Perth City Link - Busport project

[ozbob]

http://www.pta.wa.gov.au/perthcitylink/language/en-us/bus-project

Sinking the Fremantle rail line was the catalyst to reconnect the CBD and Northbridge for the first time in more than 100 years. The next stage, building a new underground bus station, will see the realisation of this vision and the completion of the transport component of the Perth City Link project.

The bus project will replace the ageing Wellington Street Bus Station with an Australian-first dynamic stand-allocation underground bus station.

Funded by the State Government and the City of Perth, the City Busport Alliance (the PTA, Brookfield Multiplex and BG&E) will deliver the project in 2016.

[ozbob]

Head down to #perthbusport this Sat and you'll get to see behind the scenes before we officially open on Sunday! pic.twitter.com/0IzK6cypS9

— Transperth (@Transperth) July 11, 2016

[ozbob]

http://www.transperth.wa.gov.au/PerthBusport

Perth Busport

Perth Busport opens Sunday 17 July 2016 - find out how your bus service is affected.

The Perth Busport is unique. Not only is the bus station fully underground - a first for Perth - it is also Australia's first bus station to work more like an airport, with buses departing from different stands for each trip to maximise efficiency.

Check out the facts and figures around the creation of Perth Busport.

[ozbob]

Be interesting to see how this works out for the average punter ..

How does it work?
Perth Busport operates much like an airport, allowing us to fit more services into the station. Just like a plane doesn't leave from the same gate every time you fly, when you catch a bus from Perth Busport, you won't always depart from the same stand. However your bus will always leave from the same group of four stands – either stands 1-4, stands 5-8, stands 9-12 or stands 13-16.

Before a stand is allocated to your bus, the screens will show the group of stands from which your bus will depart, so you can take a seat nearby and wait. Keep an eye on the screens, as two to five minutes before departure your bus will be allocated a stand.

Once a stand is allocated, the screen at the stand (called a Passenger Information Panel) will show detailed information such as route number, destination, departure time and any service deviations. You can now queue to board your bus.

[ozbob]

Today is the day, #perthbusport is officially open! Remember, buses will now depart from the Busport, not Roe St. pic.twitter.com/xvNTYLmjZc

— Transperth (@Transperth) July 17, 2016

[ozbob]

Remember, your bus will leave from #perthbusport this arvo. Talk to one of these guys for help finding your stand. pic.twitter.com/HN0qxb1zm5

— Transperth (@Transperth) July 18, 2016

[ozbob]

Not all wine and roses ...

WA Today --> Public sentiment on the rails as Transperth opens new Perth Busport

Dismayed passengers have taken Transperth to task over recent service shortfalls they say makes public transport hard around Perth.

The backlash is mostly over late bus services and the inflexibility of Transperth's ticketing and SmartRider systems and comes on the eve of the transport authority's $217m Perth Busport opening this weekend, which has much riding on it, including the 28,000 average passenger journeys it expects to accommodate each day.

The opening of the Wellington Street underground station, which the state government hopes will drive traffic from Northbridge to the CBD and help the City Link project succeed, coincides with several Transperth regulars contacting WAtoday about difficulties with the SmartRider service and late buses.

New passengers said they were baffled by major limitations with Transperth ticket machines at various stations.

A passenger from Melbourne, Jeremy Robotham, for example couldn't purchase a ticket from Whitfords train station despite being in possession of a $20 note and a debit/credit card.

"A Transperth worker told me if I didn't have smaller change, I'd have to buy something (from the retail outlet)," he said.

Several Transperth stations have two ticket-vending machines that accept only coins, notes and Eftpos and give a maximum of $10 change due to limited coin storage.

Regular passengers have also complained about their bus services running late, or in some cases cancelled without notice, which one bright spark in Perth took advantage of by developing the now 5-star-rated Apple app Should I Run?

The application uses GPS and real-time data to inform passengers if a bus, train or ferry is running late and has received overwhelming reviews from users for its accuracy and simplicity.

Transperth said customers were satisfied with SmartRider, with passengers on buses (99 per cent) and trains (97 per cent) "satisfied" with the service since its inception in 2005 at a running cost of $35 million.

​As a comparison, Melbourne's Myki electronic ticketing system has cost $1.5 billion since 2004 and was recently allocated $700m over seven years to help with existing issues.

There are 2.4 million SmartRider cards in circulation, with 425,000 tapped monthly that account for 90% of peak and 78% of off-peak paid journeys on the Transperth network, which can be topped up on one of 1429 buses, at most train stations, retail outlets, InfoCentres or online via Bpay or credit card.

The most popular and efficient way of adding value to a SmartRider is by Autoload - a pre-determined amount that is transferred from your bank account whenever the card's value drops to a certain level.

"The card is credited immediately, which means it never runs out.  It also entitles the "autoloader" to a 25 per cent discount from the standard fare," Transperth corporate communications manager David Hynes said.

With Bpay top-ups, passengers must rely on the time it takes their bank to transfer funds.

Late buses were usually the result of roadworks, special events or congestion from construction and council work, traffic and police incidents or bad weather.

Transperth data from May 2016 showed 85 per cent of buses and 95 per cent of trains run on time.

"It is very rarely that our buses simply 'don't turn up'," Mr Hynes said.

Long delays exiting station carparks like Cockburn Central are the responsibility of the local council, Transperth said.

The new Perth Busport will open on Sunday, with a sneak peek and test run available at a community event on Saturday from 12-3pm.

While every transport system around the world has its issues, WAtoday shares some local complaints from the past week below, if only to get you through your commute...