Private Bus Observations 2020

[Swift]

Anyone from overseas coming to Australia and seeing these stepped centre doorways with the Aussie flag resplendent on the driver's bulkhead would have our image as an isolated outpost further reinforced in their minds.
Now that centre door entry has become a slowly trickling reality, it makes this configuration look more foolish and galling than ever.
The bus rides horribly on most chassis and look weird inside and out. Nothing to make the nation proud.

[Linto63]

There is a minimum standard of DDA compliance that requires only one door to be stepless, but the impediment is just as real on any doorway.

So contrary to the impression you have been trying to create that NSW is stuck in a time warp, it has been purchasing buses that do comply with the DDA, it's just that you don't like it and want to crap on about it.

[Swift]

What about regular users that have to deal with that step?
Are you irritated with all the Canberrans who hate it too?
You can go run off to Facebook now.

[Campbelltown busboy]

Anyone from overseas coming to Australia and seeing these stepped centre doorways with the Aussie flag resplendent on the driver's bulkhead would have our image as an isolated outpost further reinforced in their minds.
Now that centre door entry has become a slowly trickling reality, it makes this configuration look more foolish and galling than ever.
The bus rides horribly on most chassis and look weird inside and out. Nothing to make the nation proud.

This is where we should have a fully Australian automotive manufacture that builds chassis for cars buses and trucks like what Mercedes Benz and Volvo currently do

[Swift]

If Sweden can do it, why can't we?
That's right, all our bright ideas go to forriners thanks st a government culture of no faith in our own inventions.

[Merc1107]

The same old gong being beaten and beaten to death. It is no wonder people have packed up and left this forum in droves.

We've addressed that in the thread dealing with monthly post statistics. Forums everywhere are dying because of the prevalence of Facebook, and other mediums, that allow people to create private cliques. In this interest, we also have the matter of employer's social media policies, and certain entities that are excessively concerned about the things enthusiasts talk about here...

I think Territory Transit has a full fleet with stepless doors.

Correct. The former Darwin Bus Service fleet has not had any high-floor buses for a number of years now. Buslink, who operate about 60% of scheduled services are largely the same, although the Bustech Graduate school buses are used on the few 'feeders' from the rural areas.

[BanksfielderIdiot823]

Melbourne has about 20 Bustechs (with CDC), a tiny proportion in a fleet of about 1,100.

Hey, just for the record Tony, those 20 thingymabobs (the most polite name I could call them at the moment) are actually with Northern Transit (i.e. Broadmeadows/Kastoria Bus Lines). The 7 of them that CDC Vic just happened upon was operating for Sunraysia Bus Lines before. (now CDC Mildura)

[Swift]

Thanks for this bus back pic. The one on the left is an enduring memory from the late 70s. Best looking rear in the bus business.

[tonyp]

Don't thank me, thank Gordon Ross whose photo it is. Very rare to find photos of bus rears. No enthusiast seems to think it's significant. You can see from that Worldmaster how the government buses still had the old-fashioned twin rear window. It was another decade before the wraparound windows appeared on government buses in Sydney, on the Leopards and Mercedes Mk 1.

[Swift]

Thanks for posting and thanks Gordon Ross!!
Bus Backs On Monash Rd.
I date this to the 80s as I read that a large batch of Ken's jumbos were pulled in 81 after new deliveries of Leopards. Interesting to see it was dedicated to the 85, a route I caught from Eastwood to Macquarie University and Centre for many years.

[bussie]

Low entry and low floor are completely distinct configurations. State Transit let go of it's only low floor to Transit Systems -the fabled 2112.

The B Line MAN A95s are low floor.

[Swift]

I like to think they are at least somewhat segregated from the rest of the fleet -a separate category.
That's one case where I wish a private operator ran it.

[Campbelltown busboy]

I like to think they are at least somewhat segregated from the rest of the fleet -a separate category.
That's one case where I wish a private operator ran it.

That wil come true when the tendered region 8 contract comes into place

[tonyp]

The B Line MAN A95s are low floor.

Yes, one could legitimately include them as a fully accessible vehicle (ignoring the top deck!). The Bustech ones on other Sydney privates routes too. The puzzle is why everybody in the NSW bus sector is willfully blind to seeing single deck buses in the same light.

[Swift]

What's really "funny" is that the mechanics that maintain the buses would be schooled in working on them so the excuse that they are too odd to work on goes out the window among operators of the decker chassis.

[Linto63]

Yes, one could legitimately include them as a fully accessible vehicle (ignoring the top deck!).

State Transit's fleet is 99.5% accessible. If you can roll a wheelchair or pram on board, then by the letter of the law it is accessible. Whether there are internal steps is irrelevant

[J_Busworth]

Yes, one could legitimately include them as a fully accessible vehicle (ignoring the top deck!).

State Transit's fleet is 99.5% accessible. If you can roll a wheelchair or pram on board, then by the letter of the law it is accessible. Whether there are internal steps is irrelevant

And most of those non accessible buses are concentrated in one depot. STA Randwick is only around 82% accessible, with 29 non accessible L113CRLs, although they are fully flat to the rear door. There are only 18 other non accessible buses in the entire fleet now, so Randwick really does fall behind ms

Unlike STA, some privates seem to have quite a few more non accessible buses. When do they need to have a 100% DDA compliant fleet by? Some of those non accessible buses are less than 20 years old!

[Campbelltown busboy]

Unlike STA, some privates seem to have quite a few more non accessible buses. When do they need to have a 100% DDA compliant fleet by? Some of those non accessible buses are less than 20 years old!

Busabout has two odd bod gen 2 Bustechs that are the last 2 non accessible chassis in the Volvo B10 range to be bodied in the world witch are Volvo B10B Bustech m/o 8484 and Volvo B10MSE Bustech m/o 8488 witch where both built in 2002 body date for both 12/02

[tonyp]

Unlike STA, some privates seem to have quite a few more non accessible buses. When do they need to have a 100% DDA compliant fleet by? Some of those non accessible buses are less than 20 years old!

31 December 2022.

[Off The Rails]

Amazes me how a bus observation thread manages to get turned into yet another "accessible buses that aren't accessible" argument... *yawn*
Could we, you know, stray back to the thread?

Cheers!

[tonyp]

Yawn indeed. We get it.

Yeah, pardon the momentary outburst of frustration. I was hoping for a moment that TSA would have higher design and functionality standards than STA, but the useful statistic-gathering exercise in my earlier post suggests that NSW in general smokes any other state and territory when it comes to practising the most grudging minimum standards possible. It's not about legal accessibility - that minimum standard is met - it's about functionality and thinking of your customers and your task. Back to topic!

[Campbelltown busboy]

I'm not sure if Busabout have relaxed their front seats policy when it comes to COVID and are now allowing passengers to use the front seats of their buses or they where doing something with MAN 18.320 VST m/o 5086 that involved the removal of the caution tape from the front seats witch is what I observed this today when I got on the 14:01 883 from Campbelltown witch was today performed by m/o 5086

[Daniel]

Yawn indeed. We get it.

Yeah, pardon the momentary outburst of frustration. I was hoping for a moment that TSA would have higher design and functionality standards than STA, but the useful statistic-gathering exercise in my earlier post suggests that NSW in general smokes any other state and territory when it comes to practising the most grudging minimum standards possible. It's not about legal accessibility - that minimum standard is met - it's about functionality and thinking of your customers and your task. Back to topic!

Doesn’t seem like we’re back to topic with another “ram it down your throat” response...

[boronia]

The best way to resolve this problem would be to get tonyp elected to parliament. He can then become Transport Minister and mandate all his specifications for "the best bus ever".

[ScaniaGrenda]

Nothing too interesting however I might as well document is that I've seen a bunch of Hunter Valley buses running around using the incorrect destination sign layout. Instead of it appearing as big text that is sized to the entire board, it's just a small bit of text on the left hand side of the screen leaving the rest of the board blank. Only seen it happening on their Endura & EX stationlink series buses.

They've also started using "CDC NSW" on some of their out of service buses when previously they've just used "Hunter Valley Buses". This has also appeared on their older 550 custom series Mercs.