Media Release: Gold Coast's first 'dial-up' bus service trial begins Monday

[Golliwog]

http://www.translink.com.au/mediarelease.php?id=231
Gold Coast's first 'dial-up' bus service trial begins Monday
Wednesday 3 November 2010


About 15,000 Pacific Pines and Park Lake residents will be the first to benefit from the Gold Coast"s new trial dial-up 'home collection" bus service.

From 5am Monday (Nov 8 ), 'YourBus" will begin picking up its first passengers from home and connecting them with the Helensvale Railway Station and Helensvale town centre.

Gold Coast Mayor Ron Clarke and Divisional Councillor Peter Young officially launched the new service today (November 3).

Residents will just need to phone the YourBus call centre on 5588 1223 to reserve a seat from home to their destination. Operating in half-hour loops, YourBus will connect with other bus and train services. Return buses will leave every half hour and there will be no need to book the return journey. Normal TransLink fares will apply and passengers can use cash or go card.

Mayor Clarke said the six-month trial service had been initiated and funded by Council, with support from Surfside Buslines, Gold Coast Cabs and TransLink.

"It is the first service of this nature but I see it as the way of the future for public transport," he said.

"It will be as convenient and economical as private vehicles for the 80 per cent of car trips made to destinations within four kilometres of residents" homes. It will be interesting to see how well the service is accepted and used."

Cr Clarke said YourBus added to other targeted transport services funded by Council, including the highly popular Council Cabs and Surfers Paradise NightLink.

"YourBus will improve access for people in areas currently underserviced by public transport.

"It is being trialled in Pacific Pines because much of the area is hilly, with some narrow streets which aren"t easily accessed by normal buses. YourBus will be delivered by 28-seater, wheelchair-accessible vehicles which will be able to access most of the streets in the trial area. Where they can"t enter the street, passengers can arrange to be picked up at the nearest junction," he said.

Public transport currently represents just 3.4 per cent of trips taken each day on the Gold Coast. YourBus will help expand Council"s Active Travel program by encouraging local residents to make sustainable travel choices as part of their everyday lives.

Cr Young said the service was eagerly awaited by local residents.

"It is a diverse community, with lots of young families, teenagers, university students, young parents, retirees and many people who commute to Brisbane and other parts of the city to work each day," Cr Young said.

"For many, access to private transport is a problem, so YourBus will provide a real alternative.

"It will be particularly welcomed by commuters seeking to connect with trains and buses at Helensvale Station, and young people and the elderly needing to access the shops at Helensvale."

One such couple is 85-year-old Clarrie Cantrell and his wife June, 72.

Residents of Pacific Pines for the past 11 years, June has found herself operating as a 'taxi" service to family members, and is looking forward to being able to rely more on public transport.

"It will make a big difference to our lives," June said.

"As we get older it will be impossible to climb the hill back home.

"We want to stay here, everything we need is in the local area. We just need to be able to get to the shops. And if I can get to the train and buses easily, I will use those. I used buses all the time when I was living in England and the children were little and I think they are a great service.

"I would definitely use the train and other buses more often. It will be a wonderful thing for us.

"I also see a benefit for mothers with babies and toddlers who would also find that this service will help young families in this wonderful door-to-door service."

June said her 17-year-old granddaughter would also use the service.

"It will be great for the teenagers here as well."

Cr Clarke said that if the service proved successful in Pacific Pines, Council could consider extending it to other areas underserviced by public transport.

Cr Young urged residents to get behind YourBus to ensure its success.

"As with all these services, we need to ensure that Council"s money is being put to good use.

"My message to residents is 'hop on board" if you would like to see YourBus retained."

[verbatim9]

Public transport on demand? Sure it's not a Avanced April fools joke!!!

[Stillwater]

Public transport on demand is exactly what it is.  Councils feel obliged to provide these services in circumstances where none existed before and people are demanding them.  That must be seen as a plus -- instead of being conservative and sticking to the same old bus travel patterns, new ones are being trialed.

As with the FlexiLink taxi-bus services on the Sunshine Coast, Your Bus is being provided using the proceeds of a transport levy on ratepayers.

Up north, people were used to paying a library service levy, for instance; and, while they did not necessarily have a permanent public library building in their town, the mobile library called twice or three times a week.  In other words, people felt their levy was buying a service of sorts in small communities.  When the council transport levy came in, the ratepayers in smaller communities that had no bus service at all said: 'hang on, we are subsidising the public transport benefits enjoyed by people at Caloundra and Maroochydore!  Where is our bus service?'  FlexiLink was born.

Think of these things as embryonic bus services.  As they are used and patronage/population grows, they will become conventional bus services.

Older people especially appreciate these services because it means they can stay in their homes and in towns where all their friends and support network exist.  Young teens love these services.  For two bucks, they and their friends can jump in a pre-booked taxi-bus and head to town to shop and 'hang out'.  They have an outlet for their energy instead of setting fire to the public toilets.  That means less draw-down on my parks and gardens maintenance levy.

For the social and travel benefits, I am happy to pay my council transport levy.  It's a winner, hands down.

[#Metro]

IMHO a PT service can be too flexible. Are there fixed & signed stops for instance? Or is it hail and ride?
I remember reading about a taxi service- I can't remember where- where you just turn up at the local shops or local taxi ranks where this service operated and it would take you on a fixed or semi-fixed route.

The PT service should have some kind of street presence for some level of permanency. Even if it is just BCC style bus route indicator signs.

[Stillwater]

The way FlexiLink works is that the taxi-bus follows a set route, like a normal bus.  It stops at your front gate (if you are on the route and have phoned in to book, thereby giving your address).  Alternatively, if you are off the route, say in a side street, the address you give when you phone in is 'the corner of such and such street'.  The driver has the discretion to deviate of the route, say miss a loop street, if no bookings have been made from that loop street.  The Gold Coast YourBus seems a bit more like a bus and less like a taxi than the Sunny Coast's FlexiLink.  BTW, Sunny Coast Council also operates 'CouncilCabs' whereby pensioners can be picked up, once a week, and taken to their nearest town/supermarket/doctor - then driven home again.  It is good to see all these different schemes being tested.  It is also proving the flexibility of PT, and encouraging more users.

[Arnz]

The buses for the Gold Coast 'dial-up' service, or their version of 'Flexi-Link' have been delivered.  

The 3 buses are ex-Sunshine Coast Sunbus (Custom Coaches CB20 low-floor mini-bus with a Mercedes 815 engine).  They are still in the blue livery minus the Sunbus logo.   The 'dial-up' will take go-cards, so the go-card machines/readers are still retained on the buses.