9 June 2011

Action buses filling up?

| Madam Cholet
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A couple of times a week I catch the number 111 bus from Calwell to the city. In times past, this bus was not what you would call packed.

Yes, all the seats would be occupied by the time you were close to the city and maybe even by Woden, but it was not full to bursting.

I’m finding now that by the time I get on at Johnson Drive there is only standing room left. This bus only starts at Tuggeranong, goes back on itself to get to Theodore and then goes on to the city via Woden.

This morning by the time we got to Woden there were 18 people standing. On the old buses this makes for a very uncomfortable journey whether you are sitting or standing and also forces people to actually stand in the foot wells as it so cramped.

Is anyone else finding that their regular bus is filling up fast?

Does anyone know how Action undertakes reviews of routes and how often?

Surely their new “MyWay” system would give them this info at their fingertips.

I appreciate that it is better to run buses that are full, but at what stage is it compromising the quality of the service?

What with tagging on and off and picking up and dropping off more passengers than they were a year ago, the service is now starting to run behind schedule.

What was once a good example of Action actually getting it right is turning into a bit of a dud.

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Felix the Cat8:09 pm 11 Jun 11

I saw an articulated bus driving through Ngunawal on Friday night that had the grand total of four passengers. Well, three actuall,y after it stopped to let a person off. I suspect it would probably have none by the time it left Gungahlin. I’ve never seen an articulated bus in Ngunnawal before, maybe the regualr size buses were all being used or off the road for service/repair?

s-s-a said :

The utter refusal of so many people who are forced to stand, to shuffle back down the isle as more people get on, doesn’t help in a lot of situations either. etc

I agree. But I do suspect the (completely ridiculous IMO) rule that only permits centre doors to be opened at interchanges is quite possibly a contributor to this problem. People may not want to move back because they are getting off at stops like Albert Hall or Launceston St in Phillip.

Good point. And that would definitely feedback that would be good to pass on to Action too.

thatsnotme said :

The utter refusal of so many people who are forced to stand, to shuffle back down the isle as more people get on, doesn’t help in a lot of situations either. So many times I’ve been standing on a bus, it’s obvious that more people want to get on, yet people won’t move down to stand at the back of the bus. Often, people standing at the front refuse to move at all, so anyone getting on has to squeeze past them to move further down the isle.

+1; it’s even worse when there are available seats. It’s as if they are too proud to sit next to someone. It’s as bad as those people who put their bag next to them so they have two seats to themselves. I use the luggage racks all the time, and I move back into the bus. I don’t like leaving my bags unguarded, but I keep a watch on them, and it’s better than my bag taking up room.

Sometimes I do stand at the front of the bus, but that’s when I am going a short distance (like from the city to Barton or Ablert Hall.)

It would just not be possible to have about 30 people standing. On my bus the other day with 18 standing it was pretty squishy, and people had gone right up the back.

Unless you want people to be getting really friendly, get wacked over the head even more than they are already with large rucksacks or have someones backside shoved in your face for the duration of your journey, then it’s better that Action take note of the data and feedback and put on more buses. Surely we are due for one of their “reviews”?

Great to see more people on the buses, but it won’t last long if it doesn’t improve the services.

For the record, I don’t mind standing, but I do mind it leading to an even more crappy service.

The utter refusal of so many people who are forced to stand, to shuffle back down the isle as more people get on, doesn’t help in a lot of situations either. etc

I agree. But I do suspect the (completely ridiculous IMO) rule that only permits centre doors to be opened at interchanges is quite possibly a contributor to this problem. People may not want to move back because they are getting off at stops like Albert Hall or Launceston St in Phillip.

The utter refusal of so many people who are forced to stand, to shuffle back down the isle as more people get on, doesn’t help in a lot of situations either. So many times I’ve been standing on a bus, it’s obvious that more people want to get on, yet people won’t move down to stand at the back of the bus. Often, people standing at the front refuse to move at all, so anyone getting on has to squeeze past them to move further down the isle.

While I do agree that many times, the number of people allowed to stand on a bus is a very optomistic figure, there are a lot of times when more passengers could comfortably stand if people would just let them in.

The tag steer buses (the 3 axled ones) are allowed 48 standing passengers but there’s no way you could actually get that many people in there.

Why do I get the feeling Scav Hunt organisers everywhere just chortled and added a new challenge to the list for next year?

I’m still not sure why ACTION don’t release their passenger data as many overseas transit agencies do. That way external boffins can crunch the data and compare to the transit agency’s plans, and figure out if the numbers back everything up. It’s got a name… transparency?

Watson said :

scorpio63 said :

I have seen some of these buses choccas, its an OH&S issue that the Government have left themselves wide open (subject to legal action) for years.

Sorry, but I seriously doubt that. The signs on these buses say that there are 30+ stading spaces (isn’t it 39 on most?). This is no different to buses in other cities (including overseas).

The legal passenger loadings for all the different makes of ACTION buses can be found here: http://www.actbus.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=21:passenger-load-licencing&catid=17:fleets&Itemid=15

However the passenger loading is based on weight not floor space. Thus the Scania gas buses are only allowed 8 standing passengers not that I’d imagine any drivers would enforce that. The tag steer buses (the 3 axled ones) are allowed 48 standing passengers but there’s no way you could actually get that many people in there.

housebound said :

You’ll probably find the driver of the previous 111 bus decided not to turn up. It’s been happening a lot and it really annoys the would-have-been passengers who were folloish enough to rely on the service.

Bullsh**. The reason is most likely a shortage of (serviceable) buses.

Watson said :

Sorry, but I seriously doubt that. The signs on these buses say that there are 30+ stading spaces (isn’t it 39 on most?). This is no different to buses in other cities (including overseas).

I hate standing up in a bus, but in other places this is the norm, and often not only during peak hour. You just cannot have it all, I’m afraid.

Buses not showing up is a completely different matter. And if they don’t stop at your stop, that would mean they have reached capacity and it would be valid to demand extra buses.

But to start a media campaign just because you can’t have a seat…? Sorry, but that just sounds like a storm in a teacup.

Can’t work out what sort of bus the 111 is, but the capacity for standing passengers ranges from 22 to 48 on the various ACTION buses.

scorpio63 said :

I have seen some of these buses choccas, its an OH&S issue that the Government have left themselves wide open (subject to legal action) for years.

Sorry, but I seriously doubt that. The signs on these buses say that there are 30+ stading spaces (isn’t it 39 on most?). This is no different to buses in other cities (including overseas).

I hate standing up in a bus, but in other places this is the norm, and often not only during peak hour. You just cannot have it all, I’m afraid.

Buses not showing up is a completely different matter. And if they don’t stop at your stop, that would mean they have reached capacity and it would be valid to demand extra buses.

But to start a media campaign just because you can’t have a seat…? Sorry, but that just sounds like a storm in a teacup.

I avoid 111 like a plague
I use the blue rapid buses from tuggeranong interchange, abandon my car at park n ride and catch the bus to work sometimes. The rapid buses are more buses on the route than the 111.

Raise the subject on 106.3, 2CC, The Chronicle and the C.Times.

I have seen some of these buses choccas, its an OH&S issue that the Government have left themselves wide open (subject to legal action) for years.

ACT Taxpayers pay for the ‘service’, Action closed its books recruiting for a while and have now re-advertised for more bus drivers.

There are plenty of buses to meet public needs therefore should not be a shortage.

Ten years ago bus drivers could afford to stop on a little break and relieve themselves, nowadays the pressure is on for them to race through their runs as a result of management and government reducing the runs/buses/drivers.

Extra buses for peak hour periods is the solution just like the good old days.

I have no experience of the 111.

However, my experience of the 67 from Woden to Tuggeranong, which is meant to leave Woden at 7.47am is that, at least a couple of times a week for the last fortnight, it forgets to leave Woden, leaving many people stranded and late for work in the freezing cold.

What I’ve heard is that ACTION have scheduled more routes to run each day than they have busses much less drivers. So at any point during the day, there will be routes scheduled for which no bus can possibly be available.

If I was benevolent dictator of the ACT, I’d be spending less money on public art and more on public transport.

Gungahlin Al7:12 pm 09 Jun 11

Well haven’t you been lucky to date. Any morning bus route from Gungahlin on Flemington Road after 8am you can almost certainly forget getting a seat if you get on after the town centre. And you will often be jammed out near the front door. That’s if the bus doesn’t drive straight past already chokko.

I had three buses drive straight past in a row one morning.

I don’t know why your bus was fuller, but I always have to laugh when I see the sign that indicates that there are 30+ standing spaces on the bus. I’m sure it’s the norm in lots of Asian countries and I have been on buses like that in Europe (fell out once when the door opened at a stop!), but it’s not for the faint hearted.

You’ll probably find the driver of the previous 111 bus decided not to turn up. It’s been happening a lot and it really annoys the would-have-been passengers who were folloish enough to rely on the service.

If standing doesn’t agree with you, disembark at Woden and wait for an intertown/blue rapid service that has some seats. They aren’t all full.

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