STA Observations - July to December 2018

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Re: STA Observations - July to December 2018

Post by Fleet Lists »

Cancelling does not solve anything. Some positive action is required.
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molybtek
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Re: STA Observations - July to December 2018

Post by molybtek »

Swift wrote:It should be cancelled if there is no way to fix on time running. It can't continue the way it's going, if for no other reason the complaints it attracts.
I think a late service is always better than a cancelled service.
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Re: STA Observations - July to December 2018

Post by Swift »

molybtek wrote:
Swift wrote:It should be cancelled if there is no way to fix on time running. It can't continue the way it's going, if for no other reason the complaints it attracts.
I think a late service is always better than a cancelled service.
I think you haven't absorbed the last part. A lot of people clearly don't see it that way. The amount of negative publicity the service is attracting is becoming a political liability. If TNSW is not prepared to take measures to reduce late running, what else are they to do to stop the pr damage this run is causing? A letter drop urging passengers to stop making complaints so they don't lose the service?!?
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Re: STA Observations - July to December 2018

Post by Linto63 »

Unfortunately there is no simple fix. The cross-country nature of the route and the major thoroughfares the 370 traverses / crosses have traffic levels that for whatever reason fluctuate day by day. I would imagine if you drove the route for 5 days straight leaving at the exact same time, your journey time would swing wildly.

So the options are to split it, shorter journeys should result in less accumulated late running, or introduce an incredibly slow timetable which would often result in loads of dwell time in many cases. Neither would be overly popular. While there is scope for priority measures, short of the introduction of lengthy bus lanes which isn't practical in many parts, they won't solve the root cause of the problem.
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Re: STA Observations - July to December 2018

Post by tonyp »

In addition, radial routes into the CBD are generally assisted by overall traffic light management including tidal flow, "green waves" etc, whereas cross-country there's usually no consistent traffic management and the buses get caught up going through every centre and choke point with no overall traffic management assistance along the route.

I am intrigued though how the circle route 998/999 in Perth, which I've regularly used both ways, generally manages impeccable time-keeping to the minute, even though it traverses 78 km over 3.5 hours. The only layover that enables recovery time is Fremantle. Transperth, in my observation, does seem very good at variable fine-tuning of its timetables to general traffic conditions throughout the day.
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Re: STA Observations - July to December 2018

Post by Frosty »

I notice CBD routes they are quite generous in timetabling 5 minutes between Sheraton on the Park to Martin Place in the morning peak. The 370 timetable hasn't even now accounted for extra time caused by diversions around Randwick.

I think the solution for the 370 really is more of the do nothing or maybe convert to a limited stops route.
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Re: STA Observations - July to December 2018

Post by Swift »

At the end of the day, what blinkin bus is on time? Just turn up and wait!!
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Re: STA Observations - July to December 2018

Post by Stonesourscotty »

The 348/370/400 are awful for time keeping something should be done around the unsw area like split the routes there or something seems to be the problem area from my observations
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Re: STA Observations - July to December 2018

Post by boronia »

At 14:00 yesterday (Saturday) all Anzac Pde outbound services were reporting as being 20-30 minutes late. An m10 was 40 minutes late.
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Re: STA Observations - July to December 2018

Post by stupid_girl »

Stonesourscotty wrote:The 348/370/400 are awful for time keeping something should be done around the unsw area like split the routes there or something seems to be the problem area from my observations
I suspect they will review when light rail opens.
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Re: STA Observations - July to December 2018

Post by Frosty »

stupid_girl wrote:
Stonesourscotty wrote:The 348/370/400 are awful for time keeping something should be done around the unsw area like split the routes there or something seems to be the problem area from my observations
I suspect they will review when light rail opens.
400 has rumours surrounding it and currently jointly operated by STA & Transit Systems. 348 time keeping has improved slightly I noticed around Alexandria at least after Huntley St was reopened. I could easily see the 370 being abolished once light rail is introduced with changes to other routes to fill in the gaps.

I rode on Iveco Metro today on the 400 from BJI towards Eastgardens. I don't know if it was the driver or the bus it was very rough at a low speeds acceleration & braking wise.
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Re: STA Observations - July to December 2018

Post by Fleet Lists »

The rumoured split of 400 wont help as it is still proposed to operate from Rockdale to Bondi. But splitting at another point such as the uni wont help as a lot of people travel past the Uni and would not want to change bus at the Uni.
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Re: STA Observations - July to December 2018

Post by brumby33 »

I think over the years, the 370 rte has been a victim of it's own success and of course the issues caused by the construction of the light rail. I'd driven this service many times in my time at RWK when it shared with Leichhardt and often not unusual to have one of the 370's catch up and even overtake the one in front or do leap frogging. I can't see the service become abolished as it carries many UNI students to an from the Newtown area as well as through the many built-up areas of Alexandria. Sometimes even Glebe rd can be a nightmare, more so than King Street. If I was to suggest splitting the 370 up, I'd say terminate it at Newtown, probably making a termination standing area in Carillon Ave between Missenden Rd and City Rd then having it turn right to do the trip back to Coogee. In the meantime, Transit Systems can make up another run of a different rte number to do the Leichhardt run, both ends having more frequency.
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Re: STA Observations - July to December 2018

Post by Merc1107 »

tonyp wrote:I am intrigued though how the circle route 998/999 in Perth, which I've regularly used both ways, generally manages impeccable time-keeping to the minute, even though it traverses 78 km over 3.5 hours. The only layover that enables recovery time is Fremantle. Transperth, in my observation, does seem very good at variable fine-tuning of its timetables to general traffic conditions throughout the day.
Hopefully the response here won't be too off-topic :D

A lot of it seems to be the numerous en-route timing points. It means each 'stage' of the run can theoretically be fine-tuned to suit the level of demand (or delays) likely to be experienced in a given area at a given time. The majority of slack in the running is found around the major interchanges of the route. Even if you are 10-15mins late, stopping at a majority of stops and having to deploy the wheelchair ramp (a process that delays services in a Volvo given how they're set up) it is possible to catch up. Peak services are often supplemented by un-timetabled, short-working, double-bank services, meaning drivers can work together to share their loadings and keep time better.

I'm of the opinion that articulated buses would be better-utilised on Circles to reduce the need for double-banks (utilising spare service kilometres to create more consistent service frequencies elsewhere on the network), as I'm sure you'd agree, they excel at moving crush loadings. :)
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Re: STA Observations - July to December 2018

Post by Nugget »

boronia wrote:At 14:00 yesterday (Saturday) all Anzac Pde outbound services were reporting as being 20-30 minutes late. An m10 was 40 minutes late.
That was probably due to the fact that the Swans game was on and that they for some reason were doing roadworks on South Dowling which meant traffic was detoured to Anzac Parade. Sydney Traffic Management is crazy.
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Re: STA Observations - July to December 2018

Post by Swift »

Saw a new Optimus Volvo B8RLE on a 396 or 395 on Maroubra Rd this afternoon. Then later heard one whiz past as I was sitting in the car. Seemed a bit B10M-ish Rio my ears. Much better than the insipid sounding B7RLEs even if they are a pleasantly smooth and powerful bus to ride in.
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Re: STA Observations - July to December 2018

Post by Frosty »

Nugget wrote:
boronia wrote:At 14:00 yesterday (Saturday) all Anzac Pde outbound services were reporting as being 20-30 minutes late. An m10 was 40 minutes late.
That was probably due to the fact that the Swans game was on and that they for some reason were doing roadworks on South Dowling which meant traffic was detoured to Anzac Parade. Sydney Traffic Management is crazy.
Roadworks on South Dowling is related to the light rail. There is always either an event at Moore Park or Randwick Racecourse every weekend so delays are likely and in particular with light rail works.

Good to see P's new B8s hopefully it won't be too long before they become a common sight in the East though will the B8s stay longer than a few months at P non-gas buses never really stay long at P.
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Re: STA Observations - July to December 2018

Post by J_Busworth »

Frosty wrote:
Good to see P's new B8s hopefully it won't be too long before they become a common sight in the East though will the B8s stay longer than a few months at P non-gas buses never really stay long at P.
Those pesky VSTs seem to have lasted a while
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Re: STA Observations - July to December 2018

Post by Nugget »

Frosty wrote:Roadworks on South Dowling is related to the light rail.
They don't usually shut down South Dowling and detour to Anzac Parade. That was a special one on Saturday.
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Re: STA Observations - July to December 2018

Post by Swift »

J_Busworth wrote:
Those pesky VSTs seem to have lasted a while
And as pervasive as ever. I went in a return trip by bus last night to Maroubra Jcn, only to cop one each way.
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Re: STA Observations - July to December 2018

Post by Jurassic_Joke »

Reading the Fleet Lists, P has also lost its couple of Scania K310UB CB80 to TSA, gee, that didn’t last long! P has always been my least favourite depot because the entire area is more or less Bustech only at night, which is a pity.

I mean, Willoughby and Kingsgrove may also be infested with them, but at least the night service is well balanced out with CB80’s (which for me, I’d gladly much rather have)
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Re: STA Observations - July to December 2018

Post by Stu »

Jurassic_Joke wrote:Reading the Fleet Lists, P has also lost its couple of Scania K310UB CB80 to TSA, gee, that didn’t last long! P has always been my least favourite depot because the entire area is more or less Bustech only at night, which is a pity.

I mean, Willoughby and Kingsgrove may also be infested with them, but at least the night service is well balanced out with CB80’s (which for me, I’d gladly much rather have)
The handful of CB80 Scanias at P were always destined for L.
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Re: STA Observations - July to December 2018

Post by Michael Bamborough »

Jurassic_Joke wrote:Reading the Fleet Lists, P has also lost its couple of Scania K310UB CB80 to TSA, gee, that didn’t last long! P has always been my least favourite depot because the entire area is more or less Bustech only at night, which is a pity.

I mean, Willoughby and Kingsgrove may also be infested with them, but at least the night service is well balanced out with CB80’s (which for me, I’d gladly much rather have)
Honestly Bustech runs is not the main issue i have with P depot. Its basically its fleet of regular size buses in general. They're not suitable for the 390 series routes these days as they get overcrowded often at any time not just peak hour but also off-peaks & evenings too. The majority of P depots fleet should've mainly consisted of 14.5m buses(Not just the old ansair ones but perhaps a good fleet of 14.5 Volgern buses.) Sure we have bendy's but they don't operate too often fulltime and they cannot be used on every route Like Outbound 391 & 392, And 397 & 399 in general. For someone who uses these buses everytime to travel to the city its pains me to see how they don't utilize & expand the high capacity bus fleet at routes like the 390 series routes where its needed most. Do tehy just expect us to deal with crud until that overpriced light rail becomes operational!
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Re: STA Observations - July to December 2018

Post by boronia »

I have noted a big increase in artics on 39x services of late. Evenings and weekends on 393/5s are most welcome. Have also seen a few on inbound 391s of a morning.
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Re: STA Observations - July to December 2018

Post by swtt »

boronia wrote:I have noted a big increase in artics on 39x services of late. Evenings and weekends on 393/5s are most welcome. Have also seen a few on inbound 391s of a morning.
With most passengers travelling on the 390 series routes into Taylor Sq and City, what is stopping deckers from operating there?

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