Redex: Insert Pinched Slogan Here!

[whartonj]

This service is an absolute joke!!!

I currently catch a 51 from Ngunnawal Primary School @ 7:14am and get to the city @ 7:45am (This service also stops at the Market place).  If I catch the new 727 REDEX service from Gungahlin Market Place @ 7:16am I will get to the city at 7:46am.  I save 1 minute.  Whoopty-do. 

I currently leave home at 7:10am to catch the 51 and will need to leave at the same time to get to the Market Place to catch the 727 @ 7:16am.  So for the saving of 1 minute, I'll need to start driving my car and pay more in fuel each week or catch the 51 @ 6:45am and stand at the market place for 20minutes.

What a bunch of morons!  This trial is already doomed before it starts!

[Irisbus Rider]

Welcome to the forum!

This trial is already doomed before it starts!

There are a considerable number of ACTION employees stating this actually.

It is a shame, because it is a good idea, it is just poorly executed (by shadowing another route).
The advantages of it is that it provides extra capacity for the Gungahlin to City section, and it skips most stops on Northbourne, which will avoid crowding on buses.

[Buzz Killington]

What's the bet we'll still have people press the bell for non-redex stops, then "SCUSE US MATE, YOU MISSED ME STOP!" when the bus zooms straight past!

[ajw373]

What's the bet we'll still have people press the bell for non-redex stops, then "SCUSE US MATE, YOU MISSED ME STOP!" when the bus zooms straight past!

We have had limited stop buses before in Canberra and it has never been a problem. Give em a week and they will soon work it out no problem at all.

[Barry Drive]

Also, the information screen might help - but then again if they don't read the bus destos, why would they read the internal screen?

[Irisbus Rider]

Will this service have 'voiced announcements' throughout the route? If so, that would definately help, because I agree with Martin, the screen will go completely unnoticed by most.

[Barry Drive]

I seriously hope not. I don't think those screens have speakers - the only speakers are in the driver's cabin.

[Bus 400]

There is a speaker at the bottom of the screen & next to each internal light. The stops on the the 312 yesterday weren't spoken, just changed 2-5m after each stop.
For most the screens are a novelty & are watched by most, but that'll change as everyone gets use to them.

[Irisbus Rider]

There is a speaker at the bottom of the screen & next to each internal light. The stops on the the 312 yesterday weren't spoken, just changed 2-5m after each stop.
For most the screens are a novelty & are watched by most, but that'll change as everyone gets use to them.

Which answers my question....lol.

So, it would appear that the Scanias and the Gas MANs are the only 'green' buses lacking internal speakers.

[Buzz Killington]

There's an ad in this week's chronicle for Redex - complete with 375 with a Redex Desto...and missing its gas pod.

[Busnerd]

Probably with a crap desto too

[Bus 400]

It just has the Redex logo in the desto

[Bus 400]

The Redex timetable have been installed in the 4 bollards at Gungahlin Marketplace.

Rapid bus service not so express: Opposition

The ACT Opposition says not much will change for north Canberra commuters when the Government's new rapid transit bus service is introduced.

MLA Alistair Coe says timetables for the service show only a few minutes will be cut from normal bus travel times from Gungahlin to the city during the morning peak.

He says only one minute will be cut from existing daytime services and in the evening, there is no time savings at all.

"It's not going to be a rapid transit system like Mr [Jon] Stanhope has promised, it's really going to be additional route buses," he said.

"Now, additional route buses is something we welcome.

"But he can't mislead the people of Canberra and say it's going to be an express service when it's going on the same roads, stopping at the same traffic lights and has all the other major problems that the existing bus system has."

[Bus 400]

An update bollard at Gungahlin Marketplace


The sign that goes in the top of the bollard

[Sir Pompously]

Hopefully if this service stays they will give us double Bollards, so one dedicated to Redex. Although I do not mind the insert. Thankfully they have yet to use the piched slogan on the Bollards. Also, in both photos I clearly see part of a finger.....

[Irisbus Rider]

Hopefully if this service stays they will give us double Bollards, so one dedicated to Redex.

No, just single bollards. Double bollards aren't really necessary, all the information can easily fit on the single bollard, and with the RedEx logo on the top of the bollard, it be sufficient.

[Bus 400]

They were both taken with the camera on my phone.

[Bus 400]

ACTION have started a radio ad for Redex now, goes along the lines of nothing bus has gone faster, leave car at home, Redex get of board.

[The Love Guru]

ACTION have started a radio ad for Redex now, goes along the lines of nothing bus has gone faster, leave car at home, Redex get of board.

Sounds like a translation from a Chinese version of the ad the way you have worded it!

[Snorzac]

LOL

[Bus 400]

Word from a reliable source is that the Redex services from 09:00 to 16:00 will be free for the first week.

[Irisbus Rider]

Sounds like a translation from a Chinese version of the ad the way you have worded it!

ROFL! It's so funny because it's true!

But seriously, it's a really clever ad, I'm sure it will spruce interest, but when commuters see it isn't as express as it has been made out to be, it will be a massive dissapointment.

[bubzie]

I heard it today on 104....and i want that minute of advertising back.

[Buzz Killington]

It has something along the lines of "Buses haven't gone this fast since Sandra and Keanu..."

And of course, it ends with "Get on Board!"

[Bus 400]

Word from a reliable source is that the Redex services from 09:00 to 16:00 will be free for the first week.

The times may of been out a bit, but confirmation of this today:

To celebrate the start of REDEX, on Monday 16 November ACTION is offering free travel for the first week on the REDEX between 9:00am and 4:30pm. Offer ends on Friday 20 November at 4:30pm.

[The Love Guru]

Probably the only way they can think of to attract people to use it!

[Bus 400]

The point I think ACTION missed was that the buses are nice & cool to get into after a hard day at work. As if you leave your car in the sun at 08:30 by 17:00 it is boiling hot.

I should mention my reliable source said that Supervisors will also be on the Redex buses for the first week. So you have to be on your best behavior. They'll more then likely gathering passenger numbers & will be there for when passengers bitch & moan when the bus goes past their stop (which is of course a non Redex stop).

[Buzz Killington]

So you have to be on your best behavior

Don't know about you but when I get on the bus I take a seat and don't move until it's time to get off the bus. Not exactly hard to behave yourself!

[Snorzac]

Saw the 727 desto today on 392 while it was out doing some GPS testing. It has Redex on the top line, I think it was actually the Redex logo, and then it has a scrolling bottom line that slides across the screen with 'Limited Stops Railway Station via City' or similar.

[Bus 400]

For those that haven't seen it yet (surely not many), this is the ad on the back of most of the new MAN's:

[Busnerd]

That looks silly, they should have just done a full rear ad if they were going to do it like that!

[Bus 400]

The Canberra Times reports that 14 buses will be designated to Redex. So unless 3 more buses are due tomorrow, a few shifts won't be covered on Monday.

[Buzz Killington]

So unless 3 more buses are due tomorrow, a few shifts won't be covered on Monday.

They'll pull the buses off other runs onto Redex  before they let their brand new, much hyped Redex service have runs cancelled.

[Snorzac]

14 buses doesn't necessarily mean that they will all be MAN deisel

[Busnerd]

I think we can all agree the liberal's are a bunch of f*****s...what the hell, is "sold a pup" do they have a special office dedicated to coining stupid new phrases!?

[Bus 400]

It was a part of Alistair's Year 11 essay that he completed last night, handed it in this morning & then went to complain about big bus.

[Irisbus Rider]

Wait, I thought what Alistair said is the general concencus that everyone on this forum has reached?

It seems as though I've been the only person that has faith in this service, yet, when a politician states what all you have said, there's suddenly an issue? How odd.....

FYI, from 'thefreedictionary.com':
be sold a pup  (British informal): to be tricked into buying something that is not worth anything
I've never heard the saying before either, sounds a tad stupid.

[The Love Guru]

You are all showing your age, or lack there of! The govt has been 'sold a pup' so to speak. Redex is a waste of tax payers money in its current form. Would be nice to get someone in who knows what they are doing to get these services running correctly.

At this time, the service will carry very few passengers on 2 services an hour as it shadows the 5 all the way along its route. The other 2 services an hour may have a few more out of Gungahlin, however they do not connect with any of the feeder services. It is rather poorly planned to have the redex bus miss these connections, as its still faster to catch the 5. Once arriving at the city, 2 of the Redex services per hour will be travelling within a 5 minute window of both routes 5 & 4.

Timetable example out of the city is as follows. This is for all offpeak hours southbound

:02 - Route 5
:03 - Redex
:07 - Route 4
:18 - Redex
:27 - Route 80
:32 - Route 5
:33 - Redex
:37 - Route 4
:48 - Redex

It is amazing that 9 buses per hour are running along the common sector from the city to Wentworth Ave, Kingston yet there are still up to 14 minutes between services, with 3 services operating in a 5 minute window twice an hour. Routes 4 and 5 were poorly planned from the beginning and Redex has countinued this trend.

Redex is a service that is duplicating a current service with no real time benefit for the commuting public. It offers no new connections or destinations than the current route network. If ACTION wanted this concept to succeed, the $1 million could have been spent on installing bus priority measures on Northbourne Ave, as well as making Gungahlin services only stop at 2 stops between Dickson and the City on Northbourne Ave (the stops Redex are using).

It all smells of political motivation to ensure the service has inadequate passenger numbers to continue past the end of the trial. In doing so, the Labor party keeps their end of the promises they made to the greens to get power at the last election, whilst ensuring they don't have to continue funding of these services. Seems $1 million is a small price to pay for political power!

[The Love Guru]

Just to add to my rant, here are the Northbound times arriving at the city

:09 - Route 5
:10 - Redex
:12 - Route 4
:25 - Redex
:39 - Route 5
:40 - Redex
:41 - Route 80
:42 - Route 4
:55 - Redex

They must be expecting a very large change in travel habits of those workers in the Russell and Barton areas. Having the 4 services that operate the common route arriving at the city 1 minute apart from each other is a stroke of genuis. I'm unsure that anyone in the planning department has ever read the timetable!

[belcodriver]

It's not really about the routes anyway it's a prototype for getting rid of seniority and bringing in block rosters.

[Bus 400]

What is a block roster?

Isn't seniority being replaced with years in the Public service? So if I was in JACS for 5 years, I would be higher on the list then someone who is 40 & been in ACTION for 3 years. Well that is the rumor I've heard anyway.

[Buzz Killington]

ACTION REDEX buses every 15 minutes from monday

Released 12/11/2009

The ACT Government's trial of a new high frequency bus service between the Gungahlin Market Place and Canberra Railway Station in Kingston commences Monday 16 November offering buses every 15 minutes from 7am and 7pm.

Chief Minister and Minister for Transport Jon Stanhope said the Government had invested $1 million for a trial of the high frequency service, called REDEX.

"REDEX will deliver more buses, more frequently throughout the day," Mr Stanhope said. "Buses will run every 15 minutes from 7am to 7pm between the Gungahlin Market Place and Canberra Railway Station in Kingston, via Mitchell, Northbourne Avenue, the City, Russell and Barton.

"Travel on REDEX buses is free for the first week between 9am and 4.30pm to encourage Canberrans to use the frequent service in off-peak periods.

"I expect this service to be enormously successful. We know that what people want from a bus network is frequency, regularity and reliability, and that's what we're delivering with REDEX."

REDEX will be trialled until 30 June 2010, including the school holidays, but not the Christmas and New Year period.

A review of the trial and community and driver feedback will help form the future of REDEX and its potential growth, which could include an extension to Fyshwick.

ACTION will also consider additional REDEX services for Belconnen and the Tuggeranong Valley, depending on the review.

Information on REDEX is available from the ACTION website at http://www.action.act.gov.au/.

All 14 REDEX buses are low-emission, wheelchair accessible and provide bike racks and on-bus information screens.

[belcodriver]

What is a block roster?

Isn't seniority being replaced with years in the Public service? So if I was in JACS for 5 years, I would be higher on the list then someone who is 40 & been in ACTION for 3 years. Well that is the rumor I've heard anyway.

A block roster is where drivers might get to pick roughly which time of day they work and then maybe 7 drivers will rotate through 5 different shifts including rostered weekend.

Currently shifts are picked in order of seniority with that being determined by years of continuous service with ACTION.

[Buzz Killington]

There is now a Redex page on the 'Information' page of the Website.

[Bus 400]

Each depot has 7 allocated Redex shifts. Each depot also has 1 spare Redex driver & these take priority over normal services (school services are still a priority)

[Bus 400]

For those that have seen the Redex desto, has anyone noticed what differences there are between the To Kingston & To Gungahlin scrolls?

[Snorzac]

no, please enlighten us? grace us with your intelligence once again.

[Bus 400]

Gungahlin Bound desto

"Redex Limited Stops Gungahlin via City"

Kingston Bound

"Redex limited stops Kingston via City

[Bus 400]

There is another whinge by Coey about Redex in yesterday's Canberra Times. It does mention that a timetable review wil be implemented during Easter break.

[ajw373]

Gungahlin Bound desto

"Redex Limited Stops Gungahlin via City"

Kingston Bound

"Redex limited stops Kingston via City

Why ask the question if you knew the answer?