CASE STUDY

Services excel at The opening of the long-awaited Elizabeth Quay on January 31 introduced not only a new entertainment precinct for , but also a central landmark for locals and visitors to move around the city and beyond. Alongside the buzz of activity that attracted record crowds to the quay over the last months of summer, was on board to provide a smart and fully-integrated public transport service for passengers. Coinciding with the opening of the fully-accessible Elizabeth Quay jetty, the ferry summer timetable was revised to provide 478 trips in the week (previously 322). The extra services and crowds saw a boom in ferry travel and, in the quay’s first week alone, there were more than 3700 passengers using the ferry each day – a 450 per cent increase on the same period of the previous year. Since the quay’s opening, ferry patronage has more than doubled. Due to demand, the Transperth ferry service has since been permanently expanded to continue providing passengers with a convenient way to travel to and from the city. To make the precinct even easier to locate, the positioning of Transperth services in the area included the renaming of Esplanade Station and Esplanade Busport to Elizabeth Quay Station and Elizabeth Quay Bus Station. A number of metropolitan bus services were also amended to better link to the destination. Convenient and identifiable public transport was key to the transformation of Elizabeth Quay. The overall enhancement has improved access, connectivity and convenience; and reduced the amount of walking people need to do from one service to the other.

24 OperationalCorporate report snapshot / Case study / Organisational profile Buses • Implemented other new bus services in the • As part of the Bus Priority Program, continued year, such as: Looking ahead to address the impact of road congestion –– Route 301 from Midland Station to • Delivery of the final sets of B-Series (particularly in peak periods) on bus service Midland Health Campus. railcars under the 22 three-car train reliability and patronage: –– Route 380 from Elizabeth Quay Bus order is expected in late 2016. –– Introduced peak-period bus-priority lanes Station to Perth International Airport. • First deliveries of an order for at Fitzgerald St and Ranford Rd. –– Route 566 feeder service from Baldivis to a further 10 three-car B-Series trains –– Introduced a bus-only lane on Mounts Warnbro Station, via Hillsborough Ave. will start with a view to having the Bay Rd. –– Trialled Route 14 from Brady/Tasman streets order completed by the time the –– Started constructing the Charles St bus to The Mezz shopping centre. new Forrestfield-Airport Link starts bridge and upgrading the bus interchange • Improved a number of existing bus services: operations in 2020. at Glendalough Station. –– Extended routes 955 and 956 to Annie’s • Plan future railcar depot requirements –– Began work on a bus-only lane from Landing and Route 334 to Malvern Springs for increased capacity and maintenance. North Lake Rd to Cockburn Central. Estate to improve services to Ellenbrook. • Our Service Expansion Program, which –– Straightened Route 15 in Mount Hawthorn • Commission the new multi-storey car began in 2011-12, added a further 1.453 with extension to Glendalough Station. park at Edgewater Station in late 2016. million service kilometres during the year to –– Increased peak-period services on • Commission the new Aubin Grove deliver a total 66.983m service kilometres, Route 97 to Leederville Station and Station for train operations to start up 2.2 per cent from 65.531m in 2014-15. withdrew weekend services. in 2017; plan new bus services to –– Extended Route 340 Suffolk Street • Introduced the route series 900 premium the station. in Caversham. bus services: –– Changed circle route numbers 98 and 99 to • Begin a new bus fleet supply –– Route 910 between Elizabeth Quay 998 and 999 to better identify them as part contract tender. Bus Station and Station via of Transperth’s premium bus services. • Plan services for new (incorporating routes special events. 105 and 106 and withdrawing Route 104). • Evaluated the bus route network and –– Route 930 between Elizabeth Quay Bus examined timetable changes for the opening • Develop the Greater Curtin Bus Station. Station and Thornlie with routes 210, 211, of . • Commission Elizabeth Quay Bus 212 revised to operate from Thornlie to • Replaced car bays at Maylands Station with Station fire system upgrade. Gosnells stations and Huntingdale. a bus layover for the trial of Route 41 and other • Implement the new Route 960 bus services to the train station. Mirrabooka to Curtin bus service.

Operational report / Our services 25 2.1.2 Regional () • The AvonLink – three Northam-to-Midland return services on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday Transwa is the brand and operating name and Friday (except public holidays), one return for the road coach and rail public transport service on a Wednesday and one return service system serving regional centres. on the weekend (either Saturday or Sunday), Our Transwa network extends to Kalbarri for a total of 28 services a week. and Meekatharra in the north, east to • The MerredinLink – an all-stop return service Kalgoorlie, and south-east to Esperance. between Perth (East Perth terminal) and The services link 240 regional locations to Merredin on a Wednesday, for a total of two 76 Transwa regional the Perth metropolitan area (and locations services a week. in between) and are used by a variety of train services weekly passengers for a range of travel purposes. onboard services are provided by Bunbury-based Transwa staff, while a contractor Fleet provides onboard services on the Prospector, AvonLink and MerredinLink trains. Trains The rail and road Road coaches Transwa employs 20 railcar drivers based at coach services link East Perth and Bunbury to operate 14 railcars Transwa road coaches operate 130 services under four distinct services: each week, employing 34 operators for the fleet of five-star, luxury road coaches. • The Prospector – a daily service (and two 240 regional on Mondays and Fridays) each way between In May 2015, a contract was awarded for the locations to the Perth Perth (East Perth terminal) and Kalgoorlie for supply of 23 new Volvo/Irizar road coaches a total of 18 services a week. (that comply with Euro5 emission standards) metropolitan area to replace the ageing Scania fleet. Transwa • The Australind – two daily return services took delivery of nine of these road coaches in between Bunbury and Perth for a total of the year and five of the old Scania fleet were 28 services a week. decommissioned to be sold at public auction. Proceeds of the sale will be used to partially fund the new road coaches.

26 OperationalCorporate report snapshot / Our services / Organisational profile Patronage Road coaches Transwa road coach patronage slipped 4.48 per cent through the year, Trains reflecting lower demand across the board. Patronage on regional trains decreased by 2.74 per cent, attributed to lower numbers on the Australind, as well as a number of services Transwa road coach patronage cancelled during the south-west bush fires in January. Maintenance 200000 issues also resulted in a decreased passenger capacity which directly relates to carrying fewer passengers. 190000

Transwa train patronage 180000

120000 170000 100000 160000 197,21 1 187,46 9 179,06 6 80000 150000 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 60000 40000 The biggest decline was recorded on routes travelling to Albany, Augusta and

23,904 Bunbury. This was partly offset by slight increases in the numbers for 19,019

20000 12,530

7,14 9 the East Perth to Geraldton, via Bremer Bay. 4,65 6 110,62 6 105,29 5 96,548 88,725 89,107 88,628 0 3,02 3 Australind Prospector AvonLink MerredinLink

2013-14 2014-15 2015-16

The increase in AvonLink services from 10 per week in 2013 to the current 28 per week, part of a Government trial to determine the future of the service, has continued to increase gross patronage. However, average service occupancy per service has dropped to 15 per cent and will fall short of the targets set in the business case for the operation of the trial. Overall patronage on the AvonLink and MerredinLink surpassed 2015-16 targets with an average occupancy of 74 and 26 per cent respectively. Patronage on the MerredinLink was boosted by group bookings from schools.

Operational report / Our services 27 Reliability Capacity The number of passengers per service kilometre is a comparative measure Transwa reliability targets of our available passenger capacity (a higher number represents better utilisation of our capacity). • Prospector – 80 per cent of services to arrive within 15min of schedule. Transwa passengers per service kilometre • Australind – 90 per cent (10min). 0.25 • AvonLink and MerredinLink – 97 and 95 per cent respectively (10min). 0.20

• Road coaches – 95 per cent (10min). 0.15

0.10 0.06 3 0.06 0

Reliability for the road coaches and the Australind remained above targets. 0.05 8 0.05

Proportion of Transwa services meeting OTR targets (per cent) 0.22 1 0.21 8 0.20 7 0.00 100 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16

80 Rail Road

60 The decline across road and rail services is attributed to two factors: • The decline in patronage on the Australind and road coach services 40 while maintaining the same number of services. 20 • Additional services added to the AvonLink have had a negative effect

97 97 98 81 65 48 98 96 83 90 84 62 92 93 94 on the number of passengers per service kilometre, as the changes 0 Road Coaches Prospector AvonLink MerredinLink Australind have added 36,516 additional service kilometres without bringing a proportional increase in patronage. 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 Extensive track works conducted by Brookfield Rail impacted the OTR performance of rail services on the Eastern Goldfields Railway, primarily around Moondyne and Jumperkine. The Prospector, AvonLink and MerredinLink attributed delays to crossings (46 per cent), signalling works (18 per cent) and track works (15 per cent).

28 OperationalCorporate report snapshot / Our services / Organisational profile