CT-ACTION Defends $7m Idle Buses (23-Aug-2010)

[Bus 400]

[Sir Pompously]

I think Pedel Power is asking for too much here. I can hear ACTION telling them 'The buses are at maximum length for a rigid vehicle so they cannot have a bike rack' with Pedel Power's response being "La la la, not listening, bike rack bike rack".

I Also like the line stating 'The availability of Radios and Ticket Machines was not affecting the time taken to commission new buses'. I beg to differ, they have to wait for one to come out of service to switch equipment over. They certainly have no spare Wayfarer's, they have little to no radio's for use (going to go more with the no radios for use part), so they have to wait for one to get it's equipment removed and transferred as quickly as it is possible to the new bus (which still takes time). While waiting, the new bus is sitting around doing sweet f/a.

[CNG]

also I don't believe the mk1's, darts and a number of .3's and Mk2's will ever have bike racks. I think ACTION really has enough racks on their fleet already.

[Barry Drive]

The spokesman said another 13 buses were not in service. These were made up of buses which had been retired from service; being used for the smartcard ticketing trial; and used for driver training.

Really? How is this 13 buses? By my count, the buses which fall into these categories are 754, 755, 756, 758, 760, 762, 763 and 764 - that's 8 buses. Are there another 5 buses which are being used exclusively for the ticketing trial and/or driver training?

... steer tag buses made up only 5.6 per cent of express and intertown services. They were only used at times of high demand and these trips were marked on the electronic timetable.

Fail! (A) They may be currently used for 5.6% of these services, but they are intended to be used mainly on these services once the new schedules are in place. (B) These trips are NOT marked in the electronic timetable - there is no indication on the internet timetable about bike rack services, however the Bike 'n Ride page does include the disclaimer that some buses on the Intertown service may not be fitted with bike racks.