House of Assembly Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2) 52 2 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Answers to Questions Bus Contracts BUS CONTRACTS In reply to Ms CHAPMAN House of Assembly Bragg Deputy Leader of the Opposition BUS CONTRACTS In reply to Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (14 November 2012). The Hon. C.C. FOX House of Assembly Bright Minister for Transport Services Minister Assisting the Minister for the Arts BUS CONTRACTS The Hon. C.C. FOX (Bright—Minister for Transport Services, Minister Assisting the Minister for the Arts): I have been advised of the following: All contractors were aware that the benchmarks set were based on the average performance of the preceding three years by contract area. Allowance was made to those benchmarks to reflect the shift to late running status of a trip from 5:59 minutes to 4:59 minutes. This allowance was in the order of 3 per cent to 5 per cent reduction in the on-time running benchmark dependent upon the size of the new contract areas and actual number of trips performed. Discussion regarding the actual applicable benchmark occurred in the first quarter of operation by that respective contractor. I am further advised that on-time running benchmarks make allowance for the unavoidable incidents that occur on the roads and across the public transport system each day, such as road works and special events, including the Adelaide Fringe, the Clipsal 500 and the Royal Adelaide Show. In terms of prolonged and substantial works, such as the Harris Scarfe redevelopment, the Southern Expressway duplication and the North-South pipeline works, the impact of these works on on-time running is also taken into account when assessing operator performance and their ability to meet the benchmarks.