3 June 2009

A day in the life of Ivan Canberrovich

| rosebud
Join the conversation
33

Why does my bus route always (and I mean always) have the dilapidated old buses that would be right at home circa 1987 East Berlin? I’m sure the ruling classes in Manuka and Upper Farrer get the Scania L94UB rigid model (oooh, just thinking of that compressed natural gas engine, super low floors and climate control airconditioning fills me with revolutionary zeal!), while the inner north proles are left to dodge the vomit from the drug dealer in the next seat while suffering the ill effects of diesel fumes.

And while I’m at it, why DON’T Action buses open the rear doors except at the terminus? Are they PAINTED on? So annoying!

Viva la revolucion!

Join the conversation

33
All Comments
  • All Comments
  • Website Comments
LatestOldest

clueclue123, my school sports house was Farrer so don’t feel that you’re out there on your own.

I have a great solution. Drive to work. Half the hastle, 1/4 of the time.

I thought that the contractor stuffed up in Sydney. With the smartcard system meant to be in operation for the 2000 Olympics. But back in 2007/2008 when the contract was terminated, it still wasn’t up to testing.

But Canberra is getting the smartcard technology sometime in the next 18-24 months.

So if 69 run on CNG, and 20 run on diesel, what do the other 311 buses run on?

Comrade Stanhope’s hot air?

Damn, all this talk of Japanese buses makes me want Australian public transport (and vending machines) to use a smart card system ala Suica. I think Sydney wanted to roll them out, but their bus drivers blocked it for some reason or another. Would’ve made trips up to the big smoke a lot easier, given all their crazy ticket schemes. Oh well…

I love the title of your post rosebud; very clever (I was forced to read that book in school, and it was actually kind of interesting …) – I wonder if the kids today still have to read this?

hek62 said :

I’d want to enter via the rear passage, If I had the chance!

You do have a chance at Woden Interchange in morning peak, mind it is for city bound buses only.

But City Interchange & Woden Interchange also have it in afternoon peaks for Tuggers bound traffic.

I’d want to enter via the rear passage, If I had the chance!

below_average_joe7:15 pm 03 Jun 09

Try route 703 for a laugh. This morning, I decided to try and get the service that lands on Belconnen Way around 8.20am. 10 minutes after scheduled arrival, I rang the information line to be told that the bus had broken down, and there would be no service. Not the first time this has happened, and probably not the last. The weather this morning topped off the experience, nothing like standing in the rain like a doofus, waiting for the bus that will never arrive.

Is there a Canberra wide stigma for Farrer? As a Farrer resident I be rather intruiged….

oysters in canberra? hope they fly them in fresh… actually, is absurd that we don’t have a pretty well uniform public transport card system across the country – would be a huge step in the right direction for making some efficiencies actually happen and not just get spoken about…

The other 311 run on the burning bodies of passengers who’ve died of hunger and/or hypothermia while waiting for the bus that never comes.

Ryan said :

TP 3000 said :

You do have to remember that ACTION only have 69 CNG & 20 diesel buses (out of a total of 400 buses)

So if 69 run on CNG, and 20 run on diesel, what do the other 311 buses run on?

The blood of the voters, dude.

farnarkler said :

One day, if you’re lucky, ACTION might bring the Oyster card to Canberra.

Oooohhhh Aaaaahhhh.

God that would be so good.

One day, if you’re lucky, ACTION might bring the Oyster card to Canberra.

jessieduck said :

I think buses should all be pre-paid only to save time and energy

Here here!!!! Mr Speaker

Yes I often catch the 3 but it does add another 20 minutes to the trip. I generally catch that one home as it’s at a better time and an extra 20 minutes at the end of the days isn’t so bad. It’s the same on weekends on the 934- I don’t mind the extra time on the bus then either because I’m usually going somewhere in a relaxed frame of mind.

Mornings I just want to get there and get the day started without getting or giving a lapdance.

Ryan said :

So if 69 run on CNG, and 20 run on diesel, what do the other 311 buses run on?

Air….., I meant to say 20 new diesel buses.

But for of you that wait for the full Route 6, have you thought of catching the Route 3? It may take a tad longer (going via ANU). But you are more likely to get a seat.

I think buses should all be pre-paid only to save time and energy

also in Fukuoka you get on at the back and exit the front. you also pay on the way out rather than as you get on

TP 3000 said :

You do have to remember that ACTION only have 69 CNG & 20 diesel buses (out of a total of 400 buses)

So if 69 run on CNG, and 20 run on diesel, what do the other 311 buses run on?

The backdoor thing is a safety issue folks.

I prefer the older buses. The new ones with the individual seats aren’t comfortable, the whole wheelchair access design takes away masses of otherwise comfortable space (sure, have a spot for prams, but why all the way down?). The suspension makes you seasick and they’re universally freezing.

OK, for the tedious nitpickers out there, in the Japanese cities of Kobe and Osaka you get on through the back door and exit through the front.

And in Saga (the only place I’ve caught a bus there). It’s… weird, coming from catching Action for years. You take a ticket that says where you got on, and there is a board at the front of the bus that shows you how much you’ll need to pay (it goes up the further you go). You drop the money on a little converyor belt next to the driver that counts the money and you leave via the front door.

I’m probably going to need to catch the first bus to the city to catch a bus to Sydney in a few weeks. I’ve never caught one before the peak hour rush, I hope the thing shows up…

Hi Katie- I ride the number 6 as well and there has been a little sign up at the O’Connor Shops stop to encourage people to complain to Action about the overcrowding between 7am-9am on that route. I’ve sent my email into Action but I have resigned myself to catching the 9am service because it is the only one that gets me to my work in Barton without me having to sit on someone’s lap. Luckily my work is pretty happy to have me coming in at 9.30am but if I was expected to be there by 8.30 I would hate it! The times when I do have to catch an earlier service I just anticipate that the 8am won’t have room for me so I try to get on the 7.30 service but isn’t it stupid!!!!

Call or email Action to help get something done about it!! Thanks

I catch the no.6 bus to and from work most days. It takes me over 40 minutes (!) to get from my home in North Lyneham to the Treasury building. By the time the bus gets to O’Connor shops, it’s often so full the bus driver has no choice but to keep driving, leaving people waiting at the bus stop. The other day, everyone at that stop was able to get on the bus except for a lady with a toddler in a pram, she had to wait for the next bus to come along (that’s a 30 minute wait in the freezing cold with a small child).
I ride in the warmer months (and longer days) and I can make it to work in around 30 minutes. Our public transport system sucks ass!

OK, for the tedious nitpickers out there, in the Japanese cities of Kobe and Osaka you get on through the back door and exit through the front.

Do what I used to do in London; press the emergency door release button when the bus is stopped at the bus stop.

jimbocool said :

In Japan, you get on through the back door and exit through the front.

Not true overall. Depends which city you’re in.

Weel, Rosebud, I think it’s clear who’s going to be first up against the wall when the revolution comes…

the ‘no back door opening’ thing has always struck me as very weird. In Sydney they encourage you to exit through the back door so that it’s easier for people to get on through the front. In Japan, you get on through the back door and exit through the front. Either way it makes for a more streamlined operation.

There are some advantages to the older buses; you can put your feet up, there’s a larger luggage compartment and convenient rubbish disposal behind the rear seat, what more could you want?

I wish they would open the rear doors to let people off.

I tried to take the bus with my two year old – what a mistake. We had to sit up the back. Getting off she was going as fast as she could, we get to about two seats from the front and the bus takes off. We may have been moving slower than he liked, but we weren’t even going that slowly. The same driver stopped with such force at a give way that the toddler fell off the seat.

I feel so sorry for anyone with kids who relies on Canberra buses. and for the poor oldies. They try to get up while the bus is still moving, to be ready at the front door to get off, and they look like they could topple and break a hip at the slightest wobble of the bus.

I am quite sure that 1987 Berlin would of loved our 1990’s Renaults. But ACTION don’t pick on certain areas, it is just what the drivers shift is allocated. Take this week for example, one Route 2 had a Renault on the Monday & a Scania on Tuesday (don’t know what it had today). But Manuka gets its fair share of Reanults & the Route 4,5 & 6 are mostly run by Renaults & Farrer/Isaacs are the same. You do have to remember that ACTION only have 69 CNG & 20 diesel buses (out of a total of 400 buses) & they are all based at Tuggeranong to mainly run on the Intertown route. Now in the coming years ACTION are due to recive 100 new buses & that includes around 25 14.5 buses, these will be eventually replace the articulated buses. But the rest of that order are speculated to be diesel MAN buses. Now of this order of 100 buses 40-60 of these will replace order buses & the rest will add to ACTION’s fleet. So it may take a while, but eventually all suburbs of Canberra will get a low floor bus

Maybe the inner north proles ought start using bikes?

Daily Digest

Want the best Canberra news delivered daily? Every day we package the most popular Riotact stories and send them straight to your inbox. Sign-up now for trusted local news that will never be behind a paywall.

By submitting your email address you are agreeing to Region Group's terms and conditions and privacy policy.