’re one of the lucky ones who has a workplace and home bus stop that meet with the schedule. Good for you! Keep up the good work, but don’t expect the current suituation meets with everyone’s lifestyle (work location/hours, home loctaion and family situation), just because it does for you. At the end of the day, these one off case studies of ‘well, my bus ride is fine/is not fine’ aren’t really going to proove much, ‘in most cases’. Hahahaha!

I think it helps if you work in Civic (all buses lead to Civic!). Not so well if you work in tuggers, belco, barton etc (and don’t live there).. If you go back and read any of my old posts (whinges) on this, the problem for me (‘in my case’) is the lack of direct buses directly to/from different town centres (without going through Civic and/or Woden)… That would more than halve my current bus trip and make it viable, which would put one more person on public transport for you! There, we’ve solved the problems of the world, and it’s not even10am yet! Hahahaha!

KB1971 said :

…just walk up Daly Drive? Especially if you have 17 minutes waiting…

I tried Google Transit and it has an even better suggestion. Less walking, still takes 50 mins, but it worryingly relies on the bus from my house being on time down to the minute!

If anyone hasn’t tried it yet, you should, it takes the hard work out of trawling Action time tables and finding good transfer points.

milkman said :

davo101 said :

Solidarity said :

Good work. If you find driving stressful, then you are incompetent and a danger to other road users.

If you don’t find driving stressful then I would say your not paying enough attention and probably are a danger to other road users.

What utter crap. If you can’t keep it together, don’t drive. Canberra is not exactly a difficult place to drive.

Read up on Yerkes–Dodson law, you might learn something.

wildturkeycanoe said :

KB1971 – West Belconnen to Barton – 20 minutes by car, over an hour on 3 different buses through 2 interchanges, no matter which route or Rapid you take. Then there’s the walk to the stop, plus having to carry over 20kg of tools and explain to the boss why I am an hour late for work….NOT an option, I’ve researched it thoroughly. My car wins every time,

Ahh, see, you have a purpose to have a vehicle to carry tools, I get that for sure. No issue there for me.

The people who have responded to my initial post have really just confirmed what I am saying. I have never said the buses suit everybody but there are a lot of people who wont explore the option or who use it for a week & because its not what they are used to they give up on it.

But for the majority of people who use it, the travel times suit them & are usually less than an hour.

KB1971 – West Belconnen to Barton – 20 minutes by car, over an hour on 3 different buses through 2 interchanges, no matter which route or Rapid you take. Then there’s the walk to the stop, plus having to carry over 20kg of tools and explain to the boss why I am an hour late for work….NOT an option, I’ve researched it thoroughly. My car wins every time,

davo101 said :

Solidarity said :

Good work. If you find driving stressful, then you are incompetent and a danger to other road users.

If you don’t find driving stressful then I would say your not paying enough attention and probably are a danger to other road users.

What utter crap. If you can’t keep it together, don’t drive. Canberra is not exactly a difficult place to drive.

Mysteryman said :

KB1971 said :

dpm said :

A 15 min car trip blows out to 60+ mins by bus in many cases.
As people are generally becoming more time poor, the bus option is not looking like a good one.
)

Can you please provide stats to back this claim up or I am going to call BS.

I am a regular bus user & live 30km from the city, depending on the bus or the time of the day it takes between 35 minutes to 1 hour.

I drive two days a week, the other day I parked in the city, my regular bus that drove past as I was getting in the car was at the interchange as I walked up to work.

People need to make the change, I did when I moved into the City for work & now I hate driving the car to work.

Comments like the one I have quoted dont help peoples perceptions.

Johnboy, do you have a picture of the bus?

On a side note, 80% of buses will have bike racks? Between these and the tag steer buses they must be eating into this figure by now.

dpm’s comment is closer to the truth than yours, in my experience. My usual commute to work is 15-20 mins. I’ve checked the bus timetables and it would take over an hour to get to work using Action – and that’s assuming the buses are running on time.

So I am wrong when I get on my bus in Conder at 7am – ish & sit at my desk at 7:35?
So I am wrong when I get on the 788 at 4:32pm & get off it a 5:45pm?
Or the 319 that picks me up at 7:15am & drops me off at 8:10?
Or the reverse, 4:32pm & drops at 5:25?

All, 30km, all around an hour or less. Last Tuesday I drove the car, the 785 went passed as I cleaned the windscreen, I passed it on Drakeford Drive. I thought that would be the last I saw of it but I was wrong, here it was sitting at the corner of Northbourne & Alinga. I thought I was late and looked at the time, it was 7:34 & I park at the closest car park to my work.

Driving is between 35 & 45 minutes (it has taken longer but that is because of the roadworks so that doesnt really count) so there is not that big a difference in time for me.

Believe me I watch the times.

Now what I have witnessed about “many cases” is that in “many cases” the buses are almost full with people doing their daily commute.

niftydog said :

KB1971 said :

Yep, an obscure trip not travelled by the majority.

Sure, a bit extreme. How about Giralang to the ANU, to arrive by 9am?
Bus 30 – 8:02 Giralang – 8:38 City.
Sit in the freezing-cold or stinking-hot for 17 minutes.
Bus 3 – 8:55 City – 9:01 Daley Rd.
Add in a walk to and from the bus stops and this is a good 70 minutes.

25 minutes by bike, add in 20 mins to lock up the bike and have a shower and we’re laughing, KB!

Thats a better comparison but why wouldnt you just take one of the blue rapids to barry drive & then just walk up Daly Drive? Especially if you have 17 minutes waiting, you would get there from the interchange in that time.

Kudos on the bike though, I prefer it to the bus & driving anytime.

Solidarity said :

aceofspades said :

I live in Banks and work in Phillip. Two weeks ago I decided for the first time in my life to try this bus thing that everyone was talking about. My home is less than 100m from the bus stop as is my work. I get on one bus at 7:35 in the morning and have a nice relaxing ride all the way to my work arriving fresh and on time at 8:20. It is much cheaper than petrol and I don’t have to deal with the stresses of driving, instead I get a chance to catch up on my reading in a complete nag free zone. I now wonder why I haven’t been doing this all along. Thank you ACTION, keep up the good work.

Good work. If you find driving stressful, then you are incompetant and a danger to other road users. I applaude yours efforts in creating a safer community by handing in your drivers license and commiting yourself to buses. Now only if more people would do the same…

Or more likely, he’s one of the ones causing the stressful situations for the other 95% of users with his “I’m the only important one” attitude.

niftydog said :

puggy said :

Or instead of waiting the 17 minutes, you could, you know, walk to the ANU. It’ll take about that long, even to the far flung reaches of campus. I do like the riding option though.

Far-flung is exactly where I need to go. I have done it once (in the other direction) but it took more like 30 minutes.

I think you must work quite near to where I do. You can do it in less than 30 mins at a good pace and cutting through between buildings. I’ll agree that the frequency of the 3 service, or the walk, is what kills the bus as an everyday option for me, hence the bicycle.

To be fair to the ALP, hopefully the extra bendy buses might help the already overcrowded routes especially from Gungahlin – assuming that they don’t decommission the existing ageing buses entirely.

No help with overcrowding, as these buses are being phased in as the old buses are decommissioned. From what I understand these new artics actually hold less passengers than the old. New ones – 107 passengers. Old – 110 passengers.

puggy said :

Or instead of waiting the 17 minutes, you could, you know, walk to the ANU. It’ll take about that long, even to the far flung reaches of campus. I do like the riding option though.

Far-flung is exactly where I need to go. I have done it once (in the other direction) but it took more like 30 minutes.

aceofspades said :

Solidarity said :

aceofspades said :

I live in Banks and work in Phillip. Two weeks ago I decided for the first time in my life to try this bus thing that everyone was talking about. My home is less than 100m from the bus stop as is my work. I get on one bus at 7:35 in the morning and have a nice relaxing ride all the way to my work arriving fresh and on time at 8:20. It is much cheaper than petrol and I don’t have to deal with the stresses of driving, instead I get a chance to catch up on my reading in a complete nag free zone. I now wonder why I haven’t been doing this all along. Thank you ACTION, keep up the good work.

Good work. If you find driving stressful, then you are incompetant and a danger to other road users. I applaude yours efforts in creating a safer community by handing in your drivers license and commiting yourself to buses. Now only if more people would do the same…

Stress is a relative term. Go work on your comprehension skills and come back when you have something relevant to say.

Don’t speak to your non-bus-riding superiors, you bus riding pleb.

niftydog said :

How about Giralang to the ANU, to arrive by 9am?
Bus 30 – 8:02 Giralang – 8:38 City.
Sit in the freezing-cold or stinking-hot for 17 minutes…

Or instead of waiting the 17 minutes, you could, you know, walk to the ANU. It’ll take about that long, even to the far flung reaches of campus. I do like the riding option though.

Solidarity said :

aceofspades said :

I live in Banks and work in Phillip. Two weeks ago I decided for the first time in my life to try this bus thing that everyone was talking about. My home is less than 100m from the bus stop as is my work. I get on one bus at 7:35 in the morning and have a nice relaxing ride all the way to my work arriving fresh and on time at 8:20. It is much cheaper than petrol and I don’t have to deal with the stresses of driving, instead I get a chance to catch up on my reading in a complete nag free zone. I now wonder why I haven’t been doing this all along. Thank you ACTION, keep up the good work.

Good work. If you find driving stressful, then you are incompetant and a danger to other road users. I applaude yours efforts in creating a safer community by handing in your drivers license and commiting yourself to buses. Now only if more people would do the same…

Stress is a relative term. Go work on your comprehension skills and come back when you have something relevant to say.

Solidarity said :

Good work. If you find driving stressful, then you are incompetent and a danger to other road users.

If you don’t find driving stressful then I would say your not paying enough attention and probably are a danger to other road users.

KB1971 said :

Yep, an obscure trip not travelled by the majority.

Sure, a bit extreme. How about Giralang to the ANU, to arrive by 9am?
Bus 30 – 8:02 Giralang – 8:38 City.
Sit in the freezing-cold or stinking-hot for 17 minutes.
Bus 3 – 8:55 City – 9:01 Daley Rd.
Add in a walk to and from the bus stops and this is a good 70 minutes.

25 minutes by bike, add in 20 mins to lock up the bike and have a shower and we’re laughing, KB!

aceofspades said :

I live in Banks and work in Phillip. Two weeks ago I decided for the first time in my life to try this bus thing that everyone was talking about. My home is less than 100m from the bus stop as is my work. I get on one bus at 7:35 in the morning and have a nice relaxing ride all the way to my work arriving fresh and on time at 8:20. It is much cheaper than petrol and I don’t have to deal with the stresses of driving, instead I get a chance to catch up on my reading in a complete nag free zone. I now wonder why I haven’t been doing this all along. Thank you ACTION, keep up the good work.

Good work. If you find driving stressful, then you are incompetant and a danger to other road users. I applaude yours efforts in creating a safer community by handing in your drivers license and commiting yourself to buses. Now only if more people would do the same…

I live in Banks and work in Phillip. Two weeks ago I decided for the first time in my life to try this bus thing that everyone was talking about. My home is less than 100m from the bus stop as is my work. I get on one bus at 7:35 in the morning and have a nice relaxing ride all the way to my work arriving fresh and on time at 8:20. It is much cheaper than petrol and I don’t have to deal with the stresses of driving, instead I get a chance to catch up on my reading in a complete nag free zone. I now wonder why I haven’t been doing this all along. Thank you ACTION, keep up the good work.

harvyk1 said :

Also no I don’t live anywhere (Lanyon Valley), and I don’t work anywhere unusual (Fyshwick)

Also no I don’t live anywhere unusual (Lanyon Valley), and I don’t work anywhere unusual (Fyshwick)

johnboy said :

If you can’t be bothered it’s no skin off my nose, but don’t pretend all those transit miles are anything but a choice.

Your right, I do have a choice between driving or catching the bus, I also have a choice between a 25 minute drive into work (on some days it can be as quick as 20 minutes) or a 1 hour and 24 minute bus ride (if I don’t mind leaving at 6:45am) or a 1 hour and 35 minute bus ride if I want to sleep in an extra 20 minutes, and get to work around 8:45am.

The return journey takes 1 hour and 12 minutes. (although the timings are a little better)

This is according to the action website which directed me onto google maps, so I’m guessing it’s somewhat accurate in it’s times, and has chosen the best routes available.

So for me to use buses to get to \ from work every day, it’d take me an extra 1 hour and 47 minutes to commute every day, and that’s assuming that the buses all run perfectly on time. I can think of 100 things I’d rather do with that nearly 2 hours every day. Given I place a value on my time, and given I place a value on seeing my kids, it’s not really a choice at all.

Also no I don’t live anywhere (Lanyon Valley), and I don’t work anywhere unusual (Fyshwick)

johnboy said :

Gumby said :

And if they aren’t johnboy, then you need to drive.

It’s a three point problem and you only need to make two of them coincide.

If you can’t be bothered it’s no skin off my nose, but don’t pretend all those transit miles are anything but a choice.

Hahaha! Spoken by someone not involved with cc drop offs etc? Have you tried to get a cc place in this town? It’s not like when you get a new job you simply ring the closest cc and they give you a place! Also, how many houses have a cc within (a kid’s) walking distance from them?
Look, it could be done but you’d spend less time at home with the family, and less time at work, and more time in transit to/from cc (and work). How much do people value their time I suppose?

johnboy said :

Gumby said :

And if they aren’t johnboy, then you need to drive.

It’s a three point problem and you only need to make two of them coincide.

If you can’t be bothered it’s no skin off my nose, but don’t pretend all those transit miles are anything but a choice.

So I either need to change workplace location, house location or childcare/school location? Sorry, I choose to drive.

KB1971 said :

dpm said :

A 15 min car trip blows out to 60+ mins by bus in many cases.
As people are generally becoming more time poor, the bus option is not looking like a good one.
)

Can you please provide stats to back this claim up or I am going to call BS.

I am a regular bus user & live 30km from the city, depending on the bus or the time of the day it takes between 35 minutes to 1 hour.

I drive two days a week, the other day I parked in the city, my regular bus that drove past as I was getting in the car was at the interchange as I walked up to work.

People need to make the change, I did when I moved into the City for work & now I hate driving the car to work.

Comments like the one I have quoted dont help peoples perceptions.

Johnboy, do you have a picture of the bus?

On a side note, 80% of buses will have bike racks? Between these and the tag steer buses they must be eating into this figure by now.

dpm’s comment is closer to the truth than yours, in my experience. My usual commute to work is 15-20 mins. I’ve checked the bus timetables and it would take over an hour to get to work using Action – and that’s assuming the buses are running on time.

VYBerlinaV8_is_back said :

Wraith said :

Hell Yeah!! She is Hot!!!

Yeah, but watch out for those teeth!

Why?……….

I’m going to agree that its time not costs that deter me from using buses. Making them free would do nothing, but increase patronage by current bus users.
I’ve worked in many locations around town. Even living within a 30minute walk of Tuggeranong town centre, doesn’t help with bus efficiency. It was still much quicker to drive to woden or the city than to bus it. Everytime i might need to find an alternative method rather than the car, i look up the bus timetable, realise, I don’t want to be waiting at a bus stop 30 minutes earlier than i’d leave in the car to arrive after the car would normally arrive. Better yet if their is traffic, the bus gets stuck in it too!

This is why there are people wanting light rail. What they really want is faster/more efficient public transport. I’d pay for a decent public transport system, regardless of what is used, a rapid bus network with dedicated roadways between town centres would be a start.

Gumby said :

And if they aren’t johnboy, then you need to drive.

It’s a three point problem and you only need to make two of them coincide.

If you can’t be bothered it’s no skin off my nose, but don’t pretend all those transit miles are anything but a choice.

And if they aren’t johnboy, then you need to drive.

Dr Paul Mee’s ideas are interesting pirate_taco but 20 years ago there were a lot more mums who were housewives and the man went out to work (and could bus it solo style). Modern families need to be mobile and buses don’t work for mobility.

I catch an expresso bus 1 or 2 days a week which is really handy and gets me to work quickly and directly. There are heaps of regulars and plenty of people converse on the bus which is nice. The only downside is prob the window of opportunity to catch it is 6:50am-8am in the morn which doesn’t work if you sleep in.

I occasionally dislike being at the mercy of ACTION (if the bus doesn’t show) and buses don’t always work if you need to go to appointments during the day (accountants, dentist, doc etc).

If you have children you need to drop off at school or childcare and both parents work you cannot catch buses….

Wraith said :

Hell Yeah!! She is Hot!!!

Yeah, but watch out for those teeth!

Hell Yeah!! She is Hot!!!

speaking of buses, when I was living in Duffy and working in Belco I could ride my bike between the two faster than every available bus route but one, and the one there would only be a few minutes difference. The one route included the once a day direct bus from Weston to Civic. It cut the trip to about 40 minutes, the usual was about 90 minutes, up to two hours if I mistimed the trip home.

I much prefer the 15 minute walk to work I have now over both bus and car.

beeshive said :

Gordon to Acton by bus = 54 minutes + 15 minutes walk = 69 minutes travel time (one way)
Cost: $5.04
Add child bus fares (I can’t pick them up if I am on the bus) = $3.62
TOTAL daily cost of using bus = $8.68

Gordon to Acton by car: 28 minutes + 5 minutes to walk = 33 minutes travel time (one way)
Car parking: $4.16 per day (annual parking pass) Petrol: $12 per day
TOTAL daily cost of using car = $16.16

Your car uses 8.6 litres (at $1.40 per litre) to travel roughly 55 km? time for a newer car perhaps.

KB1971 said :

dpm said :

A 15 min car trip blows out to 60+ mins by bus in many cases.
As people are generally becoming more time poor, the bus option is not looking like a good one.
)

Can you please provide stats to back this claim up or I am going to call BS.

1. On bus in suburban Tuggeranong 7:35 am. Arrive Tuggeranong interchange 7:54 am.
2. Stand around Tuggeranong interchange waiting for the 705 … *
3. On 705 to Belconnen at 8:16 am. Arrive Belconnen 8:51 am.
4. Walk 10 minutes to final destination for 9:00am start.
Travel time 1 hour 25 minutes by bus. 25 minutes by car during peak hour.

*2a. Get on 300 service and go through all the major towncentres. Arrive Belconnen 8:50 am. Walk 10 minutes to final destination for 9:00 am start. The difference is that I do not have to stand around in Tuggeranong for 20 minutes while I freeze my clangers off.
Still 1 hour 25 minutes travel time by bus. 25 minutes by car during peak hour.

Back in the late 1980’s I used to catch a school bus from Yass to Dickson. That was only 1 hour and 15 minutes back then. I imagine it would be much faster these days.

Action buses are a f__king joke.

KB1971 said :

dpm said :

A 15 min car trip blows out to 60+ mins by bus in many cases.
As people are generally becoming more time poor, the bus option is not looking like a good one.
)

Can you please provide stats to back this claim up or I am going to call BS.

I am a regular bus user & live 30km from the city, depending on the bus or the time of the day it takes between 35 minutes to 1 hour.

I drive two days a week, the other day I parked in the city, my regular bus that drove past as I was getting in the car was at the interchange as I walked up to work.

People need to make the change, I did when I moved into the City for work & now I hate driving the car to work.

Comments like the one I have quoted dont help peoples perceptions.

Johnboy, do you have a picture of the bus?

On a side note, 80% of buses will have bike racks? Between these and the tag steer buses they must be eating into this figure by now.

https://twitter.com/ACTIONbuses/status/230165913008218112/photo/1

KB1971 said :

Johnboy, do you have a picture of the bus?

http://actbus.net/gallery/index.php/ACTION-Buses-Current/Scania-K360UA

More photos will be added as they come in 🙂

pirate_taco said :

Have a read of Dr Paul Mee’s ideas on what can be done and why successive ACT governments post self government have caused bus patronage to decline. http://images.canberratimes.com.au/file/2012/07/30/3510331/Mees%2520submission%2520-%2520Transport%2520for%2520Canberra.pdf?rand=1343613343071

Great read thanks.

Gordon to Acton by bus = 54 minutes + 15 minutes walk = 69 minutes travel time (one way)
Cost: $5.04
Add child bus fares (I can’t pick them up if I am on the bus) = $3.62
TOTAL daily cost of using bus = $8.68

Gordon to Acton by car: 28 minutes + 5 minutes to walk = 33 minutes travel time (one way)
Car parking: $4.16 per day (annual parking pass) Petrol: $12 per day
TOTAL daily cost of using car = $16.16

I used the best case scenario for bus times. In reality it often takes 80 mins+ if bus is full and I have to wait for next one or if the bus runs early or late and connections are missed. I used the Google maps time for driving and would say on average it is accurate. I often make the trip faster in off-peak.

Financially the difference is about $7-8 per day. I have the capacity to be earning in this time and my time is worth a great deal more than $7-8 per 72 minutes. Once other things are factored in (e.g. being home at a specific time to take child to sports training, flexibility to pick a child up from school due to illness, children needing to wait 25 minutes at a dodgy interchange for connecting buses because ACTION service does not connect with school bus times) the case for catching a bus gets steadily worse.

I actually don’t mind the bus. Its a chance to clear the mind and if I’m lucky enough to get a seat, read a book. But overall the costs and stress of the experience in terms of time and flexibility lost is not worth it.

Factors not considered:
Registration, insurance, car maintenance, however, would need to pay these to have a family car regardless of whether using it to commute as well.

“I also hope they help to make public transport a more attractive alternative to driving for Canberrans,” the Chief Minister said.

Hope is not a business plan.

Over 12 years of ALP governments and their promises on improving public transport – and all we end up with is ‘massive fail’.

Canberra needs a modal change away from buses for mass transit, to light rail for mass transit, and buses retasked to increase frequency on local services.

http://www.actlightrail.info/2012/07/action-passenger-numbers-stagnate-build.html

Damien Haas
ACT Light Rail

KB1971 said :

dpm said :

A 15 min car trip blows out to 60+ mins by bus in many cases.
As people are generally becoming more time poor, the bus option is not looking like a good one.
)

Can you please provide stats to back this claim up or I am going to call BS.

I am a regular bus user & live 30km from the city, depending on the bus or the time of the day it takes between 35 minutes to 1 hour.

I drive two days a week, the other day I parked in the city, my regular bus that drove past as I was getting in the car was at the interchange as I walked up to work.

People need to make the change, I did when I moved into the City for work & now I hate driving the car to work.

Comments like the one I have quoted dont help peoples perceptions.

Johnboy, do you have a picture of the bus?

On a side note, 80% of buses will have bike racks? Between these and the tag steer buses they must be eating into this figure by now.

Hahahaha! Sure!
Local bus to nearest interchange (to get me to work at normal time) 7:10am, arrives at interchange 7:24am (not too bad).
Next express to destination interchange 7:32am , arrives destination interchange 8:10am. Bang on 60 mins on buses (not including a few mins extra walk both sides).

If my work was at the first town centre, it would be great.
If it was at the second town centre, great too (plus i’d have to pay for parking at those two town centres, so the bus would be a winner). But, as my work is at the *next* town centre, the ‘suburb bus + express loop through every interchange’ system doesn’t work or me, sorry.

By car, i’d be at work before getting off the first bus (plus I currently have free car parking).
I should also say that the trip takes < 40 mins by bike (though with a shower it's ~60mins – similar time to bus but cheaper and good exercise)….
Can you guess which form of transport is lowest on my list of the three options?

pirate_taco said :

Martlark – car driving is already expensive and inconvenient for many people, yet they still choose to drive.

Have a read of Dr Paul Mee’s ideas on what can be done and why successive ACT governments post self government have caused bus patronage to decline. http://images.canberratimes.com.au/file/2012/07/30/3510331/Mees%2520submission%2520-%2520Transport%2520for%2520Canberra.pdf?rand=1343613343071

Fascinating reading, thanks for the link.

Bendy bus supplied by the government who gives you bendy hospital statistics!!!!

gazket said :

Spence to Mitchell by bus
Bus 315 – 9:05 am Spence shops to Belco mall 9:30 am
Bus 56 – 9:50 am Belco mall to Mitchell Sanford st 10:34 am
90 minutes by bus 10 minutes by car .

Yep, an obscure trip not travelled by the majority.

I certainly acknowledge that not everybody can take a bus, places like Mitchell & Fyshwick are very difficult to get to but these are two centers that dont have the majority of commuting traffic.

The bus system is geared to the majority & that means that it gravitates to the town centres where most trips taken by people are short. When I take the bus that takes an hour it goes through two town centres & a few suburbs but there are few people on there for the whole trip.

My main problem is with the comment about the 15 minute car trip blowing out to a 60+ minute bus ride is just incorrect “in many cases”. Its just not true for the majority of trips.

There are a lot of people out there who dont have kids or other engagements in a day that could use the bus. I really dont care if you use the bus or not but what I do care about is that things get reported correctly.

Alright! New Buses!

Pics for those interested:

http://actbus.net/site/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/547290_10150873479614107_774157065_n1.jpg
http://actbus.net/site/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/506_LondonCct.jpg

I look forward seeing them on my regular route.

jase! said :

just before an election, convenient timing really

if you want people to catch the damn bus the first thing to realise is people will happily changes buses at the terminals if it makes for a quicker overall trip, much like the 80s you silly woman

Take a chill pill, these buses were ordered and announced at the budget last year and nothing convenient about the fact they are arriving now. What do you want anything new to be put on hold due to the election? Hmmm besides over the past 4 years ACTION has received a shit load of new buses (about 100), so hardly pork barelling which I assume is what your talking about.

As for the second part of your comment, there are two schools of thought, one is like yours (and I tend to be in that camp) the second is changing is a disincentive. Ideally though the main issue is one of frequency and minimising time in the suburbs, but alas the later is essential for getting people on the bus and the frequency costs money so a compromise needs to be found.

KB1971 said :

Can you please provide stats to back this claim up or I am going to call BS.

Are you serious? Pick any two suburbs more than 10km apart and see what Google Maps tells you. The proof is left as an exercise by the student.

KB1971 said :

dpm said :

A 15 min car trip blows out to 60+ mins by bus in many cases.
As people are generally becoming more time poor, the bus option is not looking like a good one.
)

Can you please provide stats to back this claim up or I am going to call BS.

I am a regular bus user & live 30km from the city, depending on the bus or the time of the day it takes between 35 minutes to 1 hour.

I drive two days a week, the other day I parked in the city, my regular bus that drove past as I was getting in the car was at the interchange as I walked up to work.

People need to make the change, I did when I moved into the City for work & now I hate driving the car to work.

Comments like the one I have quoted dont help peoples perceptions.

Johnboy, do you have a picture of the bus?

On a side note, 80% of buses will have bike racks? Between these and the tag steer buses they must be eating into this figure by now.

Spence to Mitchell by bus
Bus 315 – 9:05 am Spence shops to Belco mall 9:30 am
Bus 56 – 9:50 am Belco mall to Mitchell Sanford st 10:34 am
90 minutes by bus 10 minutes by car .

pirate_taco said :

Martlark – car driving is already expensive and inconvenient for many people, yet they still choose to drive.

It’s expensive, but mostly not inconvenient. Any car trip outside of very specific peak periods is undertaken without hold-ups and once at the destination parking takes no great effort and comes with little or no cost.

dpm said :

A 15 min car trip blows out to 60+ mins by bus in many cases.
As people are generally becoming more time poor, the bus option is not looking like a good one.
)

Can you please provide stats to back this claim up or I am going to call BS.

I am a regular bus user & live 30km from the city, depending on the bus or the time of the day it takes between 35 minutes to 1 hour.

I drive two days a week, the other day I parked in the city, my regular bus that drove past as I was getting in the car was at the interchange as I walked up to work.

People need to make the change, I did when I moved into the City for work & now I hate driving the car to work.

Comments like the one I have quoted dont help peoples perceptions.

Johnboy, do you have a picture of the bus?

On a side note, 80% of buses will have bike racks? Between these and the tag steer buses they must be eating into this figure by now.

Public transport in other (bigger) cities is better utilised as not only is it cheaper than driving, but in many cases, it is a faster (or time-equal) way to travel.
e.g Getting a ferry from Manly to the city in Syd is a lot easier and faster than attempting to drive.
In Canberra, it’s the opposite. A 15 min car trip blows out to 60+ mins by bus in many cases.
As people are generally becoming more time poor, the bus option is not looking like a good one.

So, what are their options to get bums on seats?
1) They can make buses more attractive financially, by lowering fees (to free?) or by raising car parking to obscene levels
2) They can make bus travel faster, by having more park and ride facilities and direct services to main work areas (bypassing the multi-bus and interchange palava), or by putting speed bumps every 20m on major roads! In hindsight, finishing the two-lane GDE really doesn’t help them get more people on buses – they should make all roads single lane and 40kmh! In fact, they are doing a good job of this ATM with the various roadworks, though buses have to traverse these too. Hahahaha!
3) A combo of 1) and 2)

Martlark – car driving is already expensive and inconvenient for many people, yet they still choose to drive.

Have a read of Dr Paul Mee’s ideas on what can be done and why successive ACT governments post self government have caused bus patronage to decline. http://images.canberratimes.com.au/file/2012/07/30/3510331/Mees%2520submission%2520-%2520Transport%2520for%2520Canberra.pdf?rand=1343613343071

just before an election, convenient timing really

if you want people to catch the damn bus the first thing to realise is people will happily changes buses at the terminals if it makes for a quicker overall trip, much like the 80s you silly woman

“I also hope they help to make public transport a more attractive alternative to driving for Canberrans,” the Chief Minister said.

This approach is why the Govt. keeps on failing to get more bus passengers. There is no known method of making a bus more attractive to driving a car. Pretty much the only way to get people, who can/could drive, onto a bus, is to make car driving so expensive and inconvenient that they have no choice.