More demanding performance targets set for Dublin Bus, Irish Rail, Bus Eireann

LXFlyer

An interesting news item on the NTA website.....

http://nationaltransport.ie/downloads/more_demanding_performance_targets.pdf

The National Transport Authority has reviewed and revised upwards the performance targets it sets for the transport companies it funds through the Public Service Obligation (PSO) budget. These new targets are incorporated as amendments to Schedule B of their contracts. The transport companies provide performance data on a quarterly basis, and these reports are published on the Authority’s website, www.nationaltransport.ie[/URL].

The companies can lose up to 10% of their annual subvention if they fail to meet the targets set by the National Transport Authority. Targets were initially set on December 1, 2009, when the first contracts between the Authority and Dublin Bus, Irish Rail and Bus Eireann were put in place.

Chief Executive Officer, Gerry Murphy said: “We reviewed companies’ performances over the first year of the new contracts, and we saw scope to set higher performance targets, to improve the customers’ journey experience further. In addition, we identified the need for more detailed and
disaggregated data from the transport companies, to help us look more closely at performance measures on particular lines or corridors, with a view to setting more service-specific targets in the future”.

He said that this was the first phase in an on-going process of refining and revising performance requirements, and added that this also reflects the ambitions of the transport operators to continually improve the service they deliver to their customers.

Higher performance targets have been set in areas such as: reliability, punctuality, customer information, handling queries and reporting on revenue protection.

For full details see www.nationaltransport.ie/public_transport.html

The new reporting requirements are laid out here:

Dublin Bus

Bus Eireann

Iarnrod Eireann

foggy_lad

Cleanliness
Buses
Where facilities exist:
 Each bus operated in service will be vacuumed
internally and washed externally each day.
 Heating, ventilation and lighting on board all
vehicles is working and set to a comfortable level.
 Each bus will receive daily attention to include the
removal of rubbish, emptying of bins and attending
to visible or identifiable soiling.
 Each bus in service will be internally valeted on
average every 5 weeks to include vacuuming all
fabrics, applying cleaning agents to all other
internal surfaces including windows, graffiti and
stain removal.
 Drivers will be well presented, friendly, helpful and
courteous at all times.

This part in the Bus Eireann report is interesting considering the amount of chewing gum left on seats and the recliner levers beside the window seats. busses are just swept out in busaras as far as i can see.

Carawaystick

Was this the result of a public consultation or just some diktat handed down from Gerry's quango?

On time is still ten minutes late for Irish Rail
Only DARTS need to have working audiovisual displays, not commuter or intercity trains

Fares can be changed with only 5 days notice

Timetables need only the 5 days notice too.

xper

I was momentarily hopeful on reading the first post that the NTA's action was the result of some concern with the deterioration of DB's service under the Network Direct programme. But upon reading the actual targets, I am unimpressed (these are more stringent than before? ). A threshold of operating 95% of all scheduled services is shockingly low. 1 in 20 departures not happening would be acceptble? Seriously?

CIE

Nothing about average speeds going up.

Cookie_Monster

Target still don't seem realistic to me. 95% operating?

2% of buses can still carry wrong or misleading destination info (or none)

Nothing on running times or speeds

Stopped reading it shortly after. Seems to just be a way for CIE to easily meet all it's targets.

LXFlyer

I'm not quite sure what could be put into this document regarding average speeds.

Most of what dictates that is down to dwell times and on-street bus priority measures, both of which are out of Dublin Bus' direct control. Fare policy is within the control of the Department of Transport and the NTA rather than the bus company.

Cookie_Monster

lxflyer wrote: »

I'm not quite sure what could be put into this document regarding average speeds.

removal of stops there are far too close together
more priority bus measures (not strictly DB, but if they had targets they would push for better infrastructure)
moving buses out of silly loops and low speed housing estates onto main roads
buses with double doors
pushing the use of tickets to a much greater degree

LXFlyer

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

removal of stops there are far too close together
more priority bus measures (not strictly DB, but if they had targets they would push for better infrastructure)
moving buses out of silly loops and low speed housing estates onto main roads
buses with double doors
pushing the use of tickets to a much greater degree

Yes - but virtually all of those are down to policy (fares policy, integrated ticketing, capital expenditure policy, infrastructure) rather than daily operations and as such are not really criteria by which to judge the actual performance of the company in this context.

I take your point but I think it is something that needs to be focussed on elsewhere rather than the operational standards that DB are monitored on in 2011. Getting average speeds up is something dependant on outside forces to a significant degree.

As for moving buses out of "silly loops" - is that not what is happening under ND?

Cookie_Monster

lxflyer wrote: »

As for moving buses out of "silly loops" - is that not what is happening under ND?

in theory yes, in practice not always. While there have been some obvious improvements (46a out of Monkstown) there have been some left in place.
7 through Blackrock and Sallynoggin, 145 through that estate in Bray south (or did that get amended in the end) etc

LXFlyer

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

in theory yes, in practice not always. While there have been some obvious improvements (46a out of Monkstown) there have been some left in place.
7 through Blackrock and Sallynoggin, 145 through that estate in Bray south (or did that get amended in the end) etc

Well we don't know about the 7 yet - we have only seen the original proposals.

They may yet change following the consultations that have taken place.

Victor

Next year will see the real changes once the have built up a database from the GPS tracking used for the RTPI system.

The NTA is allowed by the act to vary the contract almost at will.

Trampas

trains can still be 10 minutes late but that still counts been on time.

How long will people last in jobs arriving 10 minutes late everyday and get away with it

dynamick

Where are the 2011 numerical targets for passengers carried? They had them last year.

patrickbrophy18

Trampas wrote: »

trains can still be 10 minutes late but that still counts been on time.

How long will people last in jobs arriving 10 minutes late everyday and get away with it

I completely agree with you, Trampas. For example,there have been many incidents where I would be waiting on a 59 bus from Dun Laoghaire Shopping Center and it would then arrive 15 minutes late. Within this wait, I'll have taken a glance around the corner with the departure point in full view and "surprise! surprise!", I see the bus idling. As a result of this disgraceful carry on, someones job could be placed in jeopardy. :mad::mad::mad:To me, this 10 minutes of slack time appears to be a smoke-screen to cover up something called laziness, incompetence and inconsideration towards peoples schedules.

Also, the (very often) 10 minute-stops at Donnybrook is also a complete farce especially, when a long winded banter between the exchanging drivers is perfectly audible from the upper deck. Again, the employment of commuters is jeopardized because two unprofessional colleagues are having a casual chat:eek::eek::eek:. The only exception I would make for delays is, if there has been some break down half-way through the journey or some medical emergency arises where someone is in critical condition. Even then, if the state run entities are not prepared for these situations i.e no back-up provided to avoid inconveniencing commuters, it further exacerbates how inconsiderate they are towards the schedules of the commuting public. This is absolutely nonsensical. On time is on time and late is late.:mad::mad::mad:

foggy_lad

Don't forget the added padding to Irish rail timetables, so they give themselves an extra 20minutes on the timetable to arrive intoned and then ten minutes overtime is still on time lol and they still just barely make the targets. God help them if they ever have to be competitive.

Victor

Does anyone have the previous documents?

loyatemu

pointless - if they fail to meet these target their subvention gets cut, what then? More service cuts, more minor rail lines closed, more so-called network direct efficiencies and the passenger ends up suffering. They're already pleading lack of funds...

Cookie_Monster

patrickbrophy18 wrote: »

Also, the (very often) 10 minute-stops at Donnybrook is also a complete farce especially, when a long winded banter between the exchanging drivers is perfectly audible from the upper deck. Again, the employment of commuters is jeopardized because two unprofessional colleagues are having a casual chat:eek::eek::eek:. The only exception I would make for delays is, if there has been some break down half-way through the journey or some medical emergency arises where someone is in critical condition. Even then, if the state run entities are not prepared for these situations i.e no back-up provided to avoid inconveniencing commuters, it further exacerbates how inconsiderate they are towards the schedules of the commuting public. This is absolutely nonsensical. On time is on time and late is late.:mad::mad::mad:

possibly the most annoying and unprofessional thing DB staff do. anything up to 20 mins I've waited, and often simply got off and got the next bus (when I had a weekly ticket)

bmaxi

Posturing. The day I see the CEO of IE/DB/BE told " Improve the quality of your service or you're out the door" I'll believe this. Threatening the likes of these companies with a withdrawal of subvention is a joke when the customer is the only one likely to suffer.

LXFlyer

Victor wrote: »

Does anyone have the previous documents?

They are in the PSO contracts.

Tickityboo

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

possibly the most annoying and unprofessional thing DB staff do. anything up to 20 mins I've waited, and often simply got off and got the next bus (when I had a weekly ticket)

The majority of times this happens is because the bus has arrived early for various reasons( light traffic or light loading) so the driver taking up may not be due to start his shift or may still on his break which can be very short on some occasions.He is not obliged to start work on his own time! As I don't think many people here would either. But on alot of occasions the drivers do which is a thing that is unknown by the customers.
Not to worry anyway because when the realtime kicks in you will spend that time sitting at various locations along the route if the bus is running early!!

markpb

Tickityboo wrote: »

Not to worry anyway because when the realtime kicks in you will spend that time sitting at various locations along the route if the bus is running early!!

Of course, the driver will be able to do like drivers in other cities and adjust their speed so that they keep to a staged timetable instead of sitting at stops

LXFlyer

One of the real benefits of the AVLC system is that more accurate scheduled running times can be developed based on actual experience so that these sort of waits can be avoided.

As ticketyboo says more often than not (and despite what people may actually think) these waits are caused by the bus actually arriving at Donnybrook earlier than the scheduled pick up time rather than the new driver being late, but this hopefully will be minimised in the future with better scheduling.

Cookie_Monster

Tickityboo wrote: »

The majority of times this happens is because the bus has arrived early for various reasons( light traffic or light loading) so the driver taking up may not be due to start his shift or may still on his break which can be very short on some occasions.He is not obliged to start work on his own time! As I don't think many people here would either. But on alot of occasions the drivers do which is a thing that is unknown by the customers.
Not to worry anyway because when the realtime kicks in you will spend that time sitting at various locations along the route if the bus is running early!!

so why if that is the case is the driver normally already waiting at the stop and not still hidden in the depot, in this case I would assume he's already clocked on so not on his own time.
why is most of the time taken up actually due to chatting between drivers and not setup once in the cab (which is pretty quick in my experience)
everyone is flexible enough to start 5 or 10 mins early on days as they will finish 5 or 10 mins early other times to be honest.

Victor

lxflyer wrote: »

One of the real benefits of the AVLC system is that more accurate scheduled running times can be developed based on actual experience so that these sort of waits can be avoided.

As ticketyboo says more often than not (and despite what people may actually think) these waits are caused by the bus actually arriving at Donnybrook earlier than the scheduled pick up time rather than the new driver being late, but this hopefully will be minimised in the future with better scheduling.

Quite possibly, but if you get on at the rugby ground, travel one stop, wait for X minutes as other buses whizz by, you can see why passengers become upset, especially if they are on a shorter trip, e.g. to UCD.

antoinolachtnai

In the case of the 46A changeover at Donnybrook, surely, more accurate scheduled running times could have been developed at any point by looking out the window?