Go-Ahead Dublin City Routes - Updates and Discussion

GM228 wrote: »

Actually yes come to think of it I would say you are correct although without seeing the contract we can only currently speculate and remember that the NTA keeping the farebox does not necessarily mean they will keep income from advertising.

The LUAS contract whilst not a PSO contract is similar to the type of competitive tendering contract GA have, advertising on the LUAS is managed by JC Decaux under contract with TII as opposed to Transdev so I would assume the NTA will contact advertising on GA services (as well as BE Waterford).

Bidding Procedure

As of the tender closing time, 6 bids were submitted from hopeful operators.
S/No Country Tenderer Price for 5 Years
Amount (S$)
1. China / Local Jiaoyun Group Corporation / Travel GSH Pte Ltd Consortium 418,835,946.60
2. Local SBS Transit Ltd 474,965,108.00
Alternative Bid: 471,965,108.00
3. China Shenzhen Bus Group Co. Ltd. 449,264,285.00
4. Local SMRT Buses Ltd 444,925,777.00
5. Local The Go-Ahead Group Plc 518,706,175.00
6. Local Tower Transit Singapore Pte. Ltd. 483,796,997.00

Contract Awarded:

On Friday, 23 February 2018, LTA announced SBS Transit Ltd as the winner of the Bukit Merah Bus Package. The evaluation was conducted through a two-envelope process which included quality and price factors, with greater weightage given to the quality proposals submitted by tenderers. As per the LTA press release, SBST was awarded the contract because its proposal demonstrated a comprehensive understanding of the operational considerations, and strong competence in bus service scheduling that would enable the optimal deployment of buses and resources.

In addition, SBST’s proposal showcased extensive experience in bus operations, while offering good value for money. It also had comprehensive contingency plans for cross-border services, and committed a significant number of experienced technicians to ensure high maintenance and reliability standards. SBST also demonstrated innovative IT solutions for infrastructure and asset maintenance, as well as security management, with the development of several in-house mobile applications for staff to report defects and incidents. It also presented a career development programme to up-skill its staff, with more opportunities for career progression, the authority said.

The alternative proposal awarded involves SBS Transit leveraging on its existing bus infrastructure to optimise bus operations. This involved garaging some buses which operates on bus services as part of Bukit Merah Bus Package at other bus depots operated by SBS Transit.

Additional Initiatives:

SBS Transit introduced a telematics system, known as SAfe Green Eco System (SAGE), on all 730 buses under the Seletar and Bukit Merah Bus Packages to monitor the smoothness and comfort of bus rides provided by Bus Captains (BCs). The system records and monitors the BC’s driving behaviour such as speeding and harsh acceleration with feedback given in real-time through audio and visual alerts. This system is aimed at improving the safety of buses. Besides SAGE, these buses are also equipped with the Mobileye collision alert system.

SBS Transit also set up a new Bus Technical Specialist Certification Centre at Ulu Pandan Depot for the Singapore Bus Academy (SGBA). This would enhance the professionalism of engineering and technical staff in the bus industry. SBS Transit’s experienced engineering staff would be involved in curriculum development and conducting assessments and certification.

In addition, Free WiFi for commuters would be available for all bus services under the Bukit Merah Bus Package from February 2019.
Bus Services:

Bukit Merah Bus Package consists of 18 existing bus services, all of which are currently operated by SBS Transit. As a result, there will be no operator changes to all services.
Service Destination 1 Destination 2 Type Description
5 Bukit Merah Pasir Ris Trunk
16 Bukit Merah Bedok Trunk
57 Bukit Merah Bishan Trunk
93 HarbourFront Eunos Trunk
120 Kampong Bahru ↺ Telok Blangah Heights Trunk
121 Kampong Bahru ↺ Telok Blangah Rise Trunk
122 Kampong Bahru ↺ Commonwealth Drive Trunk
123 Bukit Merah Beach Station Trunk
123M Harbourfront ↺ Tiong Bahru Road Trunk Supplementary
131 Bukit Merah St. Michael’s Trunk
131M Bukit Merah ↺ Bt Purmei Ave Trunk Peak-hour Supplementary
145 Buona Vista Toa Payoh Trunk
160 Jurong East ↺ JB Sentral Trunk Cross Border
170 Queen Street Larkin Trunk Cross Border
170A Queen Street Woodlands Ctr Rd Trunk Supplementary
170X Kranji MRT ↺ JB Sentral Trunk Cross Border
195 Marina Centre ↺ Commonwealth Avenue Trunk
198 Bukit Merah Boon Lay Trunk
272 Bukit Merah ↺ Telok Blangah Rise Feeder
273 Bukit Merah ↺ Henderson Road Feeder
400 Shenton Way ↺ Marina Gardens Drive Trunk
402 Shenton Way ↺ Marina Coastal Drive Trunk

Services 123M, 131M, 170A and 170X are considered as supplementary services of their parent service and do not add to the overall service count. Short-Trip services are not included in the above list.

Scope of Tender:

As part of the tender, the new Operator will be required to fulfill responsibilities as such:

Operate the eighteen (18) bus services in the areas in accordance with specified EWT performance standards
Operate and maintain the buses and their onboard equipment provided by LTA
Operate and maintain Bukit Merah and HarbourFront Bus Interchanges, Kampong Bahru, Queen Street, Shenton Way and Marina Centre Bus Terminals, and the new Ulu Pandan Bus Depot, including all equipment and systems provided therein
Charge and collect the fares approved by the Public Transport Council, on behalf of the Government
Provide bus service information at all bus stops and bus interchanges served by the 18 bus services
Provide customer management services, such as lost and found service, and a hotline for commuter feedback and enquiries.

All bus services will have scheduled headways of no more than 15 minutes for both directions during the morning and evening peak periods, with at least half of them having even shorter scheduled headways of no more than 10 minutes. Of these, the feeder services will run at even shorter intervals of 6-8 minutes. An estimated 45% of bus services will come at shorter intervals during peak periods when compared to the expanded BSEP.

More guidelines can be found in the main Bus Contracting Model (BCM) article.

Bus Interchanges & Terminals under the package:

Bukit Merah Bus Interchange
HarbourFront Bus Interchange
Kampong Bahru Bus Terminal
Queen Street Bus Terminal
Shenton Way Bus Terminal
Marina Centre Bus Terminal

Bus Depot under the package:

Ulu Pandan Bus Depot

Route Package Timeline:

2016 (11 Aug): Bukit Merah Bus Package mentioned as one of 11 Negotiated Contract (NC) Packages operated by SBS Transit.
2017 (28 Apr): Bukit Merah Bus Package open for Tender. Closes on 28 Aug 2017, 12:00PM
2017 (28 Aug): Tender closed with 6 bids received
2018 (23 Feb): Tender awarded to SBS Transit Ltd (Alternative Bid)
2018 (18 Nov): Start of Bukit Merah Bus Package (Tendered Contract)

GM228 wrote: »

I really don't understand why you constantly refer to Singapore? Different rules and all that, Singapore is an exception, not the norm.

You do know that by law the NTA must refuse a FOI request where commercial sensitivity is involved? Yes there is a public interest test involved but should a case ever come before the courts (unlikely I would guess) I find it very hard to believe they will ever be released as the principles of commercial sensitivity are well established and protected by the courts.

john boye wrote: »

That seems to be just happen sometimes sadly. My Mrs and a load of others got turfed off a "15A" a few weeks ago as the driver had accidentally put it up instead of 15B.

loyatemu wrote: »

how did he get to Greystones before realising he was on the wrong route though? The 185 goes in a completely different direction.

dashcamdanny wrote: »

I think alot of that could be down to inexperience.

I dont think they are doing several routes in one duty. That is not really possible.

Dave_Dublin wrote: »

As a Go-Ahead driver, I can tell you that we drive up to FOUR (4) different routes in one duty shift.

Many duties have a gap of two to three hours after we've driven for a few hours.

The shifts are usually between 11 and 13 hours long.

We are stranded in Dún Laoghaire for the three-hour gap / we're not on a break, we are officially on "Stand-by" - - this means we can be requested to drive or do any other task assigned by a supervisor.

Our 40-minute break is usually scheduled either at the start or the end of the *stand-by* period.

As previously mentioned in the thread, there are no toilet facilities available to us.
Yes: there are plenty of toliets in D.L. but many are "for customers only" or are PAY-as-you-use...

I have had to eat my lunch sitting on the side of the road at the rear of the train station -or- at a bus stop at the front of the station if it was raining.


If our first run is late (delayed in traffic), our subsequent runs are automatically late as there's usually only a 7-minute buffer between the scheduled arrival time of one route and the scheduled departure time of the next route.

(Traffic delays, especially on route 75, can put us up to 20 minutes behind schedule)

Stephen15 wrote: »

But DB don't have those facilities either in many cases so it's not like GAI are unique in that sense. If we waited until we had the perfect situation every time something new was to be implemented we'd get nowhere teething problems are inevitable GAI are meant to be working on something in DL.

soundman45 wrote: »

This is in fact correct. But dont let the truth ruin a good story.

Stephen15 wrote: »

They won't be on the 59 from what I believe as they're too long for the roundabout in Killiney Village.

CramCycle wrote: »

In regards DL, are there not facilities for IR staff there? Can the NTA not look into accessing these?