TOUR: Dennis Dart Farewell Tour + QCity, May 4 +5 2019

[CTM]

Join the Canberra Transport Museum in its inaugural event as we farewell the Dennis Darts from service with Transport Canberra. This weekend long event will see the Darts farewelled with an exclusive tour, after their last day in service, running on Saturday the 4th of May 2019 and a chance to sample the fleet of Qcity on Sunday the 5th.

SATURDAY 4 MAY - DENNIS DART FAREWELL TOUR
Time: 10am - 5pm
Location: Belconnen Community Bus Station, Cohen Street, Belconnen ACT 2617

Entering service with ACTION in 1997 the Dennis Dart is a unique midi bus rarely seen in Australia. The Canberra Transport Museum has been able to organise with Transport Canberra to use two of the decommissioned darts for a day of fun sampling various parts of the vehicles history in service.

SUNDAY 5 MAY - QCITY TOUR:
Time: 10am - 3pm
Location: Canberra Civic Coach Stop, West Row, Canberra ACT 2601

Sunday the 5th of May, sees a bonus tour for members and guests with a sample day of the Qcity fleet ranging from the Deanes Buslines staple vehicle, P&D Coachworks bodied B7s, to Irisbus Agora Line in a day of variety.

WEEKEND TOUR PACKAGE:
This package gives members and guests entrance to both tours.

SYDNEY TRANSFER WEEKEND PACKAGE:
For patrons travelling from interstate the CTM has organised a travel option from Sydney on Saturday morning and returning Sunday afternoon at a discount rate that also includes entry for both days.

Tickets from Ticketebo


PLEASE NOTE-this account is not monitored, please do not inbox this account with any queries regarding this tour, they may not be seen, please post them or email info@ctm.org.au

[Toyota Camry]

I will not be attending; this is due to myself having already planned a trip to Batemans Bay for that weekend.

[Barry Drive]

... the Dennis Dart is a unique midi bus rarely seen in Australia

How exactly is it "unique"?

[Sylvan Loves Buses]

So for those who are stuck in the 1990's and still only pay cash in hand, will it be possible for those such people such as myself who can't pay by card to turn up on the day and pay?

[Snorzac]

Yes, however we cannot guarantee you a place on the tour as availability is strictly limited and it may sell out online before hand.

EDIT- To clarify that statement, obviously once you have arrived and paid you will be travelling on the tour, however you will be unable to pre-reserve a place on the tour and if online ticket allocations were to be exhausted you would have to wait and see if there is any no shows on the day

[Sylvan Loves Buses]

Any chance I could book elsewhere online and pay upfront? go somewhere in Canberra and do so, or meet you or other members in person to book a ticket 'cash in hard' so to speak? I would like a ticket just for the DART tour at the very least.
I could take my chances, but I would assume this tour would be more popular than the Belconnen tour a few years ago.

[Busnerd]

You could also give a family member cash for the ticket who could then use their debit/credit card to pay online for you as another option?

[Snorzac]

The other option recommended would be going to the post office and buying a pre-paid visa card and buying your ticked online with it!

[Toyota Camry]

The simple solution is to allow for Sylvan to make a bank deposit to pay for his or her ticket; he or her would simply need to attend a bank branch and deposit his or her cash into the account of the transport museum.

[Busnerd]

I was going to suggest that but it sounded more convoluted as they would then need to withdraw the cash to their own accounts to then pay for a ticket using the ticketing website as I don't believe there is an option to issue a free ticket, at least not that I could note on the page, could be wrong. I'm also unsure why/how anyone in this day and age would not have access to some kind of debit card considering most accounts are free to use.

[Toyota Camry]

I'm also unsure why/how anyone in this day and age would not have access to some kind of debit card considering most accounts are free to use.

There are some who choose to not participate in the banking system, due to the fact that the big four banks are corrupt. These people generally use cash exclusively and withdraw all income in the form of cash as soon as it lands in a 'gateway' bank account; most commonly they use a drawer or safe at home to hold their cash. Labor's Banking Royal Commission has recently uncovered the truth regarding our big four banks; it is impossible to read the damning findings and not see the point of those who do not participate in banking.

[Toyota Camry]

I was going to suggest that but it sounded more convoluted as they would then need to withdraw the cash to their own accounts to then pay for a ticket using the ticketing website as I don't believe there is an option to issue a free ticket, at least not that I could note on the page, could be wrong.

This would be a win-win situation for the lucky CTM staff member tasked with this job; thanks to the generous frequent flyer rewards schemes for credit card holders linked to airline partners such as Velocity and Qantas Frequent Flyer, the staff member would earn around 150 valuable frequent flyer points on for putting through this sale.

[Sylvan Loves Buses]

going to the post office and buying a pre-paid visa card and buying your ticked online with it

And

make a bank deposit to pay for his ticket; he would attend a bank branch and deposit his cash into the account of the transport museum.

Provided I took receipt of the necessary bank details, these are definitely options I could use.

I'm also unsure why/how anyone in this day and age would not have access to some kind of debit card considering most accounts are free to use.

There are some who choose to not participate in the banking system, due to the fact that the big four banks are corrupt. These people generally use cash exclusively and withdraw all income in the form of cash as soon as it lands in a 'gateway' bank account; most commonly they use a drawer or safe at home to hold their cash.

My mum handles all monetary things and she's very much a technophobe, she does use a savings debit card, but only ever to withdraw every week or so to keep us going. We've never liked the idea of internet banking or any of that cause the way she was brought up, and the way she's brought me up, privacy and security are big factors, so keeping 'real money' is our preferred way of living.


Back to topic though. May I ask why the costs of the tour are the value they are; is it due to the hiring costs, or are you actually buying a Dart for the Museum? Mum and I are perplexed as to why it is so high. We are low-income/government support payment earners and although I'd love to do both tours, I could probably only afford one, esp with ANU and everything.

[Snorzac]

The price is dictated by the cost to us to run the tour. Fuel prices and the costs to hire the bus. We need to ensure we can cover all expenses without the museum having to put in more. Any money left over after this (we do have a set number at which point the tour is profitable to the museum) are put into museum projects or future tours.

[Toyota Camry]

It may be worthwhile for the management of CTM to offer half fare concessions for tours, to help achieve sensible social equity and social justice goals; benefiting disadvantaged members of our community especially including women, Indigenous Australians plus the culturally and linguistically diverse. My personal suggestion would be to accept the same concession cards as accepted by Transport Canberra for MyWay concession fares; they are listed at the link below.

https://www.transport.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/1041849/Concession-Cards-2017-A3-Poster-v2.pdf

[Busnerd]

As per most other tours I have attended there is generally no concession price, what there is however, is member discounts. There has been several HCVA tours which have been $40 for non members and $15 for members.

[Snorzac]

At the end of the day, we need to cover our costs, $40 is the set price to meet those costs and that is that, the museum needs to be able to run tours from a cost neutral or better perspective, and therefore we cannot offer concessions.


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[Sylvan Loves Buses]

Well I just won $50 at the Harmonie German Club, gonna go for both trips now

[Sylvan Loves Buses]

Sold out yet?

[Busnerd]

If you can buy a ticket then no.

[Sylvan Loves Buses]

Well surely if there's gonna be two buses used on the dart tour, there should be about 50 available tickets and 25~ if one, but the website didn't mention any limits last time I looked.

[Snorzac]

Ticket sales are progressing as per our projections, we do advise anyone who has not yet purchased a ticket to do so as soon as possible as we are expecting an influx in sales in the next week which will likely exhaust allocations.

[CTM]

Important Information
Saturday
The tour will depart Community Bus Station Platform 2 at 1030, the buses will be on platform along with CTM staff from approximately 1000.The tour will conclude at at Belconnen Community Bus Station at 1715.

Please note this is an all weather event, it will run rain, hail or shine, there will be no additional pick ups and if you do need to leave early please let us know as we can determine the best place for you to get off.

There will be many photo opportunities, dont forget to bring your camera!

Sunday
There will be a transfer bus from the City departing the West Row Coach Stop at 1000, there will be no CTM staff on site until the transfer bus arrives. If you wish to do so you may also park on Bass Street near the Qcity depot for start at approximately 1030.

Please note, there is no depot access during this tour, attendees will be required to wait on the street while drivers change buses over, there will be a marquee/temporary bus stop set up for this. If you need to leave this tour early we strongly advise you to park on Bass Street as there will be no return to Canberra until the conclusion of the tour.

It is anticipated drop off to the City will be somewhere between 1600 and 1630

Again this is an all weather event, bring your cameras, come along and enjoy.