ACT Bus Forum

Enthusiast => The Playground => Topic started by: Barry Drive on January 12, 2019, 12:26:28 PM

Title: Weekend bus reports
Post by: Barry Drive on January 12, 2019, 12:26:28 PM
It has been brought to my attention that some Saturday shifts will now be allocated as articulated buses.

In keeping with the forum policy, specific runs will not be identified.

So far I've seen 512 & 528. Unknown how many there will be.
Title: Re: Weekend bus reports
Post by: King of Buses on January 12, 2019, 12:30:08 PM
523 and 526 are also out.
Title: Re: Weekend bus reports
Post by: Bus 503 on January 12, 2019, 01:05:51 PM
514 and 520 are out today.
Title: Re: Weekend bus reports
Post by: Busnerd on January 12, 2019, 06:05:36 PM
About time, they really should run exclusive 200 and 300 shifts on weekends that do only those runs and allocated larger vehicles, this way would enable them to add capacity without changing any timetables, and making sure the high capacity vehicles stay where they're needed and don't end up on quiet weekend loops.
Title: Re: Weekend bus reports
Post by: Toyota Camry on January 12, 2019, 10:03:26 PM
It is beyond ridiculous if artics are allocated on Saturdays, but not on Sundays; route 300 is extremely stretched on Sundays as there is a 33.3% reduction in service compared to a Saturday, this is due to the Cohen Street Bus Station to Woden Bus Station trips not operating.

It seems that Saturday is becoming the "deluxe" weekend day for bus services, with high capacity buses and more frequent trips operating, yet Sunday is stuck with short buses and fewer services.
Title: Re: Weekend bus reports
Post by: triumph on January 12, 2019, 10:22:47 PM
Apparently the 2 axle buses only need MR licenced drivers, whereas the bigger buses with 3 axles need drivers with HR licenses. Add in the voluntary aspect of weekend driver rostering - is this an influence on artic assigning?
Title: Re: Weekend bus reports
Post by: Busnerd on January 13, 2019, 10:11:32 AM
That is correct, the "STAGs" and Articulated vehicles do require a HR licence to drive. I believe TC does pay an allowance to drivers operating larger vehicles but unsure how that works, if it's added onto your hourly wage whilst driving them or just all the time.
Title: Re: Weekend bus reports
Post by: Toyota Camry on January 26, 2019, 01:51:57 PM
547 is reported to be operating on route 902 with the flag of Australia in the windscreen; yesterday, there were a number of complaints made about 655 operating with the same flag on display.
Title: Re: Weekend bus reports
Post by: Bus 503 on January 26, 2019, 03:55:48 PM
I thought it might be good to note down unusual buses operating on weekends since the Scania K320UBs tend to dominate, and other types of buses are being seen less and less. These "unusual buses" include Scania L94UBs, MAN 18.310s/18.320s from Tuggeranong (Belconnen-based MANs are quite common on weekends) and ARTICs (only on Sundays). The reason I haven't included PR2s, PR3s, Irisbuses and STAGs is because these have almost no chance of operating on weekends but the other types I've mentioned are used, but in moderation.

Unusual buses I've spotted today are 330, 360, 382, 493, 494, 499.
Title: Re: Weekend bus reports
Post by: Bus 503 on January 26, 2019, 03:59:28 PM
Quote from: Toyota Camry on January 26, 2019, 01:51:57 PM
547 is reported to be operating on route 902 with the flag of Australia in the windscreen; yesterday, there were a number of complaints made about 655 operating with the same flag on display.

May I ask why the complaints were made? Was the flag obstructing the driver's windscreen?
Title: Re: Weekend bus reports
Post by: Toyota Camry on January 26, 2019, 04:18:55 PM
Quote from: Bus 503 on January 26, 2019, 03:59:28 PM
May I ask why the complaints were made? Was the flag obstructing the driver's windscreen?
This was due to the flag being considered racist by many, and offensive toward Aboriginal & Torres Straight Islander members of the community; I was not one of those who complained, however this issue involving 655 was discussed by many on local Canberra area social media groups.
Title: Re: Weekend bus reports
Post by: Sylvan Loves Buses on January 26, 2019, 06:35:49 PM
518 was on a 918 this afternoon.
Title: Re: Weekend bus reports
Post by: King of Buses on January 26, 2019, 06:42:34 PM
530 is also out today.
Title: Re: Weekend bus reports
Post by: Busnerd on January 26, 2019, 10:43:58 PM
Displaying our national flag is in no way racist.
Title: Re: Weekend bus reports
Post by: King of Buses on January 27, 2019, 03:21:27 PM
512, 530 and 531 are in service this afternoon.


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Title: Re: Weekend bus reports
Post by: Bus 503 on January 27, 2019, 06:57:47 PM
Other unusual buses in service today are 387, 444, 491, 496, 503, 504.
Title: Re: Weekend bus reports
Post by: Toyota Camry on February 02, 2019, 06:26:44 PM
There is free travel on most, potentially all buses today; this is due to Myway equipment being out of order.

In addition, 322 was out this morning; it ran a circular 937 trip between City Bus Station and City Bus Station.
Title: Re: Weekend bus reports
Post by: Bus 503 on February 02, 2019, 06:45:44 PM
Quote from: Toyota Camry on February 02, 2019, 06:26:44 PM

In addition, 322 was out this morning; it ran a circular 937 trip between City Bus Station and City Bus Station.

Other unusual buses in service during some part of today are 352, 373 and 382.
There also seem to be more Tuggeranong-based MAN 18.320s in service today: 402, 441, 442, 443, 493, 494, 495, 501, 503, 505. (I'm not sure whether it's worth nothing these because they do tend to be moderately used on Saturdays so they're not that unusual compared to L94UBs and CNG 18.310s.)

I've also noticed that bus services are scheduled to continue though to 0230 tomorrow morning.
Is there an event on that I'm not aware of? I don't recall seeing anything in the TC weekly email update.
Title: Re: Weekend bus reports
Post by: Bus 503 on February 18, 2019, 02:00:30 PM
Last Saturday, 361 and 382 were the unusual buses in service, and on Sunday, unusual buses were 329 and 384. There were a couple of Tuggeranong diesel MANs in service on both Saturday and Sunday so I haven't reported them.

Also noticed that some Tuggeranong ARTICs were out yesterday on what I'm presuming were route 300s. However, I missed the route numbers when they went past and the services they were operating weren't able to be tracked on Nextthere.