Victorian Bus Observations 2023

[scott]

Today I travelled on Ventura #1609 on the 767, a new Scania K320CB(diesel non hybrid), it was my first time riding on the new generation Scania chassis, and it was not a bad bus at all, very smooth, quiet and powerful and the new Coachair HVAC system kept the bus quite warm, other passengers made favourable comments too, and the new Scania dash looks superb.

Much better than the Kinetic K320H Hybrids in my opinion, as they can get rough as the engine stops and starts, and Kinetic don't use the Scania dash layout either, rather the standard Optimus layout with the new generation controls installed in it.

[BluDART]

Some news on Ventura this past week.
They are getting a fleet of 22 Custom Endeavours/Scania units to be delivered from later this year.
https://www.aumanufacturing.com.au/vent ... ning-buses

Also it appears they are sounding out the market for a potential sale/investment opportunity.
https://www.afr.com/street-talk/goldman ... 719-p5dpl0

[B10BLE]

Must be busy at Volgren.

[MotorOmnibus8562]

Without a doubt. They have several orders to fill. They have to build more Hybrids for Kinetic, the second batch of BYDs for Ventura Ivanhoe, more BYDs for Kinetic, the remaining BZLs for CDC. As well as various orders from other operators. I reckon they're also preparing to get themselves ready to build a factory in St Marys in NSW.

[B10BLE]

Custom Endeavours look great - in pictures, no doubt in person too. Too bad these buses won't see life in Ventura navy, yellow and white because buses in Melbourne now are in mandatory orange.

[Heihachi_73]

I rode a 742 two days ago, Ventura's AI-generated PID announcements have been shortened to just the street name but the AI still can't distinguish some abbreviations.

Ave rhymes with shave instead of being avenue
Drive is D.R. (no longer "doctor"!)
Place is P.L.
Parade is P.D.E.
Court is C.T.
Close is C.L.

Heatherdale station is still pronounced heath instead of heather.
Vermont is still pronounced with emphasis on the last syllable instead of the first e.g. Vermont Michigan.
Secondary College is now pronounced correctly instead of Sec Col.

Also noticed more Kinetic buses with USB phone chargers installed. Tip: if the buses are newish and have the comfy double-width seats they have USB chargers, if they have the more common rock-hard seats, they don't (e.g. the Gemilangs numbered in the 100s don't have them but AFAIK the ones in the 1100s do). Gemilangs have them below the seats in the middle, Volgren Optimus hybrids have the chargers at roof level; both bus types will probably have them destroyed and/or inoperable in no time because Melbourne. Case in point, 1115's (or was it 1155) chargers weren't working after trying four random pairs of seats on both sides behind the rear door (1110 and the Optimus hybrid I caught on the 901 last night were fine).

[scott]

I noticed another thing with the new Consat system installed in the Ventura fleet, in that the driver can use the Consat console to liase with Operations and vice versa. Also it seems Ventura have gone to the OCC setup as I heard a message over the two way telling drivers to direct their messages to OCC rather than the appropriate depot (ie Oakleigh, Knox).

[B10BLE]

Also it appears they are sounding out the market for a potential sale/investment opportunity.
https://www.afr.com/street-talk/goldman ... 719-p5dpl0

Touching on this,

I'd sell my business to the highest bidder than have my property siezed by the government because the tender process was rigged from the start in favour of multinationals.

[B10BLE]

Spotted a CDC Optimus (unsure of number or depot allocation) on Springvale Road in Mulgrave today (above the Monash freeway) with a scrolling desto advertising driver positions and a phone number to apply for the job.

Spotted that same thing last week in Oakleigh on Thursday.

[B10BLE]

https://7news.com.au/news/vic/man-kille ... c-11636539

[BanksfielderIdiot823]

Damn.

And that was Ventura #1003 (K280UB)

[B10BLE]

Seems like Ventura really is for sale. Looking for overseas bidders.

https://www.afr.com/street-talk/vic-bus ... 904-p5e1ql

[BanksfielderIdiot823]

Seems like Ventura really is for sale. Looking for overseas bidders.

https://www.afr.com/street-talk/vic-bus ... 904-p5e1ql

Paywalled link. Can you or someone quote it please?

[ScaniaGrenda]

Here

Street Talk understands Singapore-listed Keppel Infrastructure Holdings and Spanish bus
operator Mobility ADO were among parties shortlisted after sell-side adviser Goldman Sachs
collected non-binding indicative bids on August 25.

Mobility ADO, in particular, may be motivated given its perennial underbidder status in recent
Australian and Kiwi bus auctions. It lost out to OPTrust’s Kinetic at both Queensland’s Transit
Australia Group (TAG) in 2019 and Next Capital’s NZ Bus last year.

The other shortlisted suitor, Keppel, owns local chemicals business Ixom, which was put on
the auction block last year but ended up doing a $1 billion refinancing after its sale stalled.
Keppel was also in the final furlong at New Zealand’s Vector Metering, which ultimately sold
a 50 per cent stake to QIC at at $NZ2.5 billion enterprise valuation.

The bidder interest – and sources suggested to this column that a financial sponsor was also
in the mix – may have prompted a collective sigh of relief from Ventura and its advisers.
That’s because a key talking point since Goldman was appointed has been the 99-year-old
business’s ability to retain its earnings and/or margins five years from now.
A significant slice of Ventura’s contracts – which are with the Victorian Government and
helped the business make about $300 million revenue and $80 million earnings annually –
are up for renewal in 2028. Neither meek, nor mild Hitherto a meek client, the Victorian Government recently changed rules for how it hands out
bus contracts.

Sources said the new regime is likely to see a fiercer tender process, leaving
Ventura in a position where it would have to defend its bread-and-butter business from rivals
like ComfortDelGro and Kelsian. That could affect both its earnings and 25 per cent EBITDA
margins, they said.

Of course, it’s nothing unusual for prospective buyers to amplify a target’s shortcomings, and
Keppel and Mobility’s arrival shows there’s credible interest in the asset. The question is, at
what price.

Street Talk understands Pacific Equity Partners was partnering with ComfortDelGro, and
Kinetic took a look. Kelsian, which already has an 8 per cent market share in Melbourne, is
understood to be weighing whether growth via M&A makes sense or if it can expand by
winning contracts. PEP/CDG and Kinetic did not make it through to the second round,
sources said.

Private equity giant KKR, which bought New Zealand bus group Ritchies in 2021, was seen
as a logical suitor but is understood to have skipped on the auction.
Ventura is the largest bus operator in Victoria with around 530 of Melbourne’s 1205 total
routes. It has 44 per cent market share of the Melbourne public bus market, and 55 per cent
of school routes in the city, holding three of the five largest bus contracts.

[MotorOmnibus8562]

Dyson's Bus 883 has been spotted with new bike racks fitted. Albury Wodonga is now joining Shepparton, Bendigo, Wangaratta and Castlemaine where local buses are now fitted with bike racks.

MO8562

[MotorOmnibus8562]

Dysons bus 1198 is back in Wodonga with a new bike rack fitted.

[Heihachi_73]

742 to Chadstone just performed two unintended laps of Ringwood.

Bus 1259 went too far up Bond St past the Market St detour (road closed at the usual New St intersection due to installing a literal sewer underneath a traffic sewer), ended up turning right and heading through suburbia, turning right again then left into Ringwood St (no right turns due to median strip), then onto Ringwood Bypass, then backtracking through New St/Charter St/Bond St, and once again via Ringwood St/Ringwood Bypass towards Heatherdale.

[MotorOmnibus8562]

Two new ARCC hydrogen buses have arrived at transit Systems, according to fleet lists

[Heihachi_73]

A worthless junkie (of course a white male in their early 20s) held up bus 1153 on the 901 in Wantirna tonight by taking the emergency hammer off the hook, then attempted to steal a box of KFC from a passenger before walking off as soon as the doors opened. Wasn't on the next inbound 901 either (unless they live locally or got a 901 back towards Knox), so the PSOs at Ringwood station missed out on a bit of fun.

[Richard1207]

A worthless junkie (of course a white male in their early 20s) held up bus 1153 on the 901 in Wantirna tonight by taking the emergency hammer off the hook, then attempted to steal a box of KFC from a passenger before walking off as soon as the doors opened. Wasn't on the next inbound 901 either (unless they live locally or got a 901 back towards Knox), so the PSOs at Ringwood station missed out on a bit of fun.

The people we see on buses these days! And I'll bet he didn't have a myki either.

[B10BLE]

Those ARCC hydrogen buses are what you get when a Custom 550 and a Gemilang had a baby together. A horrid look.

[MotorOmnibus8562]

Dyson's Bus 1117 from Wodonga has been spotted at Volgren Dandenong awaiting a new bike rack.


MO8562

[MotorOmnibus8562]

1117 back in Wodonga with new bike racks.

[Linto63]

Ventura, Victoria's largest operator, appears set to join the third largest, CDC, in Singaporean ownership.

Ventura bus auction nears destination with preferred bidder in tow (Australian Financial Review)

[B10BLE]

Can only blame the government for Ventura wanting to sell the business.

Better to sell the whole lot than have your property confiscated when you lose your contract.