Accessibility of the Public Transport Bus Fleet | Parliamentary question without notice answered
10/09/2013
An answer has been provided to a question without notice asked on the 20th of September 2012.
The Hon. K.L. VINCENT (14:43): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the minister representing the Minister for Transport Services a question about the accessibility and safety of public transport in Adelaide.
Leave granted.
The Hon. K.L. VINCENT: I have raised issues regarding public transport services in this chamber many times now but I am yet to receive a response from the minister. This week I have again been reminded of the inadequacy of Adelaide’s public transport system by an incident that occurred on the B10 bus route on Monday afternoon. The bus was heading from the city up Magill Road. This bus looked to be something we purchased second-hand from interstate. I can assure you that it was not myself but my staff who were on this bus on their way to a meeting, as there was no way I could have accessed that bus because it had no centre doors, no ramps and a very narrow corridor. On a positive note, however, it did have seatbelts.
The bus was driven in a very spasmodic fashion by the driver, both in accelerating and braking phases. After stop 10, the bus driver accelerated, then braked suddenly and then accelerated again. In the course of this, a middle-aged, able-bodied passenger lost his footing and flew through the air, landing on a woman and accidentally striking her on the head. The woman was distressed and crying but would not say much as she had either sustained a concussion and was confused or was not confident expressing herself in English. The man who had fallen onto her apologised and kept trying to check if she was alright. The driver eventually realised that she had been injured and went to check the situation also. There was a significant discussion amongst passengers as to the poor driving skills of the driver.
One of my staff members asked two passengers if they were okay and needed assistance as they exited the bus. The second staff member asked the driver if something in particular was causing him to drive in this manner. The driver said it was very difficult to drive the bus because both the accelerator and the brake were very stiff and hard to operate. My questions are:
1. Does the minister concede that the incident that occurred on Monday was brought about by her department allowing the purchase of old buses that are, quite frankly, past their use-by date?
2. Is the minister concerned about both the safety and accessibility of her public buses and the risk that these ageing buses sold off by other jurisdictions pose to commuters?
3. Does the minister think it is good enough to only have 84 per cent of public buses accessible to wheelchair users and other people with mobility needs and leave many commuters with disabilities, prams and so on stranded by the side of the road?
4. When the minister closes down the Adelaide Railway Station in January, will commuters with disabilities be provided with an accessible bus as a replacement vehicle to travel into the city?
The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for State/Local Government Relations) (14:46): I would like to thank the honourable member for her very important questions and I will refer them to the minister in another place and seek to have a response as soon as possible.
The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation): The Minister for Transport Services has received this advice:
1. Following the incident, the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure (DPTI) investigated the matter with Torrens Transit, the operator of the B10 service.
Torrens Transit advises that the bus in question was a Mercedes Benz 2 diesel vehicle built in July 2002 and purchased interstate by Torrens Transit. The bus is a low-floor accessible vehicle with a manually operated wheelchair ramp at the entrance, which can accommodate up to two wheelchairs.
All buses in service are required to hold a current inspection certificate indicating the vehicle has met safety standards and is subject to ongoing service and maintenance requirements. All buses in service are also subject to mandatory safety inspections.
While the Torrens Transit workshop was unable to identify a problem with the accelerator or the brakes on this particular bus, they did consider that the driver may have had the ‘retarder’ switched on which may have been why the braking felt harsh. The retarder should only be used when descending hills and the driver has been counselled regarding its use.
It also is acknowledged that driving techniques and ability differ between drivers. However, no driver would deliberately drive in a dangerous and unsafe manner with the intention of causing injury. All bus drivers are regularly reminded of their responsibility in relation to observing the road rules and driving in a courteous manner, including when arriving and departing bus stops. While drivers must endeavour to remain on schedule wherever possible, I must stress that the safety and comfort of customers overrides all else.
All reports of unsafe driving practices are taken very seriously and any claims against drivers are investigated and appropriate action taken should it be found that a driver displayed unsafe or inappropriate driving practices.
2. I appreciate your concern regarding passenger safety and advise that it is a very important consideration in the provision of public transport services, and bus travel in Australia has a very good safety record when compared with many other forms of transport.
DPTI has only purchased accessible buses since 1995, with bus operators introducing some of their own buses over the past 10 years. These buses have all passed the regulatory inspection by DPTI’s vehicle standards unit.
The average age of the bus fleet has fallen to approximately nine years. With the Labor Government’s commitment to replacing older buses with brand new fully accessible buses, it is expected that the entire fleet will be fully accessible by 2020.
3. A significant investment in the bus fleet has been undertaken in recent years for both new and replacement buses which has seen the level of accessibility rise significantly from 31 per cent ten years ago to over 80 per cent. It is expected that the entire fleet will be fully accessible by 2020, two years ahead of the schedule required under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA), which requires 100 per cent accessibility by 31 December, 2022.
Further, all tram and train services across the Adelaide Metro network are accessible.
4. As part of major works to deliver Adelaide’s first electric rail services, significant rail closures, including closure of the Adelaide Railway Station was required in January 2013, taking advantage of the quietest time of the year to minimise disruption to commuters and avoid the need for repeated disruption.
As with previous closures, tailored substitute bus services were provided and matched, as closely as practical, the train timetables they replaced. Substitute bus timetables are available on the Adelaide Metro website (www.adelaidemetro.com.au). Due to the number of the rail substitute bus services required, these buses were not all wheelchair accessible.
However, the substitute buses used on the Belair and Outer Harbor lines operated by Torrens Transit are wheelchair accessible.
For travel on the Gawler and Noarlunga lines (including Tonsley), it is recommended that customers requiring an accessible bus service forgo rail substitute services, and utilise the regular Adelaide Metro bus service wherever possible.
Where it is not possible to use the Adelaide Metro bus service, customers are encouraged to contact the rail substitute bus provider to request that an accessible bus be provided for their rail substitute service. It is preferable that the substitute bus operator be notified one day prior to travel. If an accessible bus cannot be provided upon request, an Access Taxi was provided at no cost to the customer.
