(^20) ABCJuly 2019 busnews.com.au
THENEWNSWMinisterforRegional
Transport and Roads, The Hon. Paul
Toole MP (pictured above), announced
a review of the Government’s rural and
regional bus seat-belt program at the
BusNSW annual Conference, held in the
Blue Mountains, recently.
A joint industry and government
task force will be set up to undertake a
review of the current program, which
involves a large seat-belt retrofit project
in addition to the inclusion of seat-belts
on all new buses.
In July, 2013, the NSW Government
announced that seatbelts would be
mandatory, and standing would be
phased out, on school buses operated
in rural and regional areas within
10 years. In June 2017, a second
announcement expanded the scope
to all buses operating under rural and
regional contracts in NSW through
a combination of replacement and
retrofitting.
There have been a number of issues
with the retrofit project and only approx.
65 buses have been retrofit since they
commenced late 2018. It is unlikely
that the NSW Government can meet
its targets, which involves retrofitting
another 500 dedicated work school
buses by December 2019, and an
additional 985 school and route
buses by December 2021, according
to BusNSW.
NSW GOVT
REVIEWS SEAT-BELT
PROGRAM
QUIET RIOT
From July 1, all new EU-manufactured
electric vehicles must come with an
acoustic vehicle alert system (AVAS)
that emits fake driving noises. This
has led Transport for London to look
into some alternative sounds for its
fleet, which met with unimpressed
reactions. “They did play us a sound
like someone blowing bubbles
through a pipe,” said a Guide Dogs
UK representative to The Guardian,
adding that the sounds were “all very
spaceshippy” and suggested just
using a classic Routemaster recording.
Hmmm... The old buses might still live
on in some form. Listen at: https://bit.
ly/2XIh0BD
DOUBLE THE FUN
Preston, UK’s bus station showcased
its more artistic side recently with a
choreographed ‘dance’ routine by 32
double-deckers mirrored by volunteers
in the passenger concourse, all set
to music. Part of the 50th birthday
celebrations for the iconic building,
Preston University and Harris Museum
hired performance artist Keith
Harrison to create the piece, the film
of which will be shown as part of the
Beautiful and Brutal: 50 years in the
life of Preston Bus Station exhibition.
What a way to celebrate!
BEE-AUTIFUL!
In the Netherlands summer is in
the air, with hundreds of bus stops
being covered with bright-yellow
plants. These floral adornments are
part of Utrecht’s efforts to improve
biodiversity – providing an oasis for
bees – as well as absorbing rainwater,
capturing dust and pollutants from
the air and absorbing carbon. Banksia
bus stops, anybody?
THE WOT!?!
Credit: TfL
TASK FORCE ESTABLISHED
The project has created a number of
unforeseen engineering and capacity
issues that are impacting on customers,
operators and government. The
inclusion of ADR68 compliant seats
on new low-floor buses has created
some engineering challenges and
a government policy for authorised
standees is still outstanding, the
organisation states.
The task force – which will include
Transport for NSW, BusNSW and
operator representatives – will
undertake a prompt review of the
seat-belt program, and will not
impact on retrofit work that is in
progress, it states.
BusNSW executive director Matt
Threlkeld said he was pleased that
Minister Toole had taken a pragmatic
approach to the program and
recognised the need for a review.
“The task force will consider changes
which provide customers with the
best experience possible, give the NSW
Government and taxpayers value for
money, and ensure that safety remains
the number one priority”, Threlkeld said.
“We are hoping that the task
force can make recommendations
that deliver a better result for all
concerned and a realistic timeframe for
government and industry to work with,”
Threlkeld said.
NEWS
grace
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