You have Metro Trains Melbourne in blue.

Yarra Trams in green.

V/Line in purple.

And buses in orange.

I cheated on the last one because it’s a van, and it’s operated by outdoor advertising company oOh!Media, who have the contract to maintain the network of around 5,000 bus shelters across Melbourne.

And a few more

Melbourne bus operators also have their own vans so mechanics can attend to broken down buses in the field.

Some of the ones I’ve spotted over the years include Transdev.

Kinetic.

Dysons.

And Sita.

Bus operators in Sydney and Adelaide also have own dedicated tow trucks for recovering broken down buses.

Post retrieved by 35.215.163.46 using

The post Melbourne public transport as crew cab utes appeared first on Waking up in Geelong.

Who’s that bus?

Back in 2023 I photographed a Transit Systems coach, with registration plate 5629AO.

I wanted to see if I’d photographed this coach before, so I plugged ‘5629AO’ into Google Search – which didn’t return anything of mine.

But a photo dated 2015 on Flickr titled ‘Big White Bus‘, with registration plate 5629AO visible – the same bus photographed.

And an article in the Bendigo Advertiser dated 2014 titled ‘Bus driver trapped by live power lines after incident‘, illustrated with a photo of the bus involved – registration 5629AO.

As for the history of the bus itself, the Australian Bus Fleet Lists entry for 5629AO says it entered service in 2005.

And I didn’t think that would even work!

I ended up in a discussion recently around Australian bus manufacturing, where imported chassis have bodies built atop them locally, and was trying to find out which bus operators use Iveco chassis – so I figured I’d try searching my photo gallery to see if I could find any.

And lo and behold, as search for “wongm Iveco” actually turned up highly relevant entries.

From the first row – a photo captioned “Moonee Valley Coaches #92 2266AO on St Albans Road, Sunshine North” appears because the bus has an ‘Iveco’ badge on the front.

Same applies to their photo captioned “HG Corporate Buses minibus XV95BF with luggage trailer at William Street and Flinders Lane”.

“Hi-rail weed spray trucks at Somerton” too.

“Moonee Valley Coaches #87 BS02AL at Swanston and Flinders Street”.

“Moonee Valley Coaches bus #82 9682AO on out of service at Moonee Ponds Junction”.

“Moonee Valley Coaches bus #90 2264AO on route 506 along Glenlyon Road at Lygon Street”.

And “McKenzie’s coach 1829AO at the Southern Cross coach terminal”.

I wouldn’t think that such a small piece of text like the badge on the front of a bus would get picked up by Google, but turns out they can do it.

Post retrieved by 35.215.163.46 using

The post Yet another Google Image Search OCR adventure appeared first on Waking up in Geelong.

The process starts with a bus chassis – a bare steel frame with diesel engine and mechanical running gear, manufactured by overseas companies such as Scania, Volvo, Mercedes, MAN, Iveco or BYD.

Photo by Øyvind Berg, via Wikimedia Commons

They arrive in Melbourne onboard a roll-on/roll-off ship.

Then driven down to the wharf.

And transported on the back of a truck to the Volgren factory at Dandenong.

There they fabricate aluminium.

Australasian Bus and Coach photo

To form the floor, walls and roof of a bus.

Volgren photo

Then add fiberglass front fairings.

Rear ones.

And larger modules like air conditioning units.

Put them all together.

Then add seats and everything else passengers need inside.

Australasian Bus and Coach photo

And you have what we recognise as a bus.

Footnote: but can you take them for a drive?

Yes, you can actually take a bare diesel bus chassis for a drive.

But the chassis for electric buses are more complicated with their roof mounted batteries.

BYD photo

So they get imported as a wrapped up package that needs to be towed around.

Footnote: Gemilang Australia

Gemilang Australia is another company that has built buses for Melbourne, as a joint venture between Malaysian bus builder Gemilang, and OzPress Industries of Ballarat. Their “locally built” buses are imported as knock-down kit, then finished here.

Post retrieved by 35.215.163.46 using

The post ‘Made in Melbourne for Melbourne’ buses appeared first on Waking up in Geelong.

The story starts in 2019, when Melbourne-based bus body builder Volgren was building a prototype electric bus on an imported BYD K9 chassis.

In July 2019 Volgren completed the prototype of its first ever pure-electric bus, a product launch the company is describing as its most significant since it introduced the Optimus route bus in 2013.

The 12.2-metre vehicle is built on a BYD K9 electric bus chassis and features 324-kilowatt hours of battery capacity. It’s capable of travelling up to 300 kilometres on a single charge and will carry a total of 61 passengers; 39 seats and 22 standees, the company states.

Volgren has been investigating electric technology for more than five years and the prototype alone has involved 12 months of planning, research and engineering problem-solving, as well as partnership-building and discussion with BYD – not to mention the build itself.

There is a great deal of pride at Volgren that its first pure-electric vehicle body was not a brand new design, but a modified Optimus.

That’s not to say, however, that this project was merely a matter of Volgren placing its flagship product over BYD’s and getting the wiring right. Kearney explains that the electric vehicle body Volgren developed required a number of new parts, among them “…new moulded solutions for interior finish and fitout”, as well as “…the introduction of a roof-treatment package designed to better integrate the roof-mounted EV equipment into the vehicle”.

To understand how Volgren ensured these components – and the bus as a whole – worked precisely as it needed to, it’s best to go back to 2018.

“We began with some feasibility studies and reviews in early 2018, assessing the product layout, compliance with Australian Design Rules and other regulations, suitability for Australian customer specification and developing a preliminary understanding of the high-voltage systems and their integration,” Kearney said.

In June of that year the company sent two design engineers to China to attend ‘familiarisation training’ with BYD.

“This process also included a review of issues elicited through the feasibility study and the provision of design and product information from BYD to enable commencement of detailed design.”

Kearney says that for assistance with development of the aesthetic roof treatment they turned to Monash University’s Mobility Design Lab. It was a partnership Volgren knew it could count on, having worked with Monash University in the development of the Optimus Route Bus body earlier this decade.

A few months later the Victorian Government announcing an electric bus trial in conjunction with bus operator Transdev Melbourne.

Victoria’s first locally built, fully electric bus will soon begin carrying passengers on one of Melbourne’s busiest routes, thanks to a partnership between the Andrews Labor Government and Transdev.

The bus will run on Route 246 between Elsternwick and Clifton Hill via St Kilda before potentially being used across other inner Melbourne routes.

The body construction and fit out for the new bus was carried out in Dandenong by Volgren, supporting Victorian jobs and backing the local automotive industry to develop new capability and innovation.

The new zero-emission bus is fitted with 324 kWH of Lithium Phosphate batteries providing 300 kilometers of travel range.

The bus will be based at Transdev’s North Fitzroy depot where a charging station has been installed.

The trial will continue until January 2021 and will be reviewed to determine the potential to roll out fully electric buses across Victoria.

However the trial was the idea of Transdev Australasia and not the Victorian Government, as part of what they called ‘Project Aurora‘

The seeds for the company’s zero-emissions ambitions ‘Down Under’ were sown in 2019, following a phone call with Transdev Australasia’s chief engineer Marc Cleave and Volgren Australia.

Dandenong-based Volgren had recently commenced manufacture of its BYD-chassis prototype electric bus – a modified version of its popular Optimus model. For Transdev and Marc Cleave, now somewhat a veteran of the bus manufacturing scene, the call helped to ignite a vision for a zero-emissions fleet in Australia and New Zealand, helping to kick-start internal ‘Project Aurora’.

Transdev had pioneered zero-emissions electric and hydrogen fleets internationally, it says, but usage in the Australian and New Zealand market was still in relative infancy. From our international learnings we knew the value that zero emissions vehicles could add to our local fleets and contracts, which is why we acted quickly in developing Project Aurora.”

Armed with insights about what worked, Transdev quickly set about gathering a group of locally based suppliers to help realise the vision and bring the company’s first electric bus – ‘Aurora 1’ – to Melbourne in November, 2019.

Under Project Aurora, Transdev took delivery of its first new Volgren BYD Optimus electric bus and BYD charging infrastructure in November, 2019, with the bus going into service on Melbourne’s streets in December of that year, as part of a trial with Victoria’s Department of Transport.

The remaining four vehicles rolled off Volgren’s Dandenong production line in March, 2021, with one commencing service in Brisbane in April and three going into service in Sydney in May. Gala events were held in Dandenong, Brisbane and Sydney, with local authorities, stakeholders and industry to celebrate the launch of the new fleet.

Tessari says the commissioning of the Transdev fleet as part of Project Aurora was significant for the company.

Transdev Australasia funded three of the five vehicles delivered under Project Aurora. Transport for NSW directly funded two vehicles for Sydney, which Transdev procured on its behalf.

“We wanted to demonstrate zero-emissions technology by investing our own cash in it. It’s here now, and it’s the future now that we want to promote to government and show that public transport can be decarbonised,” Craig added.

The trial bus was given fleet number #3000 and registration plate BS05MR, with the first stage of the trial program commencing in December 2019 on route 246, followed by stage two in October 2020 on route 250, and stage three in May 2021 on route 903.

November 2021 also saw the electric bus receive special ‘Ride with Pride’ decals on the side.

But then bad news for Transdev Melbourne – in October 2021 it was announced that their bid for an extension of their Melbourne Bus Franchise contract had failed, and that a new operator would take over – Kinetic, parent company of Melbourne’s SkyBus service.

As a result, once the electric bus trial ended in October 2021, Transdev Melbourne withdrew the bus from their fleet, and sent up to Transdev NSW to join their fleet of four other electric buses operating in Sydney.

Video by NSW Transport on YouTube

Where it also lived a short life, being withdrawn from service in July 2023 and placed into storage.

The only consolation prize for Melbourne – Transdev’s successor Kinetic has to introduce 36 electric buses to their fleet by mid-2025.

Transit Systems in Melbourne’s west also purchasing electric buses.

Along with Sunbury Bus Service.

Ventura in Melbourne’s east.

And Mitchell Transit in Seymour.

But not much of an improvement over the massive order for 50 hybrid buses CDC Melbourne made back in 2019.

CDC Melbourne photo

Footnote: the gory details

History of Transdev’s trial electric bus #3000 from Australian Bus Fleet Lists:

Chassis Type:
BYD D9RA

Chassis No:
LC04S44S4J1000003

Body Manufacturer:
Volgren Optimus

Body No:
VG4899

Body Date:
9/19

Registered BS05MR:
16/12/2021

Transferred to Transdev NSW, and registered as m/o 8190:
24/04/2022

Withdrawn by 29/7/23 and placed in storage

Post retrieved by 35.215.163.46 using

The post Farewell to Melbourne’s first electric bus appeared first on Waking up in Geelong.

Looking up the company name, I found the bus featured on the ‘Ride with Addikted’ Facebook page – their game being “Premium bus transport service: Birthdays, Hens, Bucks, Corporate events, Weddings & more!”.

The bus has national heavy vehicle plate number “XV22LW”, so my next step was to look up the registration plate on the VicRoads website.

Registration number:
XV22LW

Registration status & expiry date:
Current – 04/06/2024

Vehicle:
2005 BLACK M.A.N. BUS

VIN/Chassis:
WMAA66ZZ05C005571

Engine number:
19510105291015

Registration serial number:
7499449

Compliance plate / RAV entry date:
06/2005

I then searched online for the VIN of “WMAA66ZZ05C005571” – and found this expired auction listing on the machines4u website.

Showing a bus with a mismatched livery of white, blue and orange – a common sight for buses originally delivered to the National Bus Company, and then rebranded for Public Transport Victoria after their takeover by Transdev Melbourne in 2013.

With the full story becoming clear when I put the VIN into the search at the Australian Bus Fleet Lists site, which brought this up.

Operator
Transdev Melbourne

Depot
North Fitzroy

Fleet Number
#544

Registration
5840AO

Chassis Type
MAN 15.220

Chassis No
WMAA66ZZ05C005571

Body Manufacturer
Custom Coaches “CB30”

Body No
04-133

Body Date
6.2005

Withdrawn
15/10/2019

And with registration plate 5840AO on hand, I then searched my collection of photos, and what did I get – a photo of the bus in service with Transdev Melbourne back in June 2015.

And a parting shot from 2012, with the bus in the National Bus Company blue livery.

Quite the journey indeed!

Footnote – another ex-Transdev bus

I spotted another ex-Transdev CB30 bus in the back blocks of Ballarat earlier this year – where the wet weather and lack of shelter have not been kind to it.

Post retrieved by 35.215.163.46 using

The post A new life for a retired PTV bus appeared first on Waking up in Geelong.

By operator

Ventura has the most of articulated buses in Melbourne, with 25 in their fleet – some used on school runs in the outer eastern and south-eastern suburbs.

Photo by Thomas Hobley, via Wikimedia Commons

And others out of Frankston on routes along the Mornington Peninsula.

CDC Melbourne has six articulated buses scattered across their depots, mostly for school and charter work, along with one for the route 601 Monash University shuttle.

Sunbury Bus Service has three articulated buses – two for route service, the other for charter work.

Kinetic also has six articulated buses used on routes from Doncaster to the Melbourne CBD – two older buses in the silver ‘SmartBus’ livery.

And four newer ones in PTV livery.

And a ring in

SkyBus Melbourne was once a big operator of articulated buses on the Southern Cross Station – Melbourne Airport run.

But since the 2015 introduction of double deck buses, they’ve been bumped down to other services or moved interstate.

Footnote: articulated buses interstate

Sydney is a big user of articulated buses, despite their network working alongside a busy rail system.

Canberra is another big bus city, so ACTION has a number of articulated buses.

Adelaide runs both standard and articulated buses along their oddball O-Bahn Busway.

And Brisbane City Council is a massive bus operator competing against the Queensland Government owned Queensland Rail, deploying articulated buses to their network of parallel busways.

Photo by EamonM25, via Wikimedia Commons

Footnote: double deck buses in Melbourne

Articulated buses aren’t the only oddball vehicles on Melbourne’s bus routes – there is also an even smaller handful of double deck buses.

Sources

The ‘Australian Bus Fleet Lists’ website lists the details of virtually every bus and coach operating on Australia’s roads – here are the gory details for the buses I’ve listed above:

• Ventura Group
• CDC Melbourne
• Kinetic Melbourne
• Sunbury Bus Service
• SkyBus Melbourne

You can find the articulated on those pages by searching for the ‘AB’ (Articulated bus with standard seating) seating code.

Post retrieved by 35.215.163.46 using

The post Articulated buses of Melbourne appeared first on Waking up in Geelong.

The beginning

The story starts in June 2012 when the Victorian Government called for expressions of interest to operate the Melbourne Metropolitan Bus Franchise, which covered 30% of the city’s bus network.

It included routes operated by Melbourne Bus Link in the western and south-east regions of Melbourne, operated from depots at Footscray and Sandringham.

And those of the National Bus Company in the eastern suburbs, from depots located at Doncaster and Fitzroy North.

National Bus having been a subsidiary of Ventura Bus Lines since 2004.

In April 2013 Transdev Melbourne was awarded the franchise, to run for seven years with an option to extend for a further three years, with operations commencing on 4 August 2013.

The rebranding

If there is one thing the Victorian Government loves, it is rebranding public transport operations – and Transdev Melbourne was no different – it was spelt out in their contract.

5.20 Fleet rebranding
(a) The Franchisee will rebrand each Contract Bus to comply with the PTV Master Style Guide during the first year of the Franchise.
(b) The Franchisee will achieve this by re-branding the exterior of each Contract Bus using vehicle wrapping with 3M self-adhesive vinyl film. Each vehicle will be wrapped as part of its periodical maintenance activities. The existing NBC fleet will be completely wrapped while the MBL Fleet will require partial wrapping due to the existing white livery.
(c) Failure to rebrand each Contract Bus by 31 July 2014 will constitute a Non-Compliance Event.

The first stage of the rebranding was covering over the logos of the previous operators – an easy task for the ex-National Bus fleet since they weren’t heavily branded.

But the big ‘Melbourne Bus Link’ logo on the side was harder to cover up.

A change less noticeable once the ex-Melbourne Bus Link fleet were stripped down to bare white.

Providing a clear base for the new PTV decals to be applied.

But the ex-National Bus and Ventura fleet presented a different problem – the colour!

The PTV decals could be applied to any colour bus, but the front fairings needed to be repainted – a task completed independently from the application of the side livery.

Cost cutting begins

Having won the Melbourne bus franchise due to their bargain basement tender price, Transdev Melbourne had to cut costs somewhere – and so gained a reputation as a cheap and nasty operator, their buses covered with graffiti.

A problem not acknowledged until 2017, where a cleanup campaign was launched.

But that wasn’t Transdev’s only problem – buses were running around with accident damage.

Patched up with duct tape.

Or even a missing front bumper!

Oh dear, looks like the front of the bus fell off. What could go wrong. @TSVsafety @Transdev_Melb pic.twitter.com/kiDDo6fXdd

— m.bannister (@mbann_au) November 16, 2017

The fleet crisis

September 2017 marked the start of the Transdev fleet crisis, with over 140 Transdev buses taken out of service after they failed roadworthy inspections.

With an array of hired buses used as a stopgap measure to continue running services.

By late October 2017 things had started to return to normal, with Bus Safety Victoria working to ensure that Transdev implemented a robust safety system, to ensure such a crisis would not reoccur, and the Victorian Government investing $16 million to buy 100 new buses for Transdev.

Angling for a renewal

With their initial seven year franchise due to end in 2020, Transdev needed to get back into the good books with the government to secure a three years extension, but they were unsuccessful – in December 2018 the Victorian Government announced that their contract would not be renewed, with an extension to January 2021 allowing for an open tender process to find a replacement.

As a result Transdev pulled out all stops to prove themselves as a competent operator – launching a business case to upgrade route 302/304 services.

And introducing Melbourne’s first 100% electric bus as part of ‘Project Aurora‘.

But it wasn’t enough – after an interim contract extension to 30 January 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in October 2021 it was announced that a new operator would take over the Melbourne Bus Franchise – Kinetic, parent company of Melbourne’s SkyBus service.

So another rebranding

Luckily for Kinetic, the buses they were receiving from Transdev were already in PTV livery.

The old ‘Transdev’ logos being replaced by new ‘Kinetic’ ones on the weekend before the handover.

And the last bus

The last Transdev service was on route 907 service from the city, arriving at Mitcham station at 12:43am. But I went out to photograph the last Transdev bus departing Sunshine – the 23:54 route 426 service to Caroline Springs.

Then headed over to their Sunshine West depot, which was already rebranded.

Full of parked buses that also had new logos applied, ready for the handover to Kinetic.

Their @Transdev_Melb Twitter account was also closed.

And later deleted.

As was their transdevmelbourne.com.au website.

Footnote: Transdev’s electric bus

Melbourne’s first electric bus was as part of ‘Project Aurora‘ – a trial run by Transdev until January 2021 in association with the Victorian Department of Transport.

The first stage of the trial program commenced in December 2019 on route 246, followed by stage two in October 2020 on route 250, and stage three in May 2021 on route 903.

Following the end of the trial in October 2021, the electric bus was then withdrawn from service in Melbourne, and sent up to Transdev NSW to join their fleet of four other electric buses.

The only consolation prize – Kinetic has to introduce 36 electric buses to their fleet by mid-2025.

But not much of an improvement over the 50 hybrid buses bought back in 2019?

Post retrieved by 35.215.163.46 using

The post Farewell to Transdev Melbourne appeared first on Waking up in Geelong.

Cleaning

“Hygiene Theater” is still an everyday operation on the Melbourne rail network. Wiping down the handrails may make some sense.

But a ‘hygiene team’ wiping down bus stops is just stupid.

Especially given that the most common litter at railway stations now seems to be discarded face masks.

Face masks

The messaging around the wearing of masks has ramped up, with signage at stations.

Bus stops.

And flyers onboard trams.

Ticket offices at railway stations advice that masks are available.

And Authorised Officers have disposable face masks to hand out.

But some of the signage is poorly thought out – the plague of stickers applied to V/Line’s VLocity fleet makes it impossible to see out the train door.

A similar situation occurring on their older locomotive hauled stock.

And advertising covered trams are now *completely* covered in stickers – the ‘wear a face mask while travelling’ stickers have token section of uncovered windows on each door.

Check-in QR codes

In June 2021 the roll out of Service Victoria check-in codes across the public transport network commenced.

Locations like Sunshine station have a generic location covering the entire stations, while larger stations such as North Melbourne and Flinders Street Station has a unique QR code per platform.

Tram stops have also received QR codes, which feature address, stop number and TramTracker ID.

Messages of kindness

With the bottom fallen out of the outdoor advertising market, ooh!Media started running ‘Be kind to those on the frontline of the COVID-19 crisis’ advertisements on their otherwise empty digital media screens at railway stations.

Transdev has been running ‘Thank you frontline heroes’ / ‘We are all in this together’ / ‘Flatten the curve’ messages on their empty buses.

And PTV ran ‘Thank you for being patient and kind. It’s never okay to abuse transport staff’ campaign.

And a nifty lift

After years of waiting for a reliable and accesssible way to access the station, Watergardens station has received three new lifts, one of which has a nifty feature – it’s 100% contactless.

Just walk up to it, and the lift call button will light up.

A a lift will arrive automatically, taking you up to the concourse.

Amazing!

Post retrieved by 35.215.163.46 using

The post Still more COVID-19 related public transport observations appeared first on Waking up in Geelong.

New bus shelters in the Yarra Ranges?

12 new Yarra Ranges bus shelters fulfill election promise

28 June 2011

From the Minister for Public Transport

The installation of 12 new solar powered bus shelters in the Shire of Yarra Ranges during 2011 has more than met the Coalition Government’s election commitment to install 10, Minister for Public Transport, Terry Mulder said today.

Mr Mulder said that four bus stops in Swansea Road, Montrose, along with four in Maroondah Highway, Chirnside Park, Lilydale or Montrose, two in Mount Dandenong Road, Montrose and two in Leith Road, Montrose now had new shelters.

“The Shire of Yarra Ranges selected the sites,” Mr Mulder said.

“For instance, the bus stop on the north side of Mount Dandenong Road, west of Montrose Road, Montrose now has a new shelter, as does the north side Maroondah Highway bus stop east of Nelson Road in Lilydale.”

Member for Evelyn Christine Fyffe said she was pleased at the additional weather protection offered by the new bus shelters.

“The Coalition Government’s new bus shelters are another reason to travel by bus.

“My Parliamentary colleague Brad Battin’s representations have led to lower fares for many users of the Chirnside Park to Warburton bus route.

“The new shelters are a local example of investment in public transport. More than 500 million trips are now taken annually on Melbourne’s Metro trains, Yarra Trams or private buses,” Mrs Fyffe said.

Mr Mulder said that funding for another 15 new Yarra Ranges bus shelters would be provided by the Coalition Government in 2011/12 under its bus shelters program.

“The Government meets about two thirds of the total cost of providing Melbourne’s public transport. I want to see more outer eastern suburbs residents using public transport. One way in which the Government can do this is to increase the number of bus stops where intending passengers have a weather-protected seat or standing area,” Mr Mulder said.

Out the back of Kinglake.

New bus shelter for Pheasants Creek residents

21 June 2017

A new bus shelter on Kinglake-Whittlesea Road, Pheasants Creek will prevent people dangerously crossing the road to catch the Route 384 bus.

The only shelter that was previously available at the Kinglake-Whittlesea Road bus stop, was under a local shop’s awning across the road.

Labor Upper House Member for Northern Victoria, Jaclyn Symes, welcomed the new shelter, which will improve safety and provide protection from the weather at the stop. The new pre-fabricated shelter has been installed at the bus stop, with new seating and room for passengers to stand. “The new bus shelter on Kinglake-Whittlesea Road means locals can now wait for the bus at the designated stop in bad weather,” Ms Symes said.

“Not only will this improve safety for passengers, but drivers who travel along this busy road.”

As bushfire relief.

Better Schools In Fire-Affected Areas Of East Gippsland

Clifton Creek Primary School, which was lost in the summer’s bushfires, will receive a further $29,000 to build a bus shelter within the school property beside the car park entrance.

For kids headed to school.

New bus shelter for Benalla students

15 December 2016

Wangaratta District Specialist School students now have a new bus shelter to protect them from inclement weather, Labor Upper House for Northern Victoria, Jaclyn Symes, announced today.

At 25 metre², the bus shelter is much larger than a conventional bus shelter and provides seating and protection from the sun, wind and rain.

It is connected to the pedestrian network with a new Disability Discrimination Act compliant footpath.

About 15 students from Benalla travel to attend Wangaratta District Specialist School each day, many of whom require assistance to board the bus.

Students previously had to wait in an unsheltered area, which was a particular concern during inclement weather.

“This project is a great example of how we’re investing in transport infrastructure that meets the needs of Benalla users,” Ms Symes said.

“Labor’s $25,000 contribution will help make trips to school easier and more accessible for students attending Wangaratta District Specialist School.

“The Labor Government is investing in projects across the state to help people get where they need to go – whether it’s to work, school, the shops, to attend appointments, see friends and family.”

‘Celebrating’ partnerships between council and VicRoads.

Locals receive new bus shelter on New Dookie Road

24 January, 2018

Today Greater Shepparton City Council and VicRoads joined to celebrate the opening of a new bus shelter at New Dookie Road, Pine Lodge. The shelter was identified as a necessity by the Dookie and District Development Forum, mindful of the number of school children waiting for the bus at this location.

VicRoads and Greater Shepparton City Council partnered to bring the shelter to fruition, with VicRoads paying for the rural bus shelter and Council paying for its installation.

Or council and Public Transport Victoria.

80 new bus shelters destined for Nillumbik

20 April 2017

More than 80 new bus shelters will be built across Nillumbik over the next four years after Council agreed to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Public Transport Victoria (PTV).

The commitment to sign the MoU was made at the 18 April Future Nillumbik Committee meeting.

Nillumbik Shire Mayor Councillor Peter Clarke said previously, Council built two new shelters and replaced two shelters each year.

“There are currently 67 bus shelters across Nillumbik which are being maintained by Council.

“This new agreement, however, means Council will more than double the current number of shelters over the next four years at no extra cost to ratepayers.

“These new shelters will be for public bus routes while Council remains responsible for providing shelters for school and community bus routes.

“For those people using public transport, these new shelters will provide a small level of comfort from either wet or very hot weather.

“I look forward to seeing them being rolled out across the Shire.”

Or just getting Public Transport Victoria to do the job they’re supposed to.

New Bus Shelters for Bayside commuters

24 May 2018

Public Transport Victoria is installing 15 new bus shelters in Bayside over the coming months.

These bus shelters represent a significant investment in public transport infrastructure within the municipality.

New bus shelters, and their associated seating, assist in making a bus journey more comfortable by providing a resting place and shelter from the sun, rain and wind.

Improved facilities at bus stops benefit existing users and make public transport a more attractive option for new users.

It is envisaged that the increased level of comfort provided by new bus shelters will encourage more people to use public transport and will also assist in reducing residents’ reliance on private vehicles.

This has the added benefit of responding to climate change by reducing transport-related emissions.

Improving public transport infrastructure was raised by the community as one of the most significant issues in the development of Council’s Integrated Transport Strategy.

Sites for new bus shelters are prioritised based on the number of passengers touching-on with a myki at a bus stop, which is determined from the latest available myki data, provided by PTV.

Council is committed to advocating for improved public transport services and associated infrastructure in order to improve the attractiveness of public transport services as a real transport option for the Bayside community.

So who is responsible bus shelters anyway?

It’s hard to get a straight answer out of Public Transport Victoria., but bus stops are their responsibility. Some councils manage requests for new bus shelters.

Bus shelter infrastructure is provided by Public Transport Victoria (PTV) through an annual bus shelter program working in conjunction with Council. Council will request PTV to install up to 20 bus shelters per year.

Requests for new bus shelters are handled by Council where Council will assess these on individual merit taking into consideration the number of passengers and services, the safety of the passengers, how the stop will fit into the wider public transport network and the likely effect of the installation of a shelter on the amenity of adjacent residents.

While others will fob you off to PTV.

Under the Road Management Act 2004, all infrastructure including facilities connected with bus stopping points such as shelters and seats, are the responsibility of Public Transport Victoria.
To improve our ability to deliver services, as of 1 January 2018 we will refer all new and active requests for bus infrastructure directly to Public Transport Victoria.

With maintenance responsibilities dependant on who originally installed the shelter.

With a complicated web involving either Public Transport Victoria or local council as the owner, and outdoor advertising companies oOh!media, Adshel, or JC Decaux as the operator.

Clear as mud?

Post retrieved by 35.215.163.46 using

The post Cutting the ribbon on a bus shelter appeared first on Waking up in Geelong.

Melbourne’s first route 420 bus route ran from St Albans to East St Albans, and was operated by the Footscray – Yarraville Bus Company, part of the Sitch Group. It commenced operation in January 1957 as route 139A, gaining the route 420 number in 1971 as part of the wholesale renumbering of bus routes in Melbourne.

1978 Melbourne Public Transport Map

But by 1992 it had gone up in smoke, apparently replaced by nearby route 419 in 1984.

1992 Melbourne Public Transport Map

But in 2014 a new bus network was launched in Brimbank.

In July 2014, Public Transport Victoria (PTV) introduced a new bus network in the Brimbank area of Melbourne’s western suburbs. The network featured more direct and frequent services, better connections with trains, buses finishing later at night, Sunday services on all routes and better connections to key local destinations. This paper analyses the early patronage performance of the new network, and examines the contribution made by its service design features.

With plenty of new route numbers.

Which gave the 420 route number a second wind.

The flagship of changes in Brimbank is the introduction of the new route 420 service linking Sunshine and Watergardens via Glengala Road in Sunshine West, Station Road in Deer Park and Kings Road in Delahey, providing direct access to local trip generators, including Brimbank Central.

Running between Sunshine station.

And Watergardens station.

Operated by Sita Buslines, the service initially operated every 20 minutes on weekdays and Saturdays, with Sunday services every 40 minutes, but later improved to 20 minute frequencies seven days a week. Running times were adjusted in 2015 after some buses were arriving up to 15 minutes early.

And more 420s

There are multiple buses in Australia with the fleet number #420 – Transdev Melbourne being one of them.

But at Sita Buslines, operator of route 420, the highest numbered bus is #361.

And another one

Murrumbeena station has a ‘D420’ sign at the city end of the platform.

It’s the identification plate for signal D420 – located 14.3 kilometres from Flinders Street on the line to Dandenong.

Footnote

Melbourne has a “Christmas For Potheads” every April 20, but nowhere near the route 420 bus.

Post retrieved by 35.215.163.46 using

The post ‘Blaze it’ on Melbourne’s route 420 bus appeared first on Waking up in Geelong.