Transwa
Transwa is the brand and operating name for the road and rail public transport system serving regional centres in the southern half of Western Australia. Our purpose is to provide a customer-focussed, safe and cost-effective public transport service to regional Western Australia.
We monitor our performance against a range of non-financial and financial indicators such as customer satisfaction, on-time running (OTR) and cost per passenger kilometre.
Objectives and outcomes
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OBJECTIVE |
OUTCOME |
|---|---|
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To provide customer-focussed passenger transport services for regional Western Australia. |
Transwa maintained a high level of overall customer satisfaction indicated by the 90 per cent PSM result for 2010. The attributes of cleanliness, punctuality and on-board comfort again rated highly reflecting Transwa’s commitment to continuous improvement. |
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To provide safe and cost-effective passenger transport services for regional Western Australia. |
Transwa’s emphasis on safety continued. The Safety Committee met on a regular basis to address issues as they arose and staff continued to receive appropriately-targetted safety-related training. |
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Services to arrive within acceptable punctuality parameters. |
Our OTR improved in most areas during 2009/10 with AvonLink and road coach services maintaining the consistent high levels achieved since 2003/04. The Prospector and MerredinLink services were adversely affected by speed restrictions applied around track and culvert worksites. The Australind improved significantly following an extended period of track work in 2008/09. The following results were achieved: Australind - 95 per cent of services arrived within 10 minutes of schedule AvonLink - 98 per cent within 10 minutes MerredinLink - 87 per cent within 10 minutes Prospector - 72 per cent within 15 minutes Road coaches - 97 per cent within 10 minutes |
Review of performance
Service reliability
The key performance indicator is OTR and the 2009/10 targets were:
|
Prospector |
90 per cent of services to arrive within 15 minutes of schedule |
|---|---|
|
Australind |
90 per cent within 10 minutes |
|
AvonLink |
95 per cent within 10 minutes |
|
MerredinLink |
95 per cent within 10 minutes |
|
Road coaches |
95 per cent within 10 minutes |
The road coaches maintained a high level of reliability - 97 per cent of services arrived within the time parameter, continuing a long record of performance at or above target. Results for the AvonLink also remained high at 98 per cent and the MerredinLink improved to 87 per cent from last year’s 83 per cent. Prospector services continued to experience delays due to speed restrictions around culvert and track worksites, resulting in an OTR rate of 72 per cent. Following the completion of major track works last year, the Australind’s performance improved significantly and was above target at 95 per cent.
Trends in patronage
Overall patronage decreased by 3.7 per cent, driven largely by a 5.6 per cent drop in patronage on the Prospector and a 5.5 per cent drop in patronage on our coaches. Some of the factors that may have contributed to the overall decline are:
- the general economic downturn;
- fare increases; and
- opening of the new Bunbury Highway.
Passenger satisfaction
A high level of customer satisfaction was achieved in 2009/10 with 90 per cent of passengers either satisfied or very satisfied. This result is down slightly from last year’s all time high result of 92 per cent.
Passenger safety
Transwa continued to provide a very safe service for customers through its continued commitment to safety systems, procedures and processes. The number of passenger injuries during the year remained low.
Efficiency
There was an overall decrease in the expected cost of providing Transwa services mainly due to a lower-than-expected fuel price and better-than-expected mechanical performance of the railcars, allowing for some maintenance spending to be deferred until 2010/11.
In addition, cost efficiencies were achieved by reducing the advertising/marketing expenditure of the division.
Revenue and expenditure
There was an overall 1 per cent increase in revenue in 2009/10 as a result of fare increases introduced from 1 July 2009 partially offset by a 3.7 per cent reduction in patronage. Catering revenue helped increase results for the Australind above last year’s figure which was affected by an extended period of service disruptions due to track works.
Expenditure was lower than in 2008-09, due mainly to a lower-than-expected fuel price and the better than expected mechanical performance of the railcars, allowing for some deferred maintenance spending until 2010/11.
Service information
The combined effect of WestNet Rail’s rolling program of track upgrade work, speed restrictions and crossings with other trains impacted on the OTR performance of the Prospector, which ended the year at 72 per cent. Patronage was down 5.6 per cent.
Australind patronage increased by 0.6 per cent against a 2008/09 figure which was significantly impacted by a major track upgrade program. Following completion of this work, OTR was very good at 95 per cent.
The MerredinLink’s OTR improved to 87 per cent (from last year’s 83 per cent) and the AvonLink continued to perform very well at 98 per cent. AvonLink patronage fell 4.6 per cent while MerredinLink patronage remained virtually unchanged.
Our road coaches experienced a steady decline in patronage in 2009/10, ending the year down by 5.5 per cent, however OTR recorded a long term high at 97 per cent.
In the future
Transwa will continue to implement initiatives to improve customer service and information. In 2009/10, we started a process to upload all our services on to Google Maps, thus incorporated them into the Google Transit journey planner functionality. Once this process is complete and tested, a link will be created in the Transwa website, making it easier for customers to plan their journey with Transwa.
During 2010/11 we hope to start construction of a shop front on Platform 3 at Perth Station. This will provide improved service for Australind customers and serve as an outlet delivering the full range of Transwa services.