This post is in response to the recent South Australian state government decision to levy fines against the bus companies which are contracted to providing the metropolitan bus services in and around Adelaide. The fines were levied because the busses have been consistently running "late" compared to the timetables.
I find the whole episode disturbing.
Here's why:
Over recent years, the bus timetables have been put together by a government department, because instead of a single bus company doing the majority of the work, there are now several which operate in different parts of the metro area (though there is some overlap due to continuance of services). This has meant that it seems, to one outside this whole shamozzle looking in, that the bureaucrats putting the timetables together and updating them have lost a vital connection to the bus drivers: the bus drivers are the ones who can report on problems with the timetables... but instead of being listened to, they are simply told "keep up with the timetable, or else."
As a case in point: I used to live in a place where the bus would have to cross South Rd on Pym St in the Croydon area. There are stops on either side of South Rd (not right next to it, though). and the bus would have to wait sometimes 4 or 5 minutes to cross South Rd (because South Rd is a massively major thoroughfare, and the lights at the intersection heavily prioritise South Rd traffic because there is so much more of it!). The problem is, the timetables in recent years don't take local factors into account and only ever allow 1 minute between stops... So, just having to run this route will automatically put a bus behind by several minutes when it gets to South Rd. The curious thing is that 2 or 3 stops further on from the ones on either side of South Rd are classed as "timed stops", that is, the bus is not allowed to go past them early. So, wouldn't a more logical thing be to add considerably more time to cross the road, and make the stop immediately after South Rd a timed stop (so if it gets a shorter change in the sequence of lights, it then sits the extra bit of time at the stop so as not to inconvenience anyone; otherwise if it gets a shorter sequence but is already behind for some other reason, it has a chance to catch up!).
Over the last decade, I've been injured several times on busses because the driver was behaving as a leadfoot to try to keep up with unrealistic schedules. I've had some compensation payouts as a result (though not through litigation, just claiming on their insurance). Most recently, I had been injured after starting a new job: both on the bus into work that day and on the way home again. I haven't bothered to lodge a complaint, but after what Ms Portolesi did with the bus companies, I'm very tempted to do so - to make a point.
I don't catch the busses now. My wife (bless her special heart) now drives me to work and picks me up afterwards. This is a considerable strain on her; it's a strain on our budget. But I don't trust the busses any more.
They just aren't a safe alternative to travel on.
And I know I'm not the only one who feels this way. I have several friends who have had incidents where they have been trapped in doors and risked being dragged along as the bus took off from the stop if it had not been for other passengers alerting the driver to what he/she had done. The drivers are impatient to take off, because waiting for slower passengers to embark/alight costs them time against the already too compressed timetable.
It's time for a different tack, Ms Portolesi. How about emphasising passenger safety by reversing the overly tight schedules next time the timetables are re-drawn?
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