Private Bus Observations 2021

[Noel]

In the case of State Transit, these trips operate - either extensions of existing trips or in addition to the timetable. That's the so called "dynamic" nature of the timetable coming into play.

It's not just school trips, for example route 392 on Thursday evenings has trips that extend past Little Bay to La Perouse, these trips are operating during this time even though they aren't reflected in a Saturday timetable.

[Linto63]

The services operated in recent months have been based on the core Saturday timetable, but with additional services, both route and school, added as required.

[Nat]

What a scandalous waste of fossil fuel and resources.
Absolutely appalling.

Not every child is remaining at home, there are those of essential worker households who are trravelling to school, hence the need for school services and teachers on school sites.

[Fleet Lists]

That may be so, but the post previously referred to mentioned that the STA concerned were travelling empty.

[Swift]

The services operated in recent months have been based on the core Saturday timetable, but with additional services, both route and school, added as required.

Must be a lot of work redoing rosters.

[iamthouth]

From https://comfortdelgro.com.au/comfortdel ... ional-nsw/

ComfortDelGro Corporation Australia (CDC) has increased its commitment to serving regional Australia with the purchase of the assets of a school bus business from KA & VK Stubbs Pty Ltd, comprising five buses and a Rural and Regional Bus Service Contract of three school routes in Narrabri, New South Wales.

From October, CDC will combine the Stubbs contract with its existing operations, bringing the fleet to a total of 21 buses in Narrabri and Wee Waa.
....
The acquisition of the contract brings the total bus fleet size in regional New South Wales to more than 275 buses, with the total number of buses operated in Australia increasing close to 2500.

[Swift]

What word play. More like commitment to increasing their empire, as Sydney and surrounds have little prospect.

[Linto63]

A five vehicle operation will increase CDC's Australian fleet by 0.1%, bit of a stretch to call it empire building.

[boronia]

The services operated in recent months have been based on the core Saturday timetable, but with additional services, both route and school, added as required.

Must be a lot of work redoing rosters.

Probably just run them as independent shifts.

[Merc1107]

Even so - there is still the problem of guaranteeing full time hours to staff. Is most of the workforce on Standby shifts to makeup hours, or perhaps casuals stood down?

[boronia]

Casuals can be easily stood down. There are provisions in awards for full time staff to have their hours reduced in these situations.

[Merc1107]

Depends if staff are on an EA or an Award.

There was a battle in Perth with one of the three contractors over such a clause that was proposed. Not sure if it got in. But I don't believe drivers had their hours cut during last April's lockdown.

[Fleet Lists]

Back to the timetable discussion from last week.
It is noticed that for Transit Systems route 478 this week is still shown for trip finder purposes as operating a Saturday timetable during weekdays but as from Monday 11 October it shows using the weekday timetable on weekdays.
School timetables are not available yet for either Transit Systems and Transdev and probably also not for other operators. For other routes the 12 July 2021 timetable is still shown - so no special school holiday timetable has been shown as is normally done for school holidays.

[J_Busworth]

Back to the timetable discussion from last week.
It is noticed that for Transit Systems route 478 this week is still shown for trip finder purposes as operating a Saturday timetable during weekdays but as from Monday 11 October it shows using the weekday timetable on weekdays.
School timetables are not available yet for either Transit Systems and Transdev and probably also not for other operators. For other routes the 12 July 2021 timetable is still shown - so no special school holiday timetable has been shown as is normally done for school holidays.

The move back to weekday timetables from next week is to be expected given the vaccinated will no longer be under the same lockdown restrictions as present. I understand that TSA does indeed plan to operate a weekday timetable during the week next week.

[iamthouth]

New route and more services in the North West announced on https://www.mysydney.nsw.gov.au/Hundred ... est_Sydney

The message is not quite complete though, I notice the Friday/Saturday route 607N is withdrawn and 610X peak extensions are curtailed from Kellyville to Castle Hill in the new network maps on the CDC website and on TransportInfo by looking up the route.

HUNDREDS OF ADDITIONAL BUS SERVICES FOR NORTH WEST SYDNEY

Customers in North West Sydney will soon benefit from over 500 additional weekly bus services providing better access for newly developed areas of Box Hill.

A brand new bus route 643, additional weekly services on route 610X, and new school services will be added to the bus network in North West Sydney.

Transport for NSW Chief Operations Officer, Howard Collins, said route 643 will run between Rouse Hill and Gables via Box Hill, adding over 440 weekly services every 30 minutes from early morning until late evening.

“Customers will also gain over 30 additional weekly services on route 610X, with weekday early morning and off-peak frequency increased to every 10 minutes and additional early morning and evening trips on weekends,” Mr Collins said.

Students in Rouse Hill and Box Hill will benefit from 40 new weekly school services serving the Santa Sophia Catholic College.

“This announcement is great news for students beginning their staged return to face-to-face learning after a long period of home-schooling,” Mr Collins said.

“These new services and timetable adjustments are important to ensure we meet the needs of our customers, and encourage more people to catch public transport.”

Services on new route 643 and additional services on route 610X will begin from Monday 18 October.

There will be other minor timetable adjustments for existing 619 bus services.

These improvements deliver on commitments made as part of the NSW Government’s Growth Services Program to build a better bus network for our customers.

Since 2011, more than 45,000 additional weekly bus services have been delivered, with 14,000 of these in Sydney’s West.

Customers can plan their trip in advance at transportnsw.info .

[Fleet Lists]

https://www.cdcbus.com.au/hillsbus-news ... tober-2021

Services Updates Effective Monday 11th October 2021

From 11th October 2021 CDC NSW in the metropolitan areas of region 04 (Hillsbus) and 14 (Forest Coach) will return to normal school vacation timetables. Plan your trip on TransportNSW.info

Once again, we thank you for your patience, understanding and valuable feedback during these challenging circumstances.

If you have any questions regarding your bus service, please contact 131 500

I assume they will return to term timetables from the 18th

[stajourneyman]

Students in Rouse Hill and Box Hill will benefit from 40 new weekly school services serving the Santa Sophia Catholic College. .

[/quote]

Wow !! ... that's a whopping 1,600 new services per year !

Umm, ..better said ...there are four new buses each morning and afternoon each day

[swtt]

New route and more services in the North West announced on https://www.mysydney.nsw.gov.au/Hundred ... est_Sydney

The message is not quite complete though, I notice the Friday/Saturday route 607N is withdrawn and 610X peak extensions are curtailed from Kellyville to Castle Hill in the new network maps on the CDC website and on TransportInfo by looking up the route.

HUNDREDS OF ADDITIONAL BUS SERVICES FOR NORTH WEST SYDNEY

Customers in North West Sydney will soon benefit from over 500 additional weekly bus services providing better access for newly developed areas of Box Hill.

A brand new bus route 643, additional weekly services on route 610X, and new school services will be added to the bus network in North West Sydney.

Transport for NSW Chief Operations Officer, Howard Collins, said route 643 will run between Rouse Hill and Gables via Box Hill, adding over 440 weekly services every 30 minutes from early morning until late evening.

“Customers will also gain over 30 additional weekly services on route 610X, with weekday early morning and off-peak frequency increased to every 10 minutes and additional early morning and evening trips on weekends,” Mr Collins said.

Students in Rouse Hill and Box Hill will benefit from 40 new weekly school services serving the Santa Sophia Catholic College.

“This announcement is great news for students beginning their staged return to face-to-face learning after a long period of home-schooling,” Mr Collins said.

“These new services and timetable adjustments are important to ensure we meet the needs of our customers, and encourage more people to catch public transport.”

Services on new route 643 and additional services on route 610X will begin from Monday 18 October.

There will be other minor timetable adjustments for existing 619 bus services.

These improvements deliver on commitments made as part of the NSW Government’s Growth Services Program to build a better bus network for our customers.

Since 2011, more than 45,000 additional weekly bus services have been delivered, with 14,000 of these in Sydney’s West.

Customers can plan their trip in advance at transportnsw.info .

At these frequencies, is 610X an official rapid route yet?

[Fleet Lists]

Besides B1 are there any official rapid routes?

[Linto63]

100, 333, 500X

[In Transit]

Only the B1 could be termed a Rapid route.

Frequent routes (every 10 minutes or better during the day and every 20 minutes or better early morning/late evening, consistently 7 days a week) currently include the B1, 100, 120, 144, 160X, 199, 333 and 500X.

The 610X doesn't meet this standard due to lower frequencies on weekends, although it does have very good frequencies across the week.

One of the unsung improvements of the new frequent routes has been the strong improvement in weekend frequencies, generally matching weekday off peak frequencies (a principle which has also finally been applied to a lot of other routes in those areas too).

[Swift]

It's not 1981 anymore. Buses and trains now carry healthy loads throughout the day on Sat and Sun, at least in inner Sydney areas.

[iamthouth]

Now also announced in more detail on https://transportnsw.info/news/2021/nor ... ce-changes
My highlights.

North West and North Shore Sydney bus service changes
Thursday 07 October 2021
From Sunday 18 October there will be bus service changes across Western, North Shore and North West Sydney bus routes including route and timetable adjustments, new routes and additional services.

Key changes:
Route 610X will have route and timetable changes
Route 607N will be withdrawn
Route 643 is a new route between Rouse Hill and Gables via Box Hill
Route 779 will be extended with additional services
New school routes for Box Hill to serve the new Santa Sophia Catholic College
Routes 141, 193, 280 and 619 will have timetable changes
Minor timetable changes will also occur across other routes

Changes by route
Routes 141, 193 and 280
Minor timetable adjustments across the week to better reflect traffic conditions

Route 607N
Route withdrawn
All existing trips to operate as route 607X between the City and Bella Vista
Customers travelling from the City to beyond Bella Vista can still catch Nightride route N92

Route 607X
Additional services
Route 607X will replace all existing route 607N between City and Bella Vista
Service frequency on weekends increased to 15 minutes
Minor timetable adjustments across the week to better reflect traffic conditions
Over 70 additional weekly services

Route 610X
Route and timetable changes
Route 610X weekday peak hour services between Kellyville and Castle Hill will no longer run; all services will operate between Castle Hill and the City only
Alternative travel options for customers between Kellyville and Castle Hill available on routes 601, 626, 632, 633 and 715, providing connections to Sydney Metro or other bus services at either Hills Showground or Castle Hill stations
Minor changes to weekday peak hour service frequency
Weekday early morning and off-peak frequency increased to 10 minutes
Additional early morning and evening trips on weekends
Minor timetable adjustments across the week to better reflect traffic conditions
Over 30 additional weekly services

Route 611
Additional services
Service frequency on Sundays increased to 15 minutes
Around 40 additional weekly services

Route 619
Timetable change
Changes to service hours during morning and afternoon peak on weekdays, with reduction in shoulder peak trips
Service frequency will be maintained during the busiest part of the morning and afternoon peak

Route 643 (new route)
New route
Operates between Rouse Hill and Gables via Box Hill
Operates every 30 mins on weekdays and on weekends
Provides new access to bus services for newly developed areas of Box Hill in the Mount Carmel Drive and Brahman Road area
Over 440 additional weekly services

Box Hill school services (new) starting 08 November
New school routes
New school services to serve new Santa Sophia Catholic College:
4x AM routes – routes 2107, 2108, 2109, 2110
4x PM routes – routes 2687, 2688, 2689, 2690
40 additional weekly services commencing in Term 4

Routes 141, 193, 280, 602X, 607X, 611, 612X, 613X, 614X, 615X, 616X, 619, 620X, 622, 642X, 652X
Minor timetable adjustments across the week to better reflect traffic conditions

[Fleet Lists]

Busabout has the most informative information so far for the changes on 11 and 18 October
https://www.busabout.com.au/lockdown-up ... ober-2021/

Lockdown Update – Timetable Changes from Monday 11th October 2021
Monday, 11th October 2021

Per advice from the NSW Government, Busabout will be operating school holiday timetables from Monday, 11th October 2021 until Friday 15th October.

To coincide with students in Kindergarten, Years 1 and 12 returning to school on 18th October 2021, normal weekday timetables will also be returning from Monday 18th October.

Please refer to the TfNSW Trip Planner: www.transportnsw.info for additional details.

Thank you for your patience during this time.

But Transport Info is still very vague in what it tells us.

[Swift]

A sign of a good company or just a company that hasn't become too big and worse than a government department?