Artics vs 14.5s

[route56]

i thought the new 14.4 buses replaced the articulated ? are they staying in service ?

[Bus 400]

The 14.5's are replacing the artics. Most likely from early to mid 2010 the artics will start to disappear from Canberra roads as will the buses the MAN's are replacing. Which buses are going & staying is to be decided in 2010.

[The Love Guru]

The 14.5's are replacing the artics. Most likely from early to mid 2010 the artics will start to disappear from Canberra roads as will the buses the MAN's are replacing. Which buses are going & staying is to be decided in 2010.

Not quite sure how many artics will go. 24 x 14.5m buses are not going to be able to replace the 26(i think) remaining 180.2 mk1s. There is a large difference in true capacity (regardless of what they say they can legally carry, you will always fit a lot more standees in an 18m bus over a 14.5), they would require 4 x 14.5s for every 3 artics they replace. If these buses are indeed a replacement for the artics, the idea is destined to fail before they even arrive. I'm sure there will be some political spin on much better value the 14.5s are, however they are NOT a substitute for an artic. If 'total life cost' of 14.5s v artics are compared and the extra number of 14.5s requried compared to the artics, you would find that an artic is a much cheaper alternative in the long term (that is providing the artics are used to capacity during peak times). Appears to be another flop in the making, ACTION are on a roll! From 100.3s to Midis then the Iris bus debacle, soon ACTION will look good as its hard to make worse vehicle choices than they have in the last 15 years.

[ajw373]

Not quite sure how many artics will go. 24 x 14.5m buses are not going to be able to replace the 26(i think) remaining 180.2 mk1s. There is a large difference in true capacity (regardless of what they say they can legally carry, you will always fit a lot more standees in an 18m bus over a 14.5), they would require 4 x 14.5s for every 3 artics they replace. If these buses are indeed a replacement for the artics, the idea is destined to fail before they even arrive. I'm sure there will be some political spin on much better value the 14.5s are, however they are NOT a substitute for an artic. If 'total life cost' of 14.5s v artics are compared and the extra number of 14.5s requried compared to the artics, you would find that an artic is a much cheaper alternative in the long term (that is providing the artics are used to capacity during peak times). Appears to be another flop in the making, ACTION are on a roll! From 100.3s to Midis then the Iris bus debacle, soon ACTION will look good as its hard to make worse vehicle choices than they have in the last 15 years.

Whilst I agree generaly with what you are saying (I think they should replace artics with artics), I will make one point though. When it comes to capacity you are assuming that the artics are running around full, which I don't beleive they are. So sure replacing an artic with a 14.5m does in real terms mean less people, at the end of the day the number of people that we would try to fit into the 14.5 will be sufficent, so I guess a 1 for 1 replacement can be done without any adverse effect.

[Buzz Killington]

In terms of school services, the artics generally do run around at capacity. Route services not so much, in my experience.

[Bus 400]

There are some school runs that would do better with a 14.5, however some will be short changed. The school runs from Kambah to The Grammars & St Clares/Eddies are packed in the morning & afternoon with an artic, so much that another school run with a standard also runs & he looks pretty full as well.

But then again last term a few school runs were changed from artic shifts to midi shifts & some the other way round.

But with route services, I've been told Belconnen Depot has been running around desperately for an artic on the 757 Xpresso, in the end the run was half a standard full. But that is a whole other story.

[Snorzac]

Some 703s really get packed. There are a few other expressos, I think that the 701 always gets a bit of a load.
Bus 400, when a driver I know had a shift with a 757 it was an artic and to put it simply, it could have been done in a rosa.

[Bus 400]

Barely any passengers take the 757 as there is a poor connection with 51-59 services. I've been told it is quicker for some people to catch a 737 to the City & then get on a 51-59 in the City, the 757 option means a bit of a wait at Gungahlin Terminus for the service they would of picked up in the City.

[CNG]

There are some school runs that would do better with a 14.5, however some will be short changed. The school runs from Kambah to The Grammars & St Clares/Eddies are packed in the morning & afternoon with an artic, so much that another school run with a standard also runs & he looks pretty full as well.

But then again last term a few school runs were changed from artic shifts to midi shifts & some the other way round.

But with route services, I've been told Belconnen Depot has been running around desperately for an artic on the Xpresso, in the end the run was half a standard full. But that is a whole other story.

The reason those school runs would have had an artic on them would have been due to another run on the shift which needed it. That was the case with my morning school run the 434 it used to have an artic on it a few years only because it did a very packed expresso. They will sometimes put an artic on because fits well in with the shift, as against having to do a bus swap.