Transport and Accommodation Update

November 2007

The Sandhurst Diocese will be participating in the Official Pilgrim Transport Network, providing a coordinated transport service for Pilgrims traveling to Sydney and return for WYD. This network ensures that all Pilgrims, domestic and international are transported in a seamless and efficient manner and provides a number of key benefits to Pilgrims such as:

Transport booked within the Victorian System gives access to:

-          Access to Pilgrim rest areas established between Melbourne and Sydney that provide low cost food, appropriate numbers of toilets, and on-site entertainment and Pilgrim Prayer Experiences

-          Contingency vehicles in the event of mechanical / operational issues

-          Complete support through a WYD Victoria dedicated operations centre in Sydney for all transport, accommodation and Pilgrim services enquiries. This centre, located at Central Station provides 24hour support throughout the event and also manages lost property and can assist in providing public transport information

-          WYD accredited drivers who have completed Police and Working with Children checks and are authorised to access official WYD locations

-          Driver training to ensure drivers are prepared for not only the drive to Sydney, but the changed traffic conditions and access requirements throughout the event

-          Infrastructure to comply with legislation (all buses have tachographs, logs of driver hours and the ability to swap drivers to ensure compliance with National Driving Hours)

The Pilgrim Transport operation is fully supported by the Victorian Government, and in the interest of Pilgrim safety and providing the most enjoyable experience at World Youth Day, Bishop Joe and the Sandhurst team have decided that pilgrim safety is paramount, and schools and parishes are advised to join the Official Pilgrim Transport Network.

 World Youth Day - Victoria

As a part of the Victorian Government providing support to World Youth Day, a dedicated Victorian office has been established to manage the transport of Pilgrims to Sydney and return and provide relevant information and communication to schools and parishes traveling to Sydney throughout World Youth Day. There are two (2) key contacts that will be assisting the Sandhurst Diocese in Pilgrim Transport and their details are as follows:

Matt Joyce

Matt is the Program Manager – Transport who is managing the transport requirements for all Victorian Pilgrims. Matt is responsible for all 5 areas of Pilgrim Transport – Bus Operations, Fleet, Transport venues, Transport Management Systems and Logistics. He has previous major event experience at the 2006 Commonwealth Games and 2007 World Swimming Championships. Matt can be contacted on (03) 9412 8419 or mjoyce  at  did08 dot com

Jenna Magee

As Program Coordinator – Bus Operations for WYD Melbourne, Jenna will be the primary contact for schools and parishes in coordinating Pilgrim Transport Services. Jenna has previous experience at the 2007 World Swimming Championships and 2007 APEC Taskforce where she coordinated large movements of passengers and vehicles throughout both Melbourne and Sydney. Jenna can be contacted on (03) 9412 8440 or jmagee at did08 dot com

Graham Lade

Graham has been engaged by World Youth Day Melbourne as a Group Manager – Bus Operations to coordinate Bus Transport movements for the Sandhurst Diocese. As the Managing Director of Beechworth Bus Lines, Graham has been the Sandhurst Diocese transport liaison since the start of 2007. Graham has coordinated previous movements for the Diocese such as The Festival of Global Concern in Sydney. Graham will be working in partnership with Matt and Jenna, to ensure that all transport requirements for Sandhurst Pilgrims are managed effectively. Graham can be contacted on (03) 5728 2182 or contact at beechworthbuslines dot com dot au             

Communication with WYD Victoria

Jenna has been provided with school and parish contact details for regional coordinators and key school contact staff. She will be contacting all groups shortly to discuss transport requirements and existing arrangements. In addition, schools and parishes will be provided with Transport Information Packs to discuss the Official Pilgrim Transport Strategy. The Diocese would like to request that ALL communication regarding transport be cc’d to Jenna, Matthew, Graham and the SYM so that everyone has accurate and relevant information.

Transport Costs

The Sandhurst Diocese, in consultation with WYD Victoria has negotiated a price to ensure that all Pilgrims from the Sandhurst Diocese are charged the same rate for transport between the Diocese and Sydney (and return).  This price includes all of the benefits outlined above and ensures that our Pilgrims are transported in the safest manner. The cost for Sandhurst domestic Pilgrims is $97 each way ($194 return) including GST.

International Pilgrims who will be visiting Sandhurst throughout the Days in the Diocese will pay $110 each way. This enables International Pilgrims to join the Official Pilgrim Transport System and ensures they will be provided with free transport from Melbourne Tullamarine Airport to their allocated Days in the Diocese host city.

The Diocese acknowledges that this cost is greater than originally indicated, however at the time of the original communication, there were many factors that were not known to the Diocese with regard to Pilgrim transport and access throughout World Youth Day. The Diocese requests that each group traveling to World Youth Day consider that this operation is different to a standard school camp/retreat and the safety and integration of Sandhurst Pilgrims into an effective and managed transport system is regarded as the best way to ensure our Pilgrims have a memorable experience.

Booking transport/Current bookings

To ensure integration into the Official Pilgrim Transport System, all bookings are required to be entered into the Harvest online system. At this stage, bookings are made by the group leader, not the individual Pilgrim. There are two stages to booking transport. The first stage is open now, where Leaders can book buses for your group.  It is preferable to do this as soon as possible through www.harvestonline.net.au

The second stage will open in March, where names of individual passengers are required and Leaders can obtain more detailed information about the transport operation. If you already have booked a bus with your local connections, please work with Matt and Jenna to transfer your existing booking into the Harvest online system, rather than cancelling and starting again. Most Victorian Bus and Coach operators have already signed up to the Official WYD Transport Network.

There are still a few schools who have not responded regarding their transport arrangements. Please do so as soon as possible. The Diocese has tentatively allocated one bus to each of these schools.

Group numbers/bus numbers

It is planned that group numbers through the Egeria pilgrim booking system and bus numbers will correspond. To make this easier, the numberwe will need to rationalize the number of “groups” that we have, as a number of parish groups still have no registered pilgrims.

In early next year, we will be merging our 110 groups across the diocese, according to local wishes and in negotiation with schools and parishes, into groups that roughly number 45 and are either joint school/parish groups from one city/town, or school groups and separate regional parish groupings.

Joint bookings with schools/parishes etc

If your group will not fill an entire bus and you wish to travel with another group, please discuss with Graham about joining together and utilising the usual local bus company. This can be coordinated within the Harvest system after you have registered your Pilgrim details and will be coordinated through Graham to ensure group’s travel requirements are met

Tickets

After they have been booked on buses, each individual Pilgrim will receive a boarding pass and luggage tags. The boarding pass will include a barcode that encapsulates the person’s contact details, their bus number and seat allocation. It will also have emergency numbers for them while they are in Sydney, and unique identifying details so that they can be directed by any WYD transport staff to the right bus/accommodation if they do get lost.

Travel dates

As a diocese, the preference is to travel to Sydney on the Sunday the 13^th of July 2008 and return on Monday 21^st July. Please advise if these dates are suitable for your school/parish

Luggage

Luggage will travel to Sydney separately from the pilgrims. It will be in dedicated luggage transport vehicles, and will therefore need to be clearly identified with the luggage tags provided.  Luggage will be delivered to the accommodation point.

Accommodation

Our pilgrims will be all accommodated in schools, on classroom floors (package A). This includes leaders. The Sandhurst Diocese has been consulting with the Diocese of Broken Bay, and Pilgrims will be accommodated within this diocese, with final confirmation of exact locations to be included in future updates. The planned areas within the Broken Bay Diocese are between Chatswood and Hornsby.

As a group leader, you do not need to do anything to organize accommodation. This happens through the Egeria Booking system when all the numbers are in (around March). The Diocese is in regular contact with Nick Brien, Accommodation Manager in the Sydney WYD office to ensure Sandhurst Pilgrims are accommodated in the same area.

Transport in Sydney

All registered Pilgrims will have access to free public transport within Sydney throughout World Youth Day. Please be advised that no groups are permitted to utilise their own buses throughout the event due to traffic and access restrictions that have been imposed by World Youth Day Sydney.

I hope that the above information provides some valuable information with regard to Pilgrim Transport and Accommodation. If you require any additional information, please don’t hesitate to contact any of the individuals within the email via the contact details that have been provided.

Thank you again for all you do to ensure as many young people as possible are able to participate in this wonderful pilgrimage and once in a lifetime faith encounter.

Karen Lunney

Diocesan Youth Ministry Coordinator