STA Observations 2019

[Fleet Lists]

According to the new school holiday timetables which start on 30 September, route 170 between Manly and Wynyard will resume on Saturday 5 October for the summer period.

[boronia]

I see 1699 is still in its Pre-Pay promotional livery. Surely this is a bit pointless now, as are the Prepay Only desto signs on Metrobuses?

[Jurassic_Joke]

Due to roadworks on Pittwater Road near Warringah Mall last night, routes diverted behind the mall and B1 was run with standard buses instead as double deckers couldn’t travel on the detour route

[pgt]

265 is a weird service. Peak hour supplement?.
The 255 like plenty of service in that area doesn't run on Sundays at all, and has poor frequency.

Would have thought the 256 was more a peak hour supplement, in that barring the little section of Chatswood West that it does the loop in, that it is more a supplement to the 259 along Fullers Road.
255 goes into that little pocket of Chatswood West that doesn't see buses otherwise, but is also a peak-only period service.

265 on the other hand to me is like a milk run in that it doesn't supplement any buses, but runs in an area where other buses don't run at all. It runs through the day so isn't a peak-only service, albeit hourly at best and doesn't run after about 6pm (too bad if you're expecting to get it from the Greenwich Point ferry).

Neither of them operate on Sundays though.

[Swift]

265 is a weird service. Peak hour supplement?.

265 on the other hand to me is like a milk run in that it doesn't supplement any buses, but runs in an area where other buses don't run at all.

It's a waste of money and resources and it serves only a small group of individuals during the day at a cost to everybody else.
It would be far better to get the names and addresses of these people and pay for Uber to take them only in the times and places the buses run. Trouble is that would be an admission the service is a waste of time.

[tonyp]

Due to roadworks on Pittwater Road near Warringah Mall last night, routes diverted behind the mall and B1 was run with standard buses instead as double deckers couldn’t travel on the detour route

Maybe they should have stuck with artics.

[Swift]

Maybe they should have stuck with artics.

Why did they go with deckers, for the gimmick value?

[tonyp]

Why did they go with deckers, for the gimmick value?

Seating capacity.

[Swift]

That is okay but Andy Constance has lately been talking about more rollouts of deckers in regular routes, bringing us back to the days of Atlanteans, instead of just leaving them to few selected cross country routes where they are a good fit.

[Stonesourscotty]

If Australians learned how to use a double decker they'd solve a few issues but the amount of times people don't even stand until the bus stops delaying the bus is insane. My local bus route back home is half enviro 400 double deck operated and half operated by vdl pulsars 2s it rarely runs late the buses are all single door and no card like opal is used it's amazing that dwell times are so low on routes that should be higher than Syd but there actually dramatically lower with more frequent stops.

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[BroadGauge]

If Australians learned how to use a double decker they'd solve a few issues but the amount of times people don't even stand until the bus stops delaying the bus is insane.

Sounds like they're just obeying the signage stating not to use the stairwell until the bus is moving. Not much point in standing up just to wait until the bus stops before you're permitted to use the stairwell.

[tonyp]

A woman was killed recently in Auckland falling down the stairs of a moving double decker, so I suppose TfNSW's caution is understandable.

[Jurassic_Joke]

Maybe they should have stuck with artics.

A few of the services on the 'downgraded' B1 that night were artics, but everything else were standard buses of every kind out of the alphabet from MonaVale/Brookvale depot. But yeah back to your original message, the fact that they had to 'downgrade' the bus from a double decker to single deck anyway because of inevitable diversion (road works) just highlights how double deckers can't replace artics and exposes the pretty bad flaw of deckers - that the tall size is more of a hindrance than they think.

Honestly, another thing I really like better about artics and noticed immediately travelling on one after a double decker binge - artics (at least Sydney's Volvo B12BLEA's) have pretty excellent acceleration and pick up those high speeds quite quickly, I assume comes from the streamlined shape of the vehicle (in terms of physics). Double deckers just feel so much more sluggish in that department.

Why did they go with deckers, for the gimmick value?

To be fair Swift, if the current B1 was just more artics, it would really just be a shortened L90 (more or less the same limited stops between Wynyard and Mona Vale) so I definitely think for more seating as well as the gimmick value.

[boronia]

The delays resulting from an injured passenger would be a lot longer than from a few stragglers.

[Stonesourscotty]

Never heard of anyone injured whilst sober on a double decker bus before. Was it a front or backwards staircase? I find Australian deckers slow myself I'm used to the faster enviro 400 integral and Scania enviro 400s which are rapid buses that do great work on interurban and Town routes.

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[tonyp]

I think the Auckland buses have rear-facing stairs. The lady was a normal, sober older passenger. I'm perfectly capable of falling down stairs, stone cold sober! I'm intimately familiar, on a faceplant basis, with a few lower landings. I avoid using stairs in a moving vehicle where possible. I'm sure many people are the same. Stairs and I are enemies. I'm grateful for the stepless lower deck of the B Line buses.

[boronia]

A few of the services on the 'downgraded' B1 that night were artics, but everything else were standard buses of every kind out of the alphabet from MonaVale/Brookvale depot. But yeah back to your original message, the fact that they had to 'downgrade' the bus from a double decker to single deck anyway because of inevitable diversion (road works) just highlights how double deckers can't replace artics and exposes the pretty bad flaw of deckers - that the tall size is more of a hindrance than they think.

It was a one-off occurrence. At least an attempt was made to cater for sufficient capacity.

Would you also suggest not buying trains, because trains have to be occasionally replaced by buses during trackwork; or not having ferries because occasionally circumstances require suspension of services?

[Swift]

You wonder why we bother having a low floor on the lower deck when infirm people who should be questioning the wisdom of doing so, insist on going up all those steps to the upper deck.
It must be a magnet for the unsavoury crowd up there. especially with the unique belligerent mentality of Australian undesirables.

[Transport Buff]

Just a question...
Does anyone know where I could find information about the South East Bus Changes coming up in December related to the Light Rail opening?
I have found some info on Wikipedia, but wondering if there is more.
If not, that is ok.

Cheers.

[Jurassic_Joke]

A few of the services on the 'downgraded' B1 that night were artics, but everything else were standard buses of every kind out of the alphabet from MonaVale/Brookvale depot. But yeah back to your original message, the fact that they had to 'downgrade' the bus from a double decker to single deck anyway because of inevitable diversion (road works) just highlights how double deckers can't replace artics and exposes the pretty bad flaw of deckers - that the tall size is more of a hindrance than they think.

Would you also suggest not buying trains, because trains have to be occasionally replaced by buses during trackwork; or not having ferries because occasionally circumstances require suspension of services?

No, I'm just suggesting maybe Andrew Constance shouldn't promote double decker buses as the perfect end-all be-all solution to high capacity buses which it honestly sounds a lot like at times.

[Swift]

No, I'm just suggesting maybe Andrew Constance shouldn't promote double decker buses as the perfect end-all be-all solution to high capacity buses which it honestly sounds a lot like at times.

That man can be so anguishing and great at other times such a recently when he didn't mince his words over the introduction of mobile phone detection cameras without prior warning like speed cameras have. He said he "doesn't give a stuff" if it upsets some motorists. Refreshing talk from a NSW minister. Loved it.

[moa999]

Just a question...
Does anyone know where I could find information about the South East Bus Changes coming up in December related to the Light Rail opening?
I have found some info on Wikipedia, but wondering if there is more.

That's all that's been released, and was in the original EIS.

Was some recent discussion in the Light Rail thread but nothing new.
The Wiki page doesn't mention the X services which were expected to continue using the ED Northbound, and Oxford coming back.

[boronia]

Probably won't be announced until a couple of weeks before the changes, as usual. Too early just gives all the self-centred people more time to complain that "their" bus has been changed and causing unbelievable hardships. (Usually without bothering to actually research beyond that point)

It will be interesting to see if the changes will now be staggered in line with the separate branch openings, or if they will all be put on hold until Kingsford is up and running

[Fleet Lists]

And since that was issued some years ago, I suspect that the final result may be quite different from what was published then. Wiki is also very likely to be out of date.

I think we are waiting with baited breath to see what comes out.

The split implementation may also cause some confusion as the changes later this year are unlikely to be the final product.

[tonyp]

Let's at least hope that they do a better job than in the north-west!