Buses World News

In brief: Worldwide montly news & informations about Buses, Busmakers, Passengers' and the Transport Industry

9.6.08

COMPLAINS * Pakistan - Public transport system on verge of collapse

Only 700 buses out of the target of 900 are plying 20 out of the 53 allotted routes - PTA inviting private companies to launch buses

Lahore,Pakistan -The Daily Times, by Rana Kashif -5 June 2008: -- The existing public transport system that replaced commuter vans with buses on the verge of collapse because of financial loss said Urban Transport Bus Owners Association President Bashir Sial... District Regional Transport Authority (DRTA) Secretary Munir Ahmed Joiya said, “We realise that the transport system of the city is in poor condition but the situation will be controlled soon”... The system of high occupancy public transport buses was introduced in response to a treaty with the United Nations (UN) to save citizens from environmental pollution caused by the outdated commuters vans... Another reason for introducing private bus companies was the failure of the Punjab Road Transport Company, which cost the government Rs 2.5 billion a year in staff salaries and utility bills only, the official said... The official said that the Transport Department had tried launching 900 buses in the city replacing almost 7,000 commuter vans, but they could only introduce 700 of them, which caused problems for commuters... Acording to the department, around 950,000 commuters travelled by buses every day. The existing transport system could carry only 50 percent of them, the official said... (Video from YouTube, by shahidwaseem - June 24, 2007: "Rash driving by Deawoo 160KM/H" - Rash driving by Deawoo bus service. Speeding upto 160KM/H. From Islamabad to Lahore on motorway )

Labels: complains public transport

12.11.07

* New Zealand - Buses under fire

New Zealand -The New Zealand Herald, by Jared Savage - November 11, 2007: -- Dangerous driving, assaults on motorists and ordering children off a schoolbus are among complaints laid against bus drivers - yet a recent report found buses were the safest way to travel in New Zealand... More than half of complaints about bus drivers were laid about unsafe driving or speeding, according to Land Transport New Zealand figures, and drivers who were sacked for rude behaviour towards passengers... But complaints about speeding or dangerous driving were dealt with by warnings or "advice" from LTNZ... Complaints made directly to bus companies about poor service were kept secret from the public... That could change under new legislation, tabled in Parliament last month. It is designed to give local councils more power over commercial bus operators to make them meet quality and performance criteria - and make public transport safer...

Labels: complains public transport

COMPLAINS * Australia - Commuters up but no new buses

Sydney,NSW,Australia -LIVE NEWS, by Edwina Bartholomew -10 Nov 2007: -- Not one extra bus has been added to the State Transit fleet in the past three years, despite multi-million dollar promises from the NSW State Government... 106 new buses were purchased but they replaced older vehicles no longer roadworthy... Shadow Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian says John Watkins needs to come clean on where the money is being spent. “The minister for transport needs to explain why, contrary to the many statements he’s made on the public record regarding the buses and the need for new buses … they haven’t actually materialised,” she said...

Labels: complains public transport

16.8.07

* Australia - Private buses deal a public disgrace

In the understanding of most people, public transport is provided for the use of the general populace - which is to say, for anybody or everybody

Sydney,New South Wales,Australia -The Daily Telegraph -August 16, 2007: -- ... However the NSW Government seems to take a completely different view, to the extent that the terms "public" and "private" can now be used interchangeably... For example, government-run buses - which might be thought in laymen's terms to fall under the conventional definition of public transport - are now being operated as a sort of exclusive for-hire limo service to the corporate sector... And no doubt there's money to be made in the arrangement. In one deal, the State Transit Authority has guaranteed to provide more than 200 services a day to the North Ryde headquarters of telecommunications giant Optus... Now, we expect public transport services to run efficiently, even profitably if possible. And if it becomes feasible for government-run public transport operators to maintain proper service levels for the general commuting population and offer a for-profit contract service to private companies, well and good... But the idea that "public" services are being cut to meet "private" contracts is unacceptable...

* Companies snap up public buses
Sydney,New South Wales,Australia -newscom.au, by Joe Hildebrand -August 16, 2007: -- Sydney commuters are being left stranded because the State Government has hired out hundreds of bus services a day for the exclusive use of private companies... As chronic driver shortages cripple service routes and throw running times and timetables into chaos, the Government is renting public buses to private businesses for extra revenue... (Picture by Matt Reed - Exclusive ... while regular commuters wait, as few as three private employees ride in chartered comfort on public buses)

Labels: complains public transport