Re: Boo Hiss to Hillside

[Vaughan Williams <ender2000@my-deja.com>]

And here you point out what some of the major obstacles are.
There is no planning for public transport in melbourne.
The various modes try to compete with each other instead of with the
real competitor - the private car.
Buses wander all over back streets and/or try to compete with the
trains by taking passengers all the way into the city. the result is
low frequencies and buses wandering around all over the place going
nowhere and doing nothing, AND no spare buses in the depot waiting to,
for example, substitute for a broken down bus.

A good public transport system plans for the fact that a service
disruption of one form or another will happen on a reasonably regular
basis and a contingency plan is required (Ringing up some bus companies
to enquire if they have some buses just waiting in case the railways
need them does not equal contingency plan).

In article <83dim5$5ch$1@otis.netspace.net.au>,
  "Exnarc" <gwrly@netspace.net.au> wrote:
>
> Vaughan Williams <ender2000@my-deja.com> wrote in message
> 83cva0$db9$1@nnrp1.deja.com">news:83cva0$db9$1@nnrp1.deja.com...
> > This reply is to a few messages:
> > 1. Suburban buses should all be running at a ten minute frequency
> > during the peak, so the odd cancelled bus shouldn't matter much if
> > buses DO need to be pulled off their runs to do train replacement.
>
> Then the PTUA would be the first complaining about bus cancelations!!!
>
> >
> > 2. The bus companies should have a couple of spare buses for in case
> > one of theirs (for example) breaks down. These buses could be
organised
> > for train replacement if needed. Bus companies, unfortunately, are
even
> > more administratively incompetant than the rail operators hence the
> > hopeless service they provide.
>
> So a private bus operator is required to have "X" number of drivers
and
> buses standing by to provide replacement transport for it's
competition???
> Interesting concept!!!
>
> > 3. The railways probably should have a bus or two on standby
(perhaps
> > could be shared with the tramways) for any major service
disruption. It
> > might take 20 or 30 minutes to organise it and a little while for
it to
> > get to where its required, but it shouldn't take hours.
>
> So now the railway companies need to employ bus drivers for standby
> services, whose footing the bill???
>
> >
> > 4. Contingency planning dictates that it is known to the railways
and
> > tramways that major disruptions occur on a reasonably regular basis
> > somewhere in the system, whether its a fire on the tracks, an
overhead
> > coming down or whatever. There has to be a plan and procedure for
> > whenever this happens. This might include organising special extra
> > trams if the affected stations are on a tram route, getting at
least a
> > couple of buses on standby (rather than doing a ringaround of the
bus
> > companies, the station staff should know exactly where the spare
buses
> > are and who to ring to organise them)
>
> Get real!!!
>
> > and going out of their way to
> > assist passengers like the person who kicked off this thread -
getting
> > him on the first bus, or if necessary putting him in a cab.
>
> I agree on this point, re the passenger who had to catch another
connection,
> but this is not an exclusive Hillside or Bayside problem, its the
result of
> selling off a public assett to the private sector, in PTC (pre
Kennett) days
> the culture was changing as a result of the Service Now program (for
all its
> faults) an effort would have been made to help this individual. But
then the
> emphasis was on SERVICE not PROFIT.
>
> >
> > 5. The analogy someone drew with Vicroads not helping if theres
heavy
> > traffic is quite different. Vicroads do take prompt action to divert
> > traffic around an accident, and even severe congestion shouldn't
make
> > you miss a train if you allow plenty of time. The railways are
> > responsible for getting their passengers from A to B and must take
all
> > the reasonable steps to do so. This includes having a mechanism to
> > promptly secure at least a couple of buses rather than ad hoc
searches
> > for buses that show up when they show up.
> >
> > A year or two ago I was held up at Heidelburg because someone
jumped in
> > front of a train at Rosanna. It took almost two hours for the first
bus
> > to arrive, and there was no sign of any more for another half an
hour
> > after that. The disruption may be beyond the railways control but
the
> > poor planning and long delays in obtaining a substitute service is
not.
>
> How can you plan when some fool is going to jump in front of a
train???
>
> If you could do that you could arrange for the Police to arrive to
arrest
> him/her.
>
> Whilst the operator should make every effort to arrange replacement
> services, the reality is that you can't have buses/trams standing by
on the
> slim chance that something might happen.
>
> Bob
>
>


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