It must be that time of year. Chief Minister Gallagher appears to be spending the day tweeting about her bus journeys.
Apparently all the bus drivers are lovely.
It must be that time of year. Chief Minister Gallagher appears to be spending the day tweeting about her bus journeys.
Apparently all the bus drivers are lovely.
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HenryBG said :
I’m sure they’re capable of going faster on a downwards incline..
dpm said :
It’s fun watching people make dicks of themselves when they get that assumption wrong. People on here seem to associate posts where the contributor knows what they’re talking about with being one of said people.
KB1971 said :
As well as a speed limiter the new MAN buses also have an acceleration limiter which is a real pain as those things have plenty of torque.
dungfungus said :
All of ACTIONs buses are speed limited, the older ones with something mechanical in the diff, the newer ones via the engine management software. They are supposed to be limited to 80 which is the legal requirement without passenger seatbelets. However at top speed most will show 85-90 on the dial although I suspect the speedos show around 5km higher than actual speed. I’ve never driven a bus that would show over 95 even downhill.
How much should 20+ year old buses be sold for? Buses that are used to carry paying passengers can only be used up to age 24 unless all the panels are taken off and the chassis is inspected for rust and metal fatigue which resets the ‘age’ to 0. Not too difficult a job but fairly time consuming I’d imagine so probably not worthwhile for small bus operators with only a small workshop/number of mechanics. Also the average fleet age for any operator must be under 12. Some disability act specifies 50% wheelchair accessible buses by this year and 100% by 2022. So ACTION’s old non-wheelchair accesible buses aren’t that desireable to small private bus companies who have previously bought ex-ACTION buses.
From what I understand (& this was regular practice in the heavy vehicle world) they older Renaults were speed limited with their gearing, not electronically.
The later ones are all electronic & have more power. They seem to tun off down the hills better than the older busses which may be why you are seeing them at higher speed than expected. Also the speed sensors for the limiter hay have failed in some buses which will allow them to go faster.
I have certainly been in them at faser than 85km/h.
KB1971 said :
After reading the spec sheets all I can say is Damn ! the speedo in my near new car must be faulty because the bus was definitely travelling a lot faster than the 100kph than I thought I was. There must be a lot of other people in Canberra with faulty car speedos as well according to the posts on this blog. BTW, the ACTION website is a typical ACT Government bullshit one written in language that only public servants can pretend to understand. They need a proof reader as well as there is a link to an “ACTON plan”. Can’t believe that they are selling old buses for $4,000 though. No wonder ACTION will never make any money.
dungfungus said :
Nope, the spec sheets are here:
https://www.action.act.gov.au/about_us.html
One of the few good things about catching the buses is (or was) not having to sit next to those twits who call themselves a government. Thanks for spoiling my day.
bd84 said :
I was overtaken on the Monaro Highway, Symonston by an ACTION bus when I was doing 100kph so clearly the 85kph speed limiting claim is an urban myth.
AG Canberra said :
The older Mack/Renaults are speed limited, the newer Scanias are not.
I know they are speeding because the GPS in my phone tells me so when I am sitting in the bus and it is passing traffic in the centre lane like they are standing still.
Buses are not speed limited to 85kmh. They can do 100kmh down the Parkway and Monaro Highway – but shouldn’t be doing 90kmh down Adelaide Ave especially when the bus is chockers with people standing.
HenryBG said :
Even if I wasn’t great at esitimating my speed and my car speedo was also 10kph under I’d still be doing 90 (level with the bus) – more than the apparent limiters.
/shrug I am not losing sleep over it but the continual spouting that “They say can only go up to 85!!!” seems like people are covering their eyes and shouting LALALALA I can’t hear you!
dpm said :
They tend to make themselves known quickly hahaha.
I’m not quite sure what she was aiming to achieve from this, but I’ll believe improvements are coming when I see them.
sarahsarah said :
Clearly, either ACTION buses can defeat their speed-limiters, OR, you are not an effective estimator of the speed at which another vehicle is travelling.
What do you think is more likely?
It’s such fun ‘trying’ to pick the bus drivers in bus threads, and the police offices in cop threads….! 🙂
bd84 said :
I really have trouble believing people when they say this. I see them on the Parkway almost every morning doing well over 85 – they seem to manage to keep up with the traffic doing 100. :\
AG Canberra said :
This must be a huge problem, given buses are electronically speed limited to 85kph. Maybe stop cruising in the right hand lane doing 70 and you won’t have such a problem.
AG Canberra said :
But if they don’t speed the other bus drivers will tailgate them…
I bet her driver didn’t speed down Adelaide Ave like they normally do.
I caught some buses yesterday too. The drivers were great, however they took the longest route possible, the bus stopped every 200m to accept and let passengers off and it was like sitting inside a furnace, not to mention the 40 minute walk home when it was quicker because there wasn’t a bus coming. Nothing like some good network planning, looking forward to seeing more of exactly the same in network 2012 later this year. But as long as our leader enjoys having a nice old chat to the drivers it’s all fine and dandy..
Twitter.
FFS, can someone tell Katy that a few words are not a substitute for real consultation and policy.
Can we get some real politicians in this place? The current ones are making Stanhope look like a colossus.