'Man' Transponders Required on Nowra Coaches Buses Immediately

I was surprised to wait for a bus at the designated timetable at HomeCo. Vincentia this week, on time - only to be told after I contacted the Nowra Coaches representative that the bus doesn't have transponders*, a few days ago.

I was advised by a Nowra Coaches Representative that 'Don't expect changes to happen too quickly if it is referred to NSW Transport'. As a former Public Transport advocate in the Western Sydney area of Mount Druitt, I disagree. Changes can happen, especially positive required changes.

Not fully equipped essential bus services should be complying to The NSW Transport Connected Program so that real-time trip applications be used by commuters properly. This places The Nowra Coach Bus Operator 'Behind the Times', when advised that changes will not happen so quickly.

Being advised the bus that was supposed to be on the timetable, no one can verify this because no transponders are installed on buses and no sightings of this service can be seen by commuters on software applications like anytrip.com.au or Tripview, etc. 

So, we will be asking for these transponders to be installed on 2 buses that were manufactured by 'Man', immediately to assist commuters understand the real-time provided by the software applications, available. The 2 Man buses were confirmed by another Nowra Coaches spokesperson that they don't have transponders. I have placed a 'Positive Feedback' to  Nowra Coaches to have these transponders upgraded on the 2 Man buses. I was advised, 'I may hear from the Manager if they wish to do so.'

I have also lodged feedback directly to NSW Transport to get a response and further action happening. My reference number is  01856452.

As of 28th July, I have been advised by a Nowra Coach spokesperson that the matter has been referred by the General Manager to NSW Transport. When asked who it was referred to - I was asked 'To contact 131500 and they will refer to the right person'.

So, I have contacted  131500 the feedback area and was advised that the information provided was not correct by the Nowra Coaches Spokesperson. So, I am now in the process of providing feedback to The NSW Transport, requesting the Officer that deals with this matter contact me within a matter of days.

You see, the 'Buses with no transponders issue' will be resolved sooner than was advised by another spokesperson at Nowra Coaches.

As a former Public Transport advocate for Mount Druitt and Western Sydney, I will ensure that improvements in public transport are completely updated in our region and keep you posted.

Further details to assist you

Meaning of Transponders*: 

transponders: a device for receiving a radio signal and  

1. 
   
2. automatically transmitting a different signal. 
3. 
   
4. *Sourced from dictionary.com

**Costs of Bus Transponders can vary from $100- $7,000 

Click here for details

 A further update is I had spoken to a Nowra Coaches representative last Friday, chasing up on how the transponders bus situation is going on the 'Man' Buses. I was told that it has been referred to NSW Transport - when asked who they deal with at NSW Transport, I was asked to contact NSW Transport on 131500 and they will refer me to their contact. So I did that today, 

NSW Transport representative advised they cannot directly refer me to anyone in NSW Transport - unless I fill in a NSW Transport feedback form online and the response is 21 days. This was not explained by the Nowra Coaches Representative, so I have since spoken to another Nowra Coaches representative, who advised that this is the only contact number they have to contact NSW Transport for customer enquiries.

Then came the surprise. Nowra Coaches is addressing this matter and it is on their Agenda to fix up the new MAN Buses supplied, with transponders, although it may take a bit of time. We know from previous posts that 'anytrip application' which shows buses & trains in realtime is important to our community. If our local bus network doesn't have these transponders, we might as well throw away all the real-time applications available to us. 

My problem here is, how new are these MAN buses? You see Anytrip application, has been around for quite a while, so if these are new buses 'MAN' manufactured buses, how new are they?

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