Core Frequent Network: BUZ (357/359/350/351/390)

[#Metro]

It might be worthwhile for a BUZ to a Northside suburb to form part of the Core Frequent Network.
There area is served by rail (Ferny Grove) but there are main arterials far from that.

Route 390 Brookside seems like a good candidate, but doesn't interchange well at Enoggera (not all buses come into the interchange, there are some on the main road, and that is up on an overpass so you have to climb stairs, must be an impossible task if you
are disabled, isn't legible and the crossing underneath has no signs or signals to help you cross either- very dangerous).

Routes 357 Brendale and 359 Albany Creek also seem good, but they are very very long routes. On the other hand they serve areas where there is no rail (and will be none close by until Trouts Rd Rail comes online).

Routes 350 Bridgeman Downs and 351 Bridgeman Downs overlap with the GCL and keep reasonable distance from the Ferny Grove line
catchment. They also end at Aspley Hypermarket, which is a useful place to terminate at.

Bus Routes
Route 357/359 http://translink.com.au/travel-information/services-and-timetables/buses/route-359
Route 350/351/352 http://translink.com.au/travel-information/services-and-timetables/buses/route-350
Route 390 http://translink.com.au/travel-information/services-and-timetables/buses/route-390

Core Frequent Network: http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=5193.0

[#Metro]

BUZ Network Map: http://www.translink.com.au/resources/travel-information/maps/network/100801-buz.pdf

[#Metro]

Caught the 360- IMHO the 360 is a non-starter- it does a giant fish-hook to return to Brookside.

Caught also the 358 (I think- its the cross town on Stafford Rd), passenger was very angry it came late. Totally incensed, she was.
A fair amount of people catching it- could be a very nice cross town route actually. 

[Golliwog]

360 isn't designed as a Brookside-City route. Its more a milk run/feeder with people getting on and off throughout the trip and few staying the whole way. When I last caught it many got off near I think its Ballymore football fields or whatever it is behind QUTKG and the hospital. Some more got on and off along Kelvin Grove Rd, and then again along Old Northern Rd. I was using it to get to my mechanic who's up on Queens Rd, so for me the fish hook was what I wanted.

[#Metro]

I was surprised- it is reasonably direct until it gets past Stafford Rd.

[Golliwog]

I was surprised- it is reasonably direct until it gets past Stafford Rd.

I thought its least direct part was through Herston. That could just be me though, but I can't see why you would catch it from the city to get to Brookside so the way I see it, the dog leg up around South Pine Rd  is irrelevant

[#Metro]

I thought its least direct part was through Herston. That could just be me though, but I can't see why you would catch it from the city to get to Brookside so the way I see it, the dog leg up around South Pine Rd  is irrelevant

Um, but I didn't catch it from the City, I performed interchange/transfer at Enoggera, 360 is one of the few buses that come into the bus-rail interchange. But with the dog run of a route and the time-wasting "fishook" manoeuvre before getting into Brookside, IMHO I think people will have to walk around the underside of the bridge, up the stairs to the road overpass there and catch the bus, but that is a bit inconvenient, nowhere near as legible or convenient as the interchange and the 360 looks like it is timed to meet the train from the city. No wonder only 1 other person got on the bus from the train- everyone else made a bee line for the car park!

Looking back I should have just caught the train to Mitchelton and got out an walked. But I got off there because I know Enoggera has a big interchange for buses and it was only logical for me to expect that there would be a direct bus from there straight to the single largest shopping centre within the 5km.

Maybe it is a legibility and expectation thing. Interchange. Bus. Direct trip.
No I didn't pre-plan my route, I just got off the train and assumed I could do it.
But who pre-plans their car journeys nowadays?

[longboi]

Whats the point when Mitchelton station is only two more stops away? Enoggera doesn't get much use because Brookside has taken over as the main interchange for the area.

[#Metro]

Ahhh. Yes.
This is the thing- if you build a big bus station with INTERCHANGE written all over it people will get out of the train and expect to do it!
Interchange is almost like a guarantee that you can get a bus to where you want to go, just like people expect good service when
they turn up at a busway station, or high frequency when they catch a BUZ. It was a legibility thing I feel.

That's the key thing. I think a lot of interchanging is suppressed because people don't have or see a formal "interchange" to do transfer from.
I got out at Enoggera INTERCHANGE because I thought that I could do it- Brookside is the main shopping centre for that area, and I thought that there would be some kind of bus I could catch (not caring about the specifics) and in fact the 360 bus does go there (eventually).

So I just thought that I could get a bus to where I want to go. It was an INTERCHANGE, designed for this thing.
I'm not familiar with the stations etc on the Northside. All that I know that there is no obvious interchange at Mitchelton- which intuitively meant for me that there might not be a bus from there or many buses at all or they wouldn't be frequent. If I knew earlier I would have gone to Mitchelton, but
I don't know if I can catch a bus from there, or how frequently it runs or whatever- there is no bus interchange at Mitchelton and I couldn't judge how far or close a walk is from that station to Brookside.

After that experience, IMHO I think legibility and planning for spontaneous transfers/travel is really important.
The average person does not care about planning or what the planners thought up should be the main interchange for that area IMHO.
Imagine a system where you don't actually have to ring up TL to find out where you want to go.

[Golliwog]

There is a bus interchange at Mitchelton station now. Not a big one, but it is there. As for knowing how far Brookside is from the train stations, isn't that what maps are for? And I will give you that people don't always pre-plan their car journeys, but they know the roads and where they go (most of the time, if not most cars have a refidex in them), just the same as PT people know the major bus/train/ferry routes and roughly where they go.

[#Metro]

There is a bus interchange at Mitchelton station now. Not a big one, but it is there. As for knowing how far Brookside is from the train stations, isn't that what maps are for? And I will give you that people don't always pre-plan their car journeys, but they know the roads and where they go (most of the time, if not most cars have a refidex in them), just the same as PT people know the major bus/train/ferry routes and roughly where they go.

And that's the thing. I had in my mind Brookside = get Ferny Grove train, find main interchange, get bus. It's very vague, but it sort of worked (wasn't expecting 360 to do the safari around Everton Hills, as nice as these suburbs might be)

Where are the maps of the BUZ network and frequent corridors where buses run along arterial roads at the train stations?
That's right, they aren't there! And this lack of legibility is the passenger's fault? They should be on the rail platforms.

At least if I had a car, I would have GPS.

The scramble of different bus stops at Enoggera is a total, but seemingly unavoidable mess. No wonder people head for the carpark- there is only one in one spot, and it is obvious where it is, unlike the bus stops.

[longboi]

With the hub and spoke model, all you really need to know is where the nearest hub is (ie. in this case its Mitchy). Besides, I think most PT using locals are aware the Enoggera IC is defunct and generally people travelling somewhere they don't know will consult a map and/or Translink.

[#Metro]

If there is one thing I would like changed, it would be to alter that 360 route to remove the dog-leg fishhook manoeuvre from it and give a direct trip to Brookside, and after that continue where it likes. PT use should be made easy as possible, certainly those maps BUZ etc at rail stations would go a long way to fixing things.

[somebody]

If there is one thing I would like changed, it would be to alter that 360 route to remove the dog-leg fishhook manoeuvre from it and give a direct trip to Brookside, and after that continue where it likes. PT use should be made easy as possible, certainly those maps BUZ etc at rail stations would go a long way to fixing things.

Then how would you serve those areas?

[#Metro]

re-arrange the route's sequence of destinations:

Currently the sequence runs: city-Enoggera interchange-fishhook-brookside

maybe it could do:

city-Enoggera interchange-brookside-fishook-brookside???