958 (XB22QY) — 5014 — Boggo Road R581 — Fairfield — 28/12/24
Kinetic (Coomera) MAN 19.330 HOCL-R-NL (RC2) / GBV "Lion's City" no. 958 is seen pausing between trips outside Fairfield Park on Fairfield Road, having just terminated an inbound route R581 all stations train replacement service from Cannon Hill at Boggo Road.
This was not my first time driving a GBV, however it was my first time taking a GBV out on a shift, and I had mixed feelings about it. The bus itself is very, very nice to drive. Enough power when you need it, and to keep itself going in the hilly suburbs of Brisbane (on this occasion), and very smooth steering. Almost felt as if it was gliding along the road. The bus itself had minimal rattling, and from a passenger perspective was actually very nice.
From a driver perspective however, I found the cabin to be significantly lacking. The cabin itself is very cramped and does not have a great deal of space. There is large ledge on the inside of the driver door which gets in the way when trying to maneuver the bus, not to mention making you uncomfortable. I also found that the handbrake was quite low and in a bit of an awkward spot, which left me with a sore hand at the end of the shift, but I'll play the devil's advocate here and say that that might just be because of the way I set myself up in the seat, as I do generally tend to sit up higher. In contrast to the passenger air conditioning, the driver blower fan didn't seem to be very helpful, and I found it more effective to have the window open - until it started raining torrentially. The way I put it is that it is the opposite of the Bustechs; all about looks rather than practicality.
On the bright side though, there are small comforts, such as a generous drink holder provided, along with USB charging ports for the driver to keep devices charged, and in what is quite a rarity for Gold Coast buses, an FM radio that even has Bluetooth capability (however we are not supposed to be using this).
With all that in mind, the company have undertaken a significant cabin upgrade program, cutting the ledges off the doors and fitting full driver screens rather than just the one on the door, so I would be interested to take one of the ones that has been "fixed" out to see if it's any comfier.
958 (XB22QY) — 5014 — Boggo Road R581 — Fairfield — 28/12/24
Kinetic (Coomera) MAN 19.330 HOCL-R-NL (RC2) / GBV "Lion's City" no. 958 is seen pausing between trips outside Fairfield Park on Fairfield Road, having just terminated an inbound route R581 all stations train replacement service from Cannon Hill at Boggo Road.
This was not my first time driving a GBV, however it was my first time taking a GBV out on a shift, and I had mixed feelings about it. The bus itself is very, very nice to drive. Enough power when you need it, and to keep itself going in the hilly suburbs of Brisbane (on this occasion), and very smooth steering. Almost felt as if it was gliding along the road. The bus itself had minimal rattling, and from a passenger perspective was actually very nice.
From a driver perspective however, I found the cabin to be significantly lacking. The cabin itself is very cramped and does not have a great deal of space. There is large ledge on the inside of the driver door which gets in the way when trying to maneuver the bus, not to mention making you uncomfortable. I also found that the handbrake was quite low and in a bit of an awkward spot, which left me with a sore hand at the end of the shift, but I'll play the devil's advocate here and say that that might just be because of the way I set myself up in the seat, as I do generally tend to sit up higher. In contrast to the passenger air conditioning, the driver blower fan didn't seem to be very helpful, and I found it more effective to have the window open - until it started raining torrentially. The way I put it is that it is the opposite of the Bustechs; all about looks rather than practicality.
On the bright side though, there are small comforts, such as a generous drink holder provided, along with USB charging ports for the driver to keep devices charged, and in what is quite a rarity for Gold Coast buses, an FM radio that even has Bluetooth capability (however we are not supposed to be using this).
With all that in mind, the company have undertaken a significant cabin upgrade program, cutting the ledges off the doors and fitting full driver screens rather than just the one on the door, so I would be interested to take one of the ones that has been "fixed" out to see if it's any comfier.