On the 29th November 2012, WSPTU Representatives met with
Group Service Development Manager for Busways, Andrew Glass to discuss Busways
winning the tender process for the entire NSW Bus Contract 1.
The understanding is that WSPTU believed that Region 1 was going to remain as
it was with Busways covering Mount Druitt to Blacktown and Westbus from Mount
Druitt to Penrith to Windsor.
Mr. Glass advised us that they had done their homework with the tender
of the NSW Bus Region 1 contract and submitted a competitive bid which built
upon their decades of service provision in the area, under Rowes Bus
service and currently under Busways. The Contract transition period when
Busways will take over the complete Bus Contract 1 area is planned to happen in
October 2013. This will be designed to coincide with the City Rail train time table
changes in the same period.
In relation to commuters, bus routes and services will not be
directly affected as it will simply be Busways taking over bus services. Which
I find is a major point - although it is good to understand the process of NSW
Bus contract tenders etc - to me it is like a Government changing the guard!
Busways will be ensuring that the trip times are more accurate, meaning less
wasted time on buses for passengers. This
will help improve on-time running which is a major Key Performance Indicator in
the contracts, and will allow the current Westbus services to achieve a similar
level of reliability as per the current Busways services.
Bus Depots will have to be ready in place for the operational areas around Penrith/St
Marys and Windsor/Richmond so that buses will be centrally located to meet
current and future demand. More
information on depot locations will be provided in the coming months as DA’s ( Development Applications) are submitted and determined.
In relation to servicing bus shuttles - this will maintained and as directed
too by the NSW for Transport and NSW Minister of Transport, pending on future
funding by them.
Every Westbus bus driver will offered employment with Busways and it will
be left up to each individual Westbus bus driver if they take the employment
offer up! There will also be Driver Consultative Committees established
at each new depot which will consist of Work Health and Safety Representative/s
plus drivers, to ensure there is the opportunity for feedback.
Busways will continue to allocate buses so that the air conditioned and
wheelchair accessible vehicles are “on the road” for the longest part of the
day. Since 2007 most buses are NSW
Government owned but Busways will also be sourcing some additional buses to
make up the shortfall.
Growth bus services will be provided to growth population areas during the
contract - which means newer areas across the region such as The Ponds, Jordan
Springs and Waterside.
Feeder Buses - Mr. Hugh Worrall from WSPTU asked regarding areas that lack need essential and vital bus services can feeder buses be used to
take commuters to major bus routes and the answer is pretty much it will have
to discussed with NSW for Transport in light of the Long Term Master Plan, yet
it was thought commuters do not like to have multiple modes of
transport to get to their destination.
Bus Stop Infrastructure - Hugh Worrall was also suggesting that block
funding be proposed for bus stop infrastructure on a basis that 1/3
is paid by Federal Government, 1/3 by NSW Government and the remaining
1/3 by Local Government Area's as opposed to Local Government Area's fund
the complete Bus stop infrastructure, yet if no money is allocated for this then
this is completely neglected. Busways supports any efforts to improve the level
and quality of infrastructure at bus stops, especially in terms of DDA compliance ( Disability Discrimination Act - Under the Human Rights Commission) .
The only thing bus operators do towards bus stop
infrastructure is install the bus stop “flag and pole” - the rest is
installed by Local Government Areas. The way to look at it is, how
would it be trains with train stations and then you look at buses without
bus stops - Bus stops need to be audited to see if they compliant to DDA
There was discussions the buses will have
facilities installed for the Opal Ticketing Machine: currently it has
been released to Sydney Ferries, later on to City Rail trains and finally on to
buses.
At present, text bus stop timetables (in Sydney Buses areas)
are not real time – they are basically just the printed timetable. The roll out of PTIPS will allow real time
information to be provided – this is a future project for Transport for
NSW.
Then I was allowed to talk about 3 issues that I am
concerned about is weekend services, late night and Sunday services that do not
allow commuters reach Sunday Funday events on time as there isn't early
services and it is hard for shift workers not able to start early and come home
late.
I also spoke about safety issues that Westbus have used with
their buses and ask what will Busways/ NSW for Transport do to ensure safety to
commuters and to drivers.
Finally I spoke about the current services that need to go
back on Sedgman Crescent and also Chestnut Crescent in Mount Druitt.
What was suggest that the Light issue in Sedgman Crescent
has to be fixed and currently there is no funding available to undertake the
work. Once this and the other outcomes
of the safety audit are addressed, the restoration of services can be
investigated.
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| Chris, Andrew Glass, Hugh Worral & John Svoboda |
Overall the discussion we had with Mr. Andrew Glass were pleasing and informative. I do hope we in Mount Druitt receive the help we need to place peoples lives back into the road of public transport
Click Here to check Out The Sydney Bus Region Areas! And Especially Bus Region 1
