Latest Bus Satisfaction Survey

Transport NSW survey of bus passengers:
For all but two of the ten aspects of service, the satisfaction level was 70% (at least 70% of bus users were satisfied with that aspect of the service).
To see the full report Click here

Great Work by CityRail Staff

This comment was posted to this WSPTU blog yesterday by Shaun:
Hi,
My wife was taking her 7 year old boy to see his Dad for the weekend and her boy decided he would like to carry his mum’s backpack because his was a bit big and heavy with his things for the weekend.
They caught the train from Woy Woy to Lidcombe, changing at Epping.
When they got to Lidcombe my wife realised her bag was missing. Her little boy was really, really upset about losing her bag, and sorry.
It had her passport, driver’s license, 2 credit cards, work passcard, money, a Kindle, an iphone, and all her keys for work and home.
She hopped off the train and let the guard know where they had been sitting on the train and it terminated at Central just a few more stops. The cleaners checked for us but it was gone.

So Cityrail put out an email to the stations asking after the bag, and I went and started looking into buying her another Kindle at least, because she seems to always have her nose stuck in it and just loves reading.
We rang her phone and it just rang out, which was encouraging because it seemed that if somebody had found it and chosen to keep it they would have turned it off or removed the SIM.

My wife went to bed really upset.

The next morning pretty early I got a call on my phone. A cityrail person had been given the bag during the night by some honest commuter who didn’t leave their name and had handed it in to the office at Epping. When the office opened a nice Cityrail lady there opened the bag and went through it looking for details and went to the extent of opening the phone and ringing the last few numbers rung which was me. She sounded really excited to have found it for us.

My wife went down on the train to Epping with 2 boxes of chocolates and gave one to the nice lady who went to the extent of finding my number to let us know what she had found and one to leave for the commuter who found it, but they left no way of saying thanks.

She got home and went through her bag grateful to get anything back, and found everything completely intact; money, iphone, cards, kindle, keys.

Well done to the honest people who catch Cityrail train and to the awesome people who run Cityrail!
You have given us a really big confirmation of faith in human nature.

M91 and M92 have started

The M91 linking Parramatta to Hurstville and the M92 linking Parramatta to Sutherland have started.
Unfortunately the bustop signage (for all the new Metrobuses at Parramatta) is very basic or not there. Hopefully that will come.

Go to www.131500.com for more info

Parramatta Loop has become the Free Shuttle

The (Blue) Parramatta Loop, which has been funded by Parramatta Council, has been transformed into the (Green) Free Parramatta Shuttle funded by Transport NSW.
As you can see it is still very popular but the change is causing some people to look twice and ask if it has changed. The Loop (now Shuttle) has always been well used by people pushing prams, on walkers, in wheelchairs, using trolleys and carrying shopping. Lot's of kids and older people like to ride around in it too.
Click here for map.

Mt Druitt Commuters Improvement Group trying to deal with attacks against bus drivers

Busways have had to take extreme measures to divert buses away from Emerton after 7pm due to anti-social behaviours that have occured over a number of nights where bus drivers lives are at threat.
It is imperative that we take responsibility for our community and work together to send a strong message that anti-social behaviour is unacceptable. We must take proactive measures and offer our full support to government and non-government organisations to effectively resolve these issues.

To see the full story click here.

Enrique Penalosa - Presentation for ITLS

Last week, the former Mayor of Bogata, Enrique Penalosa, gave a presentation "Mobility, Sustainability and Quality of Life". Enrique uses his experience in Bogata to discuss the importance of:
* imagining the 'type of city you want to live in'
* the importance of transport as a method of improving democracy and equality
* the importance of restricting car use in a modern city
* the value-for-money effectiveness of Bus Rapid Transit as public transport option

You can see his presentation via the ITLS website by clicking here.
Or you can download his 4mb PDF presentation by clicking here (WARNING: if you click here it will begin to download the 4mb PDF presentation).

Here are some interesting quotes from the presentation:

“Transport Policy” means:
- Advanced city: "How to reduce car use".
- Developing country city: “How to facilitate car use”

While cars tend to be a means of social differentiation, bicycles integrate people as equals.

Mass transit will solve mobility but will not solve traffic jams. Only restrictions to car use will reduce traffic.

There is not a “natural” level of car use in a city.

COUNTER-INTUITIVE TRUTHS:
- The Earth circles around the sun
- More road infrastructure brings about more traffic jams

Sidewalks are the most important element of a democratic city’s infrastructure…
…and of its transport system as well.

Liberals Pledge More For Easy Access For Train Stations

Easy Access is the Government funding program used to build lifts and ramps at railway stations to make the stations accessible for people with mobility difficulties, especially people in wheelchairs, older people and people using prams and trolleys.

WSPTU has been asking for an increase to the Easy Access program so that stations in high needs areas, such as Villawood, can be upgraded earlier than the proposed 2025 timeline. The Liberals and Nationals have announced an increase to program in the lead up to the NSW election.

"The NSW Liberals & Nationals will boost funding for easy access upgrades by over 50 percent to make train travel for seniors and people with a disability more convenient, NSW Opposition Leader Barry O'Farrell and Shadow Minister for Transport Gladys Berejiklian announced today.

"Today the NSW Liberals commit to an additional $60 million in funding to boost the Easy Access Program across CityRail train stations," Mr O'Farrell said."
Click Here for the full release

Metrobus M60 Starts - Parramatta, Castle Hill, Hornsby

(Taken from Transport NSW website - photo courtesy of the Australian Transport Discussion Board)

Metrobus M60 connects Parramatta, Castle Hill and Hornsby, increasing the number of services on the Parramatta to Castle Hill route by almost 60 per cent, from 535 to 840 per week.

The M60 replaces the route 600 between Parramatta and Castle Hill and provides a brand new service linking Cherrybrook, Pennant Hills, Thornleigh and Hornsby.

It runs seven days a week, every 10 minutes in the weekday peak, every 15 minutes in the weekday off-peak and every 20 minutes in the evenings and on weekends.

The Metrobus network delivers frequent and direct services for the people of Sydney. The M60 is the 12th Metrobus route to be rolled out.

For more information on the Metrobus M60, visit 131500.com.au

SMH - “A Vision for Sydney’s Transport.”

You are invited to The Sydney Morning Herald Transport Forum on Thursday, March 10 from 6:30 until 8pm at the Epping Club, 45 Rawson St, Epping.
Hear an expert panel offer views on their areas of expertise - funding models for transport, public transport options, and the needs of Western Sydney.
Email your RSVP to rsvpsmh@smh.com.au and enter ‘transport forum’ in the subject line. The event will commence at 6:30 sharp. Latecomers will not be admitted.