28 August 2011

Public transport from the airport. Is there a worse Western World capital?

28 August 2011 | farnarkler

Deane’s are about to pull the plug on their airliner and there’s no Action buses going through Brindabella Park on the weekends.

I wonder if there is another capital city in the Western World with a similar lack of transport to and from its’ airport?

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Skyring9:29 am 01 Sep 11

I was waiting at the airport rank last night. As usual, I had just missed out, and I had to wait for the next flight, a half hour or so away, before I had any chance of a fare. That’s OK. I put on my Asleep at the Wheel CD and sing along to Big Ball’s in Cowtown and have my own private party.

Always fun to watch people drive up the approach road and kind of hesitate when they get to the roundabout. They have to pick up the girlfriend coming back from Brisbane, but they don’t want to pay $1.50 for parking. So they make a last moment decision – always the most entertaining – to drive around and around until they spot her waiting on the corner with her bags, or to find a muddy verge to park, or to go for it and pass the “Authorised Vehicles Only” sign.

This one guy had more balls than brains, and he entered the Forbidden Zone, parked on the bus stop and right then and there, he made the biggest mistake of the night. He got out and walked into the terminal.

Two coppers appeared out of the darkness, looked into the car, and saw it was empty. Usually, if the driver’s there, they just tell him not to be a goose and to move on. But with an empty vehicle that could be a car bomb – and looking at this heap, I can see why they’d think that – they can tow it away to the nearby firing range, they can write out a ticket, they can wait for the driver and give him a rocket, or they can do all three.

Once that “security” button has been pushed, the cops have to run through their procedures, and you’re not going to get away with just a glare from the gendarmes.

I didn’t see what happened. I got a passenger – “Banks,” he said, waving a corporate card – and as I happily drove away, I noticed the red-jumpered driver sauntering back to his parked car with his girlfriend. He hadn’t yet spotted the coppers leaning on the “No Parking” sign, and he was planning a different sort of evening excitement to what was about to hit him.

Skyring9:12 am 01 Sep 11

bethybobs said :

Someone mentioned the Murray’s bus. That’s what I catch from Sydney airport when flying international. Why bother paying more money to fly to canberra, then have to park your car or get a taxi when it only costs $15 to get all the way from Sydney to Civic? I understand if you are in a rush or your job pays for it using the Canberra airport may be a good option but for leisure travel I don’t bother using Canberra airport, except for an occasional domestic flight.

The extra cost is usually bugger-all on a long flight. For the RTW tickets I usually get, the best way to get to Sydney is via Perth – I had one checkin chick look at my routing in astonishment and say “I’m sure I can get you better flights!” No way. It was perfect for SC earn.

And the second best bit is that you don’t have to worry about luggage. Check your bags in at Canberra, you don’t see them until Kansai.

Best part is the First lounge at Sydney. I always try to make my transits there as long as possible, just to have a meal and a few flutes.

I always feel a bit embarrassed, sitting on the taxi rank outside the Jolimont bus terminal. I know that the passengers have paid $15 from Sydney, and unless they live in Reid or Turner, any cab ride they get is going to cost more than that. People take the bus to save money, and when someone jumps in and says “Conder”, I know it’s going to be sixty dollars or more.

Skyring9:02 am 01 Sep 11

lulu said :

The journey from Canberra Airport to Civic is by far the most beautiful journey from an airport to the centre of town that I’ve ever seen: lake and mountain views, monumental buildings, dazzling reflections, clear Canberra skies etc. It’s a wonderful way to first encounter our town (I mean our Western World Capital) and something we can all be proud of (should we choose to shut our whinging for a second). It’s also considerably shorter than other such journeys in other Western World Capitals so a taxi is more affordable and a lift from a friend is not such a huge favor to ask.

National Airport at DC has a shorter ride into the city.

It is beautiful. I’ll often take passengers to the Hyatt along Parkes Way, just for that magic moment at the bottom of Anzac Parade, even though the Kings Avenue route is a few hundred metres shorter. I also feel that anybody staying at the Hyatt is not going to mind an extra 75c for a superb view of our beautiful capital.

Wasn’t always that way. A couple of years back the Qantas flight from London pulled in. It was diverted from Sydney, but due to a stuffup with fuel bowsers (the hose wasn’t long enough, or the flap was on the wrong side or something) it couldn’t take off again in time to make the Sydney curfew. It arrived about eight, and by one in the morning the passengers were allowed off – carryon bags only – and given taxi vouchers and hotel bookings. It was a Friday night/Saturday morning, so a lot of the taxi fleet was in Civic, ferrying the drunks home and listening for any liquid gurgles from the back seat.

I scored a few of these trips. They were loaded into the cabs four at a time and we set off from Fairbairn into Civic. It was raining, it was dark, these poor jokers had just sat on the tarmac for five hours being fed bullsh*it, and that was after the 24 hour flight from Heathrow Holiday Camp including an early morning yawn at Changi.

The trip into town was pretty much all roadworks. Just one of those moments in time when various sections were all bollards and potholes. The rain and peak hour traffic hadn’t helped any. We bounced and splashed through the middle of the cold wet night and I thought, “Welcome to F*ucking Canberra!”

Due to excellent planning, these four guys were at four different hotels and the front seat passenger got out at the first one. I looked into the back, three beefy blokes wedged in shoulder to shoulder on the seat – they looked about as lively as sardines in a tin – and suggested that one of them could now get into the front.

“Ah, it’s okay, mate. We’re used to it.”

ThatUniStudent6:59 am 01 Sep 11

I was on a Deanes bus and overheard a driver explaining this to his co-wporker. Apparently some one, not sure if it was the airport, givernment or something else was paying Deanes $60,000 a month / or Deanes were paying $60,000 a month, to run the bus service to the airport and were not prepared to pay that any more. The Airport was private, and not government owned so Action would not run out there because the airport was going to charge them a fee to do it.
Deane’s were annoyed because it was going to affect shifts. He mentioned shifts 12 and 13 were affected because half of the shift was an airport run. Apparently they’d have to rejig shift 8 to fix the issue.

bethybobs2:04 am 01 Sep 11

Someone mentioned the Murray’s bus. That’s what I catch from Sydney airport when flying international. Why bother paying more money to fly to canberra, then have to park your car or get a taxi when it only costs $15 to get all the way from Sydney to Civic? I understand if you are in a rush or your job pays for it using the Canberra airport may be a good option but for leisure travel I don’t bother using Canberra airport, except for an occasional domestic flight.

Mozzie10:06 pm 31 Aug 11

I-filed said :

This thread is a reminder to us all to agitate HARD so that the Snow Jobs don’t get their greasy paws on Canberra’s Very Fast Train station.

It’s funny how Terry Snow does what he can to prevent local public transport from heading to the Airport, but then wants the government to spend billions building a very fast train to it from Sydney.

farnarkler9:54 pm 31 Aug 11

Royale certainly have come out of nowhere. Good to hear there will be an alternative to cabs on a weekend. Now, to get them to have a later service from the airport to Civic on a Sunday evening…

Deane’s didn’t get many passengers because the airport didn’t allow them to advertise. Perhaps they’ll allow this new mob to have at least a sign up letting passengers know where their departure point is.

Here’s a fun game to play while you’re waiting to depart or have just arrived. See if you can find any tourist brochures about Canberra.

IrishPete9:34 pm 31 Aug 11

but Deanes haven’t exactly tried hard. Buses only go to Civic. Timetable is terrible. By my reading of it, there are NO buses between 10:40 and 15:38. And nothing after 17:10. And nothing TO the airport before 08:40. Buses are once per hour. Clearly aimed at the leisure traveller but fare is $9 plus your Action bus fare to/from your destination/origin suburb. More than one person in the cab, and it could actually be cheaper than buses!

You can kill a service by having it so infrequent it is irrelevant.

A new service starts on Monday with slightly better frequency, but slightly higher fare. See http://www.canberraairport.com.au/air_toAndFrom/bus.cfm

farnarkler9:51 pm 29 Aug 11

Oops sorry poisonivy, error noted. Deane’s buslines has it on their Airliner page Porkchop; http://www.airliner.com.au/timetableA1.html Also, ACTION don’t operate services to and from Brindabella Park on weekends.

I caught the Deane’s Airliner a couple of times and I was the only passenger……until someone else got on at one of the big retail places out there (DFO or Brand Depot, whichever one is/was closest to the airport).

EvanJames9:35 pm 29 Aug 11

I-filed said :

This thread is a reminder to us all to agitate HARD so that the Snow Jobs don’t get their greasy paws on Canberra’s Very Fast Train station.

The VFT has been integral to Snow’s plans for the airport, right from when he bought it. VFT = 2am jumbos from Singapore. Processed, loaded onto the train and in Sydney before the Sydney morning curfew is finished.

VFT also means freight into Canberra, all hours of the day, loaded and on its way.

A runway movement (arriving or departing) every 2.5 minutes is what he’s aiming at. VFT is what he needs to make it happen.

Porkchop11:05 pm 28 Aug 11

I had not heard that Deane’s were pulling out. When and where did that news get released?

In reply to Frank2112, I suggested that to them last year and they said “No thanks, it is not our core business”. That would explain why they did the deal with Deane’s bus company. I note that in the airport’s March 2011 Quality of Service report public transport was not raised as a serious problem by the passengers using the airport. This indicates to me that there is no reason for the airport to change anything. If Deane’s are pulling out that may provoke some negative feedback, but I can only assume that they are pulling out because there is not enough demand for their service for it to be profitable for them to provide it. I drive a taxi on Saturday and don’t bother hanging around at the airport with the other 25-plus cabs because in the long run I end up losing money by doing so. The airport have made it so cheap to park your car there that many locals who are going away for less than a week and who trust the airport security do that. We obviously do not get enough non-local passengers wanting to use the bus to make it profitable to run.

In reply to qedbynature, I recently asked ACTION why they do not provide a service to and from the airport. Their reply was:

“Thank you for contacting ACTION Customer Service about services to and from the Airport.

Public transport services to and from the Airport are provided through a private arrangement between the Airport and Deane’s Buslines. This arrangement excludes ACTION from running a regular route service to and from the Airport.

ACTION does, however, provide commuter services to the commercial precincts within the Airport area at Majura Park, Brindabella Business Park and Fairbairn Park. These services operate during business hours and have been implemented through negotiations with the Airport. The nearest stop on ACTION’s Route 10 or 28 to and from the Airport would be at Brindabella Business Park.”

In reply to Innovation, I suspect that the airport sees taxis as a cash cow, maybe small cows in terms of their overall budget but useful nonetheless, and at $2 a vehicle much more profitable than buses of any size hence their lack of interest in making it easy for minibus operators to have their own rank there. Let’s face it, though, normally the only times there are so many passengers arriving in a short space of time as to overload the taxi fleet is between 08:00 and 09:00 in the morning between Monday and Thursday when Parliament is sitting. The rest of the time, i.e. the other 100 hours per week that there are flights arriving, there are usually between one and two dozen cabs waiting hungrily for a customer to walk up to the rank and ask to be taken to Tuggeranong, or Gungahlin, anywhere further than the City to justify the hour or more they have been waiting there.

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