Was in the Gong today and with a bit of time to kill decided to catch the 55 mid-afternoon from the cbd to Wollongong station the long way, i.e. anti-clockwise so only about 1km short of a full circuit. Without counting about 50 passengers passed through the doors over the journey. No sign of a man with a stopwatch timing dwell times, so no Tonyp on board.tonyp wrote:TfNSW has stripped all the timetables off the 55's stops. At one of the Corrimal St stops the entire sign has gone! Am I paranoid or is this the world's most negative transit agency incrementally trying to make the service as unattractive as possible?
If the timetable is not being adhered to, then pretty pointless in displaying. Better to just have the indicative frequencies as is the case.tonyp wrote:They're necessary because the buses can often run out of schedule due to poor crowd-handling.
Linto63 wrote:If the timetable is not being adhered to, then pretty pointless in displaying. Better to just have the indicative frequencies as is the case.
Wollongong City Council to help cover costs to keep Gong Shuttle fare-free
Kate McIlwainKate McIlwain
At their final meeting for the year, most councillors voted to free up an annual amount of $350,000 for the next three years to fund the state government service, as long as the bus route remains free during that time.
During a politically heated debate, a successful motion to do this from Labor councillor David Brown trumped a similar push from Liberal Cameron Walters.
Kicking off the debate, Cr Walters said it was time for the city to come together to save the service and urged the government to reveal official costings.
“This has always been about maintaining the shuttle as a free service,” he said, noting it had been left up to the city to “sort out this mess”.
In the successful motion, Cr Brown said the council had a gun at it’s head to provide the funding but appealed to Premier Gladys Berejiklian, as he would rather the state government continue to fund the full cost.
“Premier, be Santa Claus and fund the Gong Shuttle as a free service,” he said.
“The metaphor is wrong of course - we were enjoying the bus until some Grinch in the transport bureaucracy took it away - we don't want a new present, we want our existing service to stay for evermore.”
Calling the government’s withdrawal of funds from the bus “bloody-handed cost-shifting” he said the council needed to step in as the service was too important to lose.
The move follows an announcement from the University of Wollongong last week, which will contribute $350,000 per year for three years from July 1.
If the figures quoted by Illawarra Parliamentary Secretary Gareth Ward – who stated the shuttle’s total cost was about $3 million a year – are correct, these funds together will be just about enough to keep the bus fare-free.
Mr Ward has repeatedly stated that the government will continue to fund 75 per cent of the service even after the introduction of fares.
However, detailed costing are yet to be provided, and Transport for NSW has not made clear it will accept the money and keep the service free. Unfortunately, the Mercury’s efforts to have this confirmed have so far been rebuffed.
It is also unclear what will happen between January 29 – when the government has said it will start charging fares – and July 2018, when the UOW/council finding will (if accepted) kick in.
Instead of an answer to these questions last week, Transport for NSW sent one line of a statement is has issued numerous times.
“Introducing a standard Opal fare is considered the fairest way of reducing congestion on the Wollongong Shuttle and helping to spread the load across the network.”
During the council’s debate, a number of councillors objected to the idea that local government should step in to pay for a NSW Government service.
Independent Greens councillor Mithra Cox was one those to speak against the funding, however she voted for the final motion.
"We should not be funding this, it is financially irresponsible and politically stupid and handing a gift to Gareth Ward," Ms Cox said, while attempting to point out that Cr Walters works in the office of Mr Ward.
"We have caved so quickly.
"Gareth Ward must be thinking you beauty, that was really easy. This is a dangerous slippery slope of local government funding things that are a state government responsibility."
Agreeing with this sentiment, but also voting to support the council funding – which will total just over $1 million in three years – Tania Brown said the council should match the university's funding, but "maintain the rage" to get the decision overturned.
"We all agree none of us wanted to be in this position," she said.
"This is cost shifting. But that said, the Gong Shuttle is too valuable to our community to lose."
Cr Leigh Colacino successfully suggested that the council write to Ms Berejiklian and Transport Minister Andrew Constance to plead for a stay of execution, asking that the government keep the service free for a further three months.
Independent councillor Dom Figliomeni was the sole councillor to vote against the motion, sticking to his guns that it was not a local government responsibility.
Glen wrote:I haven't followed this whole discussion (sorry) and I recognise the huge success that this route is, but I wonder where do we draw the line between 'free' buses and normal fares-based route services?
Certainly a number of major cities have free services within their CBD (Perth CAT, Adelaide, Melbourne trams) but Route 55 could be construed as more like a suburban service.
Swift wrote:By allowing enough time to park for classes, they are encouraged to jump in the car instead of using the massive amount of PT options that serve Macquarie Uni.
Seen how clogged Herring Rd is with bus services, while many students simply choose to drive anyway?
tonyp wrote:
The very reason for the 55's route is that the activities that are more geographically concentrated in other cities are a bit more spread out in Wollongong and need to be drawn together: the waterfront, the hospital, Innovation campus, P+R, university, botanical gardens. It serves the same functions as in other cities, but its spread is a little wider for the historical reason that these various activities weren't originally developed close together in a more concentrated location.
tonyp wrote:http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/5112873/council-votes-to-maintain-the-rage-but-chip-in-350000-for-bus-fares/?cs=300Wollongong City Council to help cover costs to keep Gong Shuttle fare-free
Kate McIlwainKate McIlwain
At their final meeting for the year, most councillors voted to free up an annual amount of $350,000 for the next three years to fund the state government service, as long as the bus route remains free during that time.
During a politically heated debate, a successful motion to do this from Labor councillor David Brown trumped a similar push from Liberal Cameron Walters.
Kicking off the debate, Cr Walters said it was time for the city to come together to save the service and urged the government to reveal official costings.
“This has always been about maintaining the shuttle as a free service,” he said, noting it had been left up to the city to “sort out this mess”.
In the successful motion, Cr Brown said the council had a gun at it’s head to provide the funding but appealed to Premier Gladys Berejiklian, as he would rather the state government continue to fund the full cost.
“Premier, be Santa Claus and fund the Gong Shuttle as a free service,” he said.
“The metaphor is wrong of course - we were enjoying the bus until some Grinch in the transport bureaucracy took it away - we don't want a new present, we want our existing service to stay for evermore.”
Calling the government’s withdrawal of funds from the bus “bloody-handed cost-shifting” he said the council needed to step in as the service was too important to lose.
The move follows an announcement from the University of Wollongong last week, which will contribute $350,000 per year for three years from July 1.
If the figures quoted by Illawarra Parliamentary Secretary Gareth Ward – who stated the shuttle’s total cost was about $3 million a year – are correct, these funds together will be just about enough to keep the bus fare-free.
Mr Ward has repeatedly stated that the government will continue to fund 75 per cent of the service even after the introduction of fares.
However, detailed costing are yet to be provided, and Transport for NSW has not made clear it will accept the money and keep the service free. Unfortunately, the Mercury’s efforts to have this confirmed have so far been rebuffed.
It is also unclear what will happen between January 29 – when the government has said it will start charging fares – and July 2018, when the UOW/council finding will (if accepted) kick in.
Instead of an answer to these questions last week, Transport for NSW sent one line of a statement is has issued numerous times.
“Introducing a standard Opal fare is considered the fairest way of reducing congestion on the Wollongong Shuttle and helping to spread the load across the network.”
During the council’s debate, a number of councillors objected to the idea that local government should step in to pay for a NSW Government service.
Independent Greens councillor Mithra Cox was one those to speak against the funding, however she voted for the final motion.
"We should not be funding this, it is financially irresponsible and politically stupid and handing a gift to Gareth Ward," Ms Cox said, while attempting to point out that Cr Walters works in the office of Mr Ward.
"We have caved so quickly.
"Gareth Ward must be thinking you beauty, that was really easy. This is a dangerous slippery slope of local government funding things that are a state government responsibility."
Agreeing with this sentiment, but also voting to support the council funding – which will total just over $1 million in three years – Tania Brown said the council should match the university's funding, but "maintain the rage" to get the decision overturned.
"We all agree none of us wanted to be in this position," she said.
"This is cost shifting. But that said, the Gong Shuttle is too valuable to our community to lose."
Cr Leigh Colacino successfully suggested that the council write to Ms Berejiklian and Transport Minister Andrew Constance to plead for a stay of execution, asking that the government keep the service free for a further three months.
Independent councillor Dom Figliomeni was the sole councillor to vote against the motion, sticking to his guns that it was not a local government responsibility.
tonyp wrote:The other very important reason that is overlooked in comparing it with similar services in capital cities is that it's a regional city that's easy to drive and park in and if you start charging for it, everybody will dive back into their cars and the buses will be nice and empty like most other Wollongong buses.
Jurassic_Joke wrote:[BREAKING] - Gladys Berebackflippian just changed her mind - shuttle staying FREE until June 30
http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/stor ... -30/?cs=12
Liamena wrote:Swift wrote:By allowing enough time to park for classes, they are encouraged to jump in the car instead of using the massive amount of PT options that serve Macquarie Uni.
Seen how clogged Herring Rd is with bus services, while many students simply choose to drive anyway?
Public transport to Macquarie exists, but for many people, particularly evening students, it would be ridiculously slow.
I was an evening student there, once. In uncongested traffic conditions after 9 PM, it would have been a 15 minute drive home, or about 1 1/2 hours including 20 minute walk by PT. No thanks.
tonyp wrote:Glad to hear you're so fit and active and have no trouble with hills in heat, humidity or rain, with shopping, wheelchair or infant in tow. Good on you!
One of the issues that had been frequently raised by the public in relation to this controversy is the climb to Wollongong hospital which was thoughtfully located on top of a high hill a century ago!
Liamena wrote:
There is also nothing stopping people from PAYING to use buses, like they do everywhere else. The case for a completely free bus is pretty weak. $2.15 is pretty cheap, particularly when you compare to minimum fare in Melbourne,
Liamena wrote:Having a free bus might have been a worthwhile incentive when trains and buses were charged separately. With the recently introduced transfer discount, that justification largely disappears.
Liamena wrote:I don't know what proportion of users of that bus would also be catching trains. Given the layout of the entire wollongong metro area, between Thirroul and Kiama, there is pretty good train coverage compared to most cities of comparable size. Or even larger cities. The proportion of residents of greater Wollongong who reside within 2 km of a train station would be higher than it is in Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane or Sydney. I can think of a few neighbourhoods in Wollongong more than 2 km from a station, but not many of them.
Liamena wrote:Anyway, regardless of the merits of the debates about continuing or changing this service, your specific claims earlier about Wollongong being somehow "special" due to the distance between it's key activity centres, is still just nonsense.
tonyp wrote:Jurassic_Joke wrote:[BREAKING] - Gladys Berebackflippian just changed her mind - shuttle staying FREE until June 30
http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/stor ... -30/?cs=12
Ya beat me to it by 33 minutes! I get the impression Constance is still against it but he hates all public transport so that's not surprising. I think the government was taken aback by the strength and universality of the opposition to their decision. I don't think they were expecting anything remotely like that. I reckon it must be the most intensely-fought campaign for a bus service ever in Australia. A real coming-of-age for buses. Never again can it be argued that people automatically always prefer a tram or train service over a bus.
Glen, university students only account for 20% of the patronage. I think the UOW contribution goes much of the way towards covering that. Unlike Macquarie University, the objective for UOW is that 100% of the university population is to access the university by public transport. That is another fantastic achievement in a national context.
I've spent at least a couple of decades reading about transport initiatives around the world that are praised for what they've achieved. I reckon this is the first I've seen where the response to the success has not been to praise it but to cut it down. It exemplifies the negativity of NSW transport policy and is an indication that TfNSW can't cope with success and its associated demands on capacity. In the end this reactive attitude will drag NSW down economically, ensuring that Victoria will romp into the lead.
rogf24 wrote:I don't think it will happen but I'm really hoping that CSELR will be free between Central and Circular Quay, the Parramatta Light Rail free west of Camellia and Newcastle Light Rail free for the entire initial length. In the latter 2 cases, I would scrap the free buses.
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