Do you work for MMBL? Perhaps you have some insight into the inner workings of this sudden taxi business.
What the hell is going on here? How could one company in a town the size of Mansfield/Merrijig not get enough qualified drivers and then overnight another company (who didn’t tender) has no issues and it’s ‘all running smoothly’. This story has a whole lot more to run to get the full picture...
I have no idea, but it could have something to do with the pay rate they offered, the new company's payment model, ie like Uber, the fact that they didn't advertise for drivers locally, but sourced drivers from other areas, and locals who had worked for MMBL for many years may have been loyal to them, and not defected to the new provider, or not been invited to work with them. When your old boss rings up and says do you want to work for us again, they said yes, and bingo, problem solved.
It might have something to do with the winning tenderer having no experience with transport in Alpine areas and no association with Mansfield or Mt Buller and MMBL having been around for 60 odd years, having vehicles in their lot and a contact list of drivers ready to go.
sounds like a massive cock up by RMB. Commercially they have been given a thrashing. If they set off to break the stranglehold of MMBL, they have just made it worse. Or was it all a token gesture to tick boxes for their bureaucratic masters?
None. I just don’t like being nearly run over by MMBL drivers over the years including last Sunday on there return.
Is the above just hypothesizing or known? As it doesn’t appear to align with the direct feedback from the new operator to one of the members earlier in the thread.
Credit where it is due, the buses have been running very nicely this week. The big test is of course the weekend, but thumbs up for the service this week.
Drove the car back out of the village and got the free valet back to the lodge on Friday night. No way to check, appears to just be an honour system. Would have been relatively obvious because I was alone with nothing but a set of keys. Valet driver was a nice bloke but no clue about the mountain. Had me riding shotgun with my iPhone plotting a route to the lodges for his two groups. Their staff iPad app for bookings is extremely clunky and takes a long time to process each one. Valet back to the car parks was a mess. Their radio was going nuts. Very stressed operators fielding a lot of complaints by the sound of it
Driver on Friday night told me that MMBL locked the bowser in the village, forcing travel safe to run vans down to Mansfield for fuel
Wouldn't that bowser be on a lease agreement with the Crown given we ( as in Club lodges) are all on leasehold agreements and thus could/should the RMB not forceably take control of it. "Strategic asset" to use Fed Govt parlance. ps I agree the buses are a shambles but I despised MMBL. Rude & arrogant with some late Friday night drivers having been drinking (smell the spirit !) I do not miss them nor their dilapidated 1970's transfer "trucks".
On the weekend in an MMBL taxi. The driver was speeding well over the speed limit and was also very rude.
Don't know about start & finish times, but the frequency seemed to be a lot better than last year. Also, the buses are a HUGE improvement from the old MMBL rattletraps. Low floor, hanging straps, and a lot bigger.
Ski School shuttle arrives every 4 minutes from 6am, ruining everyone’s sleep on Breathtaker Rd, really annoying but full to the brim. Also if you ski often and want to avoid taxis get a village pass for 4WD vehicles.
Anyone heard any news about transport arrangements for this year? A contractor I'm working with at the mountain mentioned that Travelsafe have gone under and they'll be relying on MMBL solely this year. I don't recall seeing it reported anywhere myself.
The only thing I have seen, tangentially related, is a shift in the language from "taxi" to "rideshare" for the transport from overnight parking to the village.
Doesn't look "gone under" https://travelsafecoachhire.com.au/ Sure MMBL isn't up to its old tricks spreading a rumour ?
I think the intent was to offer both this year. Ride share would be a cheaper product. Iam guessing with COVID this has changed.
Well if the rumour that buses won't be running from the day car park to the village this year is true then that makes their job at least slightly easier.
the whole thing was probably a conspiracy, to get MMBL all set-up for the next 20 years there's one for competition.....
I think you find those buses will run. I am guessing it’s the village shuttle ones that won’t run due to COVID-19. Pretty hard to social distance on the smaller buses.. Ultimately they are a nice to have especially if you staying in certain parts of the village.
I assumed they would be forced to use the chairlift. It's a bit of a hike/ski at the top but this is what we were forced to do when the queue for the germ bus was snaking around the village square for weeks on end last year so it's not exactly a new concept.
A few updates it would seem today... TravelSafe advised in March that it was unable to continue operating in Australia due to the financial impacts of coronavirus (COVID-19). The RMB investigated several options before deciding to allow an assignment of the contracts to Orcoda - an ASX listed company that delivers logistics solutions including transport. It will be based in the Transport Office taking bookings and running upgraded scheduling software from last year, with BusFleet continuing to provide the actual transportation including drivers, training and vehicles. Carpark shuttles started on 5 June, and Ride Share transfers for overnight visitors will commence on 12 June. Double Black and Snowgum Express will also be offering private taxi services to and from the overnight carparks this season.
