GOING FORWARD
World events have put unprecedented focus on the public transport sector – arguably in particular buses and coaches. Much of the industry is already adjusting and refining practices and procedures, if it hasn’t done so already. As one of the bigger operators in the business, ABC magazine chats exclusively with Transdev Australasia’s chief officer bus operations, Ian Craig, about Covid-19 and all things going forward.
ABC: Hello, Ian. It’s great finally catching up with you since you took on this role. Firstly, how does it feel to be the current chief officer bus operations of Transdev Australasia? Is it all that you expected, or what were the unexpected aspects to handle?
IC: When I first joined the business at the beginning of 2019, Transdev Melbourne had faced some significant challenges including driver and mechanic shortages, fleet presentation and availability issues and significant traffic disruptions on the network.
As a business we needed to focus on the fundamentals – delivering a safe, clean and reliable service. There were some challenges along the way, but by doing this we achieved some outstanding results. In just a short time we achieved our on-time running target, significantly reduced customer complaints, improved the comfort and presentation of the fleet including the delivery of 86 new buses into our fleet, and established a recruitment initiative called the Journey Maker Academy to recruit more drivers. We also were able to leverage our global expertise in zero-emission technology and introduced the trial of Victoria’s first fully electric bus built locally, here in Victoria.
What’s your career background to date? How
