Buses in Adelaide

SouthLink Custom Coaches CB80 bodied Scania K320UA of route 222 (to City) on King William Street.
Torrens Transit Australian Bus Manufacturing CB62A bodied MAN NL232 CNG of route W91 (to St Marys) on Currie Street.

Buses in Adelaide comprise the most extensive service of the South Australian capital's public transport system, the Adelaide Metro. A large fleet of diesel and natural gas powered buses operate services which typically terminate in the city-centre or at a suburban interchange. Buses get priority on many roads and intersections, with dedicated bus lanes and 'B'-light bus only phases at many traffic lights. According to the 2008 State Budget, all buses that entered service during the 1980s will be withdrawn within the next 5 years and replaced with new, environmentally friendly buses.

History

Most of the Mercedes-Benz O305 buses have been withdrawn from service, which some of them are rail replacement buses.

Buses in Adelaide has been known under several names. The State Transport Authority was formed in 1974-5, combining the metropolitan rail operations of the former South Australian Railways Commission, and the bus and tram operations of the former Municipal Tramways Trust (MTT). In July 1994, the STA was abolished and government public transport services were transferred to TransAdelaide, a publicly owned corporation.[1]

In 1995-96, there was a partial tendering out of bus services. TransAdelaide retained 3 contract regions, Serco, in its first Australian bus operation, won 2 contract regions, and Hills Transit, a TransAdelaide company, won the Adelaide Hills operating contract.[2] Services were run and marketed under each operator's name, presenting a disjointed network to the public.

The 2000 round of tenders saw the end of TransAdelaide's (and therefore the Government's) direct operation of bus services in Adelaide, although it retained tram and rail services. Serco won the North-South, Outer North, and Outer North-East contract areas, Torrens Transit the East-West contract area and City Free services, Australian Transit Enterprises (ATE) trading as SouthLink the Outer South contract area, and Transitplus, a joint venture between ATE and TransAdelaide, the Hills Contract area.[2] At this time the Adelaide Metro brand was implemented across all transport operators[3] , appearing to the public as a unified network, with common livery, timetable designs and a city Information centre.

Operators

The Adelaide Metro buses are operated by:[4]

Companies which had operated Adelaide Metro services in the past but which no longer operate in Adelaide are:

System features

Go Zones

Many arterial roads leading towards the city have several routes servicing them, allowing for high frequency with a maximum wait of 15 minutes between 7.30am and 6.30pm on weekdays and every 30 minutes at night on weekends until 10pm.[6] These are:

  • Kensington Road
  • Lower North East Road/Payneham Road
  • Montacute Road/Payneham Road
  • Glen Osmond Road
  • Magill Road/Magill to West Lakes
  • The Parade/Rosslyn Park
  • Magill Road/Coorara Avenue
  • North East Road
  • Bridge Road/Walkleys Road
  • Para Hills/Kelly Road
  • Fairview Park
  • Tea Tree Gully
  • Hope Valley
  • Golden Grove
  • Hampstead Road
  • Galway Avenue
  • Main North Road/Mawson Lakes Blvd
  • Churchill Road
  • Prospect Road
  • Duthy Street
  • Unley Road
  • King William Road
  • Anzac Highway
  • South Road
  • Main South Road
  • Goodwood Road/Prospect Road
  • Marion Road
  • Winston Avenue
  • Glenelg to Entertainment Centre
  • Crittenden Road/Tapleys Hill Road
  • Port Road
  • Richmond Road/Galway Avenue
  • Croydon Park
  • Torrens Road/Hawker Street
  • Liberty Grove
  • Hanson Road
  • Valetta Road/Ashley Street
  • Grange Road/West Lakes to Magill
  • Henley Beach Road/Torrensville
  • Henley Beach Road
  • Sir Donald Bradman Drive

There is a Mega Go Zone on the Adelaide O-Bahn which has a 15 minutes maximum wait, 7 days a week. Mega Go Zone buses service Tea Tree Plaza Interchange, Paradise Interchange, Klemzig Interchange and the city.[7]

Limited Stop Services

Light-City Buses Custom Coaches CB60 Evo II bodied Scania K320UA of O-Bahn route C1 (to City).
Light-City Buses Custom Coaches CB60 Evo II bodied Scania K230UB of O-Bahn route M44 (to Marion Centre Interchange).

Limited stop services combine limited stops with express services to reach the outer metropolitan areas of Adelaide. Limited stop services include:

Airport Services

Torrens Transit Australian Bus Manufacturing 160 bodied Man NL202 CNG of JetBus route J1 (to Glenelg Interchange).

JetBus airport services were introduced in August 2005. These are direct routes that link Adelaide Airport with the city and other key destinations.[8] However, not all services are equipped with upright luggage rack facilities. On 10 November 2014, new JetExpress service, namely route J1X running express between Adelaide Airport and the city with a Bustech CDi with Cummins ISL engine double-decker bus, equipped with a luggage rack on the lower deck.[9] This bus is the first one of its kind operating in Adelaide public transport system after double-decker trolleybuses were removed from service in 1958.[10] Bus routes are:

Free City Services

Torrens Transit Custom Coaches CB80 white bodied Iveco Metro C260 with sign written for Free City Connector of route 98C (City & North Adelaide clockwise loop).

Free City Connector buses are zero-fare, wheelchair-accessible circuit routes that service the Adelaide CBD and North Adelaide daily which are joint of initiative of Government of South Australia, Adelaide City Council and Adelaide Metro, on four routes:

O-Bahn Busway

O-Bahn Bus en route to Paradise Interchange, 1997.
Main article: O-Bahn Busway

The Adelaide Metro's most frequented route is the O-Bahn guided busway to Modbury carrying around 9 million passengers a year. It is the world's fastest and until 7 August 2011 the world's longest guided busway, with a maximum permitted speed of 100 km/h (62 mph) and a length of 12 km (7.5 mi). It has three stations, Klemzig Interchange, Paradise Interchange, and Tea Tree Plaza Interchange at the Modbury end. Buses leave the track at Paradise or Tea Tree Plaza to continue services on normal roads, eliminating the need for passenger transfer.

After Midnight Services

Available only on Saturday nights, these services run from midnight until 5am Sunday morning, departing the City every hour.[13]

Roam Zone

SouthLink Fuso Rosa of route 682 (to Sheidow Park).

The Roam Zone concept began operation in the Hallett Cove, Sheidow Park and Trott Park area in September 2001. At specified times passengers can be dropped off or picked up away from bus stops, taking them to their door (or as near as the bus could get). Having done this, the roaming bus returns to its scheduled route. Roam Zones have bright blue bus stops located throughout. Adelaide Metro now features one Roam Zone:

Adelaide Oval Footy Express

Adelaide Metro provide services between Adelaide Oval and areas across South Australia. Tickets for the games also act as the ticket to travel free on any Adelaide Oval Footy Express bus, train or tram, in order to alleviate overcrowding on regular services. Most services offer early arrival times and some routes will have services that leave an hour after the final siren.[15] The locations in metropolitan Adelaide include:

Experience with Contracted Bus Operations

The tendering out of bus operations has been a bumpy ride for Adelaide commuters. The original 1996 partial service tendering saw services run and marketed under each operator's name, presenting a disjointed network to the public. The Adelaide Metro brand was created in 2000 to restore a unified face to the public.[3]

Contract holder Serco withdrew in 2004, at the contracted half-term break-point, after failing to renegotiate its contract on better terms. Serco had previously informed the Minister for Transport that it was not willing to continue to operate the bus services for a further five years on the terms contained in the then existing Contract. Serco had made a submission to the Department of Transport and Urban Planning proposing to operate the bus services in the contract areas on new terms and conditions. This submission was rejected by the Department of Transport and Urban Planning. The company unsuccessfully rebid for the contract in the subsequent competition.[2][16]

Light-City Buses was awarded two of Adelaide's six public bus contract regions commencing operation in October 2011, taking over the North South and Outer North East Contract Areas from Torrens Transit. These two contract regions cover 43% of the bus services in Adelaide,[4] valued at $567 million over the eight-year life of the contracts.[17] The contracts are in place for an initial eight-year term, from 2 October 2011 to 30 June 2019 with an option to extend for a further four years, subject to government approval.[4] Since the start of operations of bus services by Light-City Buses in October 2011 service interruptions and delays which were initially dismissed as teething problems have continued to frustrate commuters. [18][19] Transfield has claimed most of the problems have been resolved and they are working on resolving the rest, however in May 2012, Transport Services minister Chloë Fox imposed a fine of $121,000 for failing to meet Performance Benchmark Targets:[20]

Transfield have said that new timetables in July 2012 should help get buses running on time.

The negative experience following this latest change of operators reflects the advice given to the Government in 2009, when it was recommended that contracts should be extended by negotiation, rather than re-tendered.[23] The expert advice was based on:

The expert advice stated that:

The South Australian Government went ahead with tenders in 2010. As noted above, the resultant change of operator from the incumbent Torrens Transit to Light-City Buses in the North South and Outer North East Contract Areas has seen many of the warnings given come to fruition.

Professor David Hensher, Director of the Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies at the University of Sydney, has commented that while three rounds of competitive tendering in Adelaide had ironed out the cost inefficiencies and lack of service incentives under the previous public monopoly model,

“ all the research on competitive tendering versus negotiated performance-based contracts is showing that one cannot squeeze any more out of the cost efficiency stone after three rounds and the risk of declines in service quality is real if this is pushed ”
— David Hensher, [25]

It is not just service performance which is suffering; Government data shows a steady increase in patronage over the first two complete rounds of competitive tendering, followed by a sharp drop-off in the past two years.[25]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Buses in Adelaide.

See also

Adelaide

Contracted Adelaide Bus Companies

South Australia

Australia

Worldwide

References

  1. ↑ State Transport Authority (South Australia)
  2. 1 2 3 Wallis, Ian; Bray, David (June 2001). "Competitive Tendering for Bus Services: The Improved Adelaide Model" (PDF). Thredbo Series. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
  3. 1 2 Morgan, Peter (2000-04-21). "A new deal on the buses". The Advertiser.
  4. 1 2 3 Minister for Transport - Report on the Adelaide Metro Bus Service Contracts Archived 19 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine., August 2011, retrieved 2011-12-03.
  5. ↑ SouthLink
  6. ↑ "Go-Zones". Adelaide Metro. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
  7. ↑ "Adelaide O-Bahn". Adelaide Metro. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
  8. ↑ "JetBus Airport Service". Adelaide Metro. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  9. ↑ "About JetExpress". Adelaide Metro. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
  10. ↑ "Double-decker buses back on our streets with express service between the city and Adelaide Airport". The Advertiser. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
  11. ↑ Previously known as The Connector, the service makes also makes use of a Solar Bus, Tindo (Tindo stands for solar in the local Aboriginal language.
  12. 1 2 "Your Say Adelaide: New free City connector bus service". Adelaide City Council. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
  13. ↑ "After Midnight Services". Adelaide Metro. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  14. ↑ "Roam Zone". Adelaide Metro. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
  15. ↑ "Adelaide Oval Footy Express". Adelaide Metro. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  16. ↑ Kain, Peter. 019-2009-08-24-Kain-Australian-and-British-Experiences-with-Competitive.pdf "AUSTRALIAN AND BRITISH EXPERIENCES WITH COMPETITIVE TENDERING IN RAIL OPERATIONS" Check |url= value (help) (PDF). Retrieved 18 September 2012.
  17. ↑ Transfield Services awarded $567 million Adelaide metropolitan bus contract, Friday, 29 April 2011, retrieved 2011-12-03.
  18. ↑ Kelton, Sam (27 October 2011). "Minister admits there are still 'teething problems' with Adelaide's bus service". AdelaideNow. Retrieved 2012-01-22.
  19. ↑ "Major issues with new Bus Operator Transfield". Sensational Adelaide Web Forum. October–December 2011. Retrieved 2012-01-22.
  20. ↑ Kelton, Sam (6 October 2011). "Bus operator Transfield criticised for late and absent services". The Australian. Retrieved 2012-01-22.
  21. 1 2 Fox, Chloë (2 May 2012). "BUS CONTRACTORS PENALISED FOR PERFORMANCE" (PDF). Government of South Australia. Retrieved 2012-06-13.
  22. ↑ Milnes, Michael (17 August 2012). "Buses on schedule just half of the time". Adelaide Now. Retrieved 2012-08-23.
  23. ↑ Washington, David. "No more blood out of this stone". Flinders Indaily. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
  24. 1 2 Wallis, Ian; Bray, D; Webster, H (September 2009). "TO COMPETITIVELY TENDER OR TO NEGOTIATE - WEIGHING UP THE CHOICES IN A MATURE MARKET". 11TH CONFERENCE ON COMPETITION AND OWNERSHIP IN LAND PASSENGER TRANSPORT.
  25. 1 2 Washington, David. "Government bus strategy wrong: researcher". Retrieved 4 October 2012.
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