STA Observations - October 2017

[boronia]

On another note saw 2108 Not In Service at Green Square heading to the City with an interesting desto very rare to see this bus other than along Anzac Pde.
https://imgur.com/a/6Whtd

I did see something bizzare saw a driver start a 301 shift inbound at Eastlakes 10 mins early. I never seen this before I’ve seen drivers start a couple mins early but 10 that’s something.

Holy cow! A P bus, 2108 at that, with an F/V Desto! Woah, now that's something!

Must be becoming fashionable. Just saw 1243 operating south along Anzac Pde displaying L90 Palm Beach.

[sunnyyan]

^ As I've posted before I've seen a TfNSW bendy at Flinders St displaying 247 Taronga Zoo. Must be drivers playing around with destos.

[Jurassic_Joke]

I don't really mind - if thats the case, its nice to see some of them playing around and actually having a bit of fun with their field of work.

[Jurassic_Joke]

As Boronia stated, drivers are subject to strict hours and this option is one at the radio room's disposal and the driver must adhere to instructions. Drivers are employed to follow operating instructions. They can't make individual judgements because the distance to the final stop is is judged to be miniscule by your mind.
What if there was a throng of passengers that would have held the bus up considerably longer? Do you expect the driver to make a judgement call each time? That will confuse people even more and cause more upset from no consistency.
Whether you like it or not, bus operations are not there to bend rules for individuals.

Ok I've gotten a response from STA Customer Service. He did not mention anywhere that the driver was under instructions, but instead said things like your complaint concerns me, the driver will be called in for an interview with his supervisor. I apologise sincerely etc etc

So the customer service reps aren't aware...hmm. I won't escalate further, just find it interesting ^

[boronia]

Very much the standard response that comes from STA feedback.

[Richard290]

https://twitter.com/busesnorthwest/stat ... 1318130688
I was on the 2pm Epping to Parramatta 546 service today where the driver made the usual right turn into Ray Road unknowingly finding out the road ahead was blocked by a fallen tree. The driver was well trained and managed to make a three point turn by reversing right into a construction site driveway, making a left turn and going around the block via Beecroft Road and Kandy Avenue then its usual route.


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[sunnyyan]

There's been a bus crash in Burwood. Looks like an STA Volvo B10BLE crashed into another bus on a roundabout.
See http://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act ... 8caeffb22d

Also first time today seeing a Volvo B10BLE on route m41. Normally all B12BLEs, even when a red bus isn't available.

[donotsmoke]

Y's 2831 is now an AOA bus promoting the new transport timetable from 26 Nov

[Jurassic_Joke]

4812 still has "Sydney Buses" branding on it

[KBU-500]

It is surprising the number of people who lean up against the bulkheads while standing in this area, mainly foreign student types. They get hit repeatedly by the opening doors, but it seems to take a while for the solution to sink in.

It doesnt seem to sink in on the shall i say "people" on the 545. 2 asian girls going back about 3 months ago, got hit by the doors every stop from Macquarie Uni right along Balaclava Rd till the stop before mine, when the driver had enough. He told them to move or he wasn't moving. They moved until he had moved 20 metres down the road and they were right back where they were. Problem was I had my 7yo son with me and holding his hand i tried to get through these two at the back door, I got through them but lost my sons hand in the squabble... I had said excuse me several times but they refused to move. Anyway it ended up the drive closing the rear door on my son, he couldnt see him for the 2 dumbf**ks. He reopened the back door at which time i let all hell loose, and they laughed at me. That just incensed me more, I had actually said to them before I got off "see this red bit here where it says no standing, it means you move the f**k out of the way". They smiled but they didnt move. I dont blame the drive, what can he really do, refuse to move the bus? They dont even understand english. I complained to 131500 or transportnsw or whatever it is called nowadays but i was at pains to point out the drive was not at fault. He couldnt see, my point was there needs to be something done, i dont know what but when it comes to safety issues and these people think its funny, enough is enough

[KBU-500]

Oh, and the bus had around 20 empty seats, being around 8.30 on a sat night

[Frosty]

Noticed something a bit rare spotted 2343 red metrobus bendy on the 309 outbound at Green Square towards Port Botany around 5pm. Unusual to see a non 12.5m bus on the 309 nowadays had about 40 people on it which wasn’t bad considering there was a 310 in front of it. I guess P had run out of 12.5m standard buses.

[Swift]

Oh, and the bus had around 20 empty seats, being around 8.30 on a sat night

This would have been a good addition to insipid passenger stories thread. A spray of liquid ass would've made humans out of them and been a true reflection of their thoughtless attitude.
I lost count of how many times as a driver, whenever I asked passengers to move away from the centre doors, I would be met with smirks in the mirror. Some passengers are insipid beyond belief. It's a sad truth.

[Frosty]

What is STA policy regarding a few things today noticed a few drivers leaving Coogee terminus full bus set destos to set down only & charter. Along with that it was weird seeing a 370 only 5 mins late at Randwick set the desto to Newtown though booked to continue to Leichhardt. Still showing Newtown at Green Square.

[Stonesourscotty]

1597 on the Parramatta River Express?? Heading city bound now.

[Jurassic_Joke]

Was on a bus a bit earlier, had the most peculiar thing.

At the starting stop, Opal Readers turned on et al. But a few stops after that, (I'm sitting in the front seat answering a few texts on my phone), I look up and suddenly, all the Opal readers are on CLOSED mode - I also saw the drivers console was apparently logged out, although I saw what looked like "Username and password" were filled in.

Subsequent PAX boarding got a free ride, driver tried saying "somethings wrong with Opal dont worry about it". People get off, annoyed they cannot tap off, sighing. Driver insists "Opal not working anymore sorry" I'm just thinking why dont you just press a button and log in again..?? Because now I'm affected and won't get a transfer discount. Of course, it was only when big buff bogan gets off at the front and said in a big voice "ERR why can I NOT TAP OFF ALL OF A SUDDEN MATE" , then, he pressed a button (I assume logged in), gave it a few moments and voila, readers up and working again

*rolls eyes*

That's not really funny in my eyes at all. What if an army of transits boarded and inspected the bus, especially to those that got waived on + transits see readers are working?

[Richard290]

Caught the 3:00pm Epping to Parramatta 546 service today. The bus driver of Y’s 1205 erroneously made a wrong right turn from Ray Road into Pennant Parade before continuing left into North Rocks Road (following the route of route 549) I called out to the driver at Kimberley Road and said “Isn’t this route 546? You’ve gone the wrong way and should’ve follow the route of 546”.
He then made a backhanded detour via the narrow Benghazi Road, which was lined with parked school pickup cars and Alamein Avenue before returning to Pennant Parade and recommencing the usual 546 routing at Dunrossil Avenue.
I have also sent a no-reply feedback to transportnsw.info about this incident.

[Swift]

I'm sure it was an honest mistake. He made a correction after you pointed it out. Why report him?
I would have been in strife several times if people reported me for making the wrong turn from mixing routes up.
"Auto pilot" fails from time to time.

[boronia]

That's not really funny in my eyes at all. What if an army of transits boarded and inspected the bus, especially to those that got waived on + transits see readers are working?

I'm sure the transits will sort it out with the driver if several pax tell them that the machines weren't working. And they will have you as a witness.

[gascoyne]

NSW Roads & Maritime Services have announced how they will give priority to 412, 422, 423, 426 and 428 buses - by removing stops! See http://www.rms.nsw.gov.au/projects/easi ... ogram.html

Note that there was public "consultation" first, thank goodness.

[LB608]

Caught the 3:00pm Epping to Parramatta 546 service today. The bus driver of Y’s 1205 erroneously made a wrong right turn from Ray Road into Pennant Parade before continuing left into North Rocks Road (following the route of route 549) I called out to the driver at Kimberley Road and said “Isn’t this route 546? You’ve gone the wrong way and should’ve follow the route of 546”.
He then made a backhanded detour via the narrow Benghazi Road, which was lined with parked school pickup cars and Alamein Avenue before returning to Pennant Parade and recommencing the usual 546 routing at Dunrossil Avenue.
I have also sent a no-reply feedback to transportnsw.info about this incident.

Why report him, How many mistakes have you made today?

[Stu]

NSW Roads & Maritime Services have announced how they will give priority to 412, 422, 423, 426 and 428 buses - by removing stops! See http://www.rms.nsw.gov.au/projects/easi ... ogram.html

Note that there was public "consultation" first, thank goodness.

These bus priority projects are taking a ridiculous amount of time for each one to be completed after the original announced. Example: Camperdown to Rozelle bus priority program was announced in December 2015, feedback submissions closed at the end of January 2016 and bus stop closures would take place in late 2017. Hopefully these changes will coincide with the 26/11/2017 timetable changes. There is such irony when a road & car leaning authority is put in charge of a 'bus priority' program.

215 submissions seems like a weak response for routes 412, 422, 423, L23, 426, 428 & L28 the three sub-projects within the one larger program that covers a large portion of Region 6.

[tonyp]

Does anybody know what is the annual operating subsidy that STA receives from the government. It's not declared in the STA annual report and the Auditor General's reports only provde the subsidy figure for all bus operators.

[Rick R]

That's probably old hat now, all expenses rolled into the contract payments like everyone else.

[tonyp]

That's probably old hat now, all expenses rolled into the contract payments like everyone else.

It is, but if they can provide a figure for total contract payments to government and private operators ($1.3 billion), surely there's a figure for how much if that is to the Stare Transit ones and how much to the privates?