Eaton's Hill E-Petition response

[somebody]

The Honourable Scott Emerson MP
Minister for Transport and Main Roads
QUEENSLAND
GOVERNMENT
Our ref: PP1851-12
Your ref: Petitions
I 7 JUN 2J12
Mr Neil Laurie
The Clerk of the Parliament
Parliament House
George Street
Brisbane Qld 4000
Dear Mr Laurie
Level 15 Capital Hill Building
85 George Street Brisbane 4000
GPO Box 2644 Brisbane
Queensland 4001 Australia
Telephone +61 7 32371111
Facsimile +61732242493
Email tmr@ministerial.qld.gov.au
Websitewww.tmr.qld.gov
I refer to a petition number 1851-12 lodged with the Legislative Assembly by Mr Murray Watt,
former Member for Everton on 16 February 2012, about bus services in Albany Creek and
Eatons Hill.
The Queensland Government is committed to providing fair and equitable access to public
transport. The TransLink Transit Authority's challenge is to fill the gaps in the network while
ensuring that services are well patronised, reliable and represent value for money.
As you would appreciate, many requests are received for additional bus services and service
diversions across South East Queensland. The TransLink network spans from Noosa on the
Sunshine Coast to Coolangatta on the Gold Coast and west to Helidon and requests for
services in all areas of the TransLink network must be considered and prioritised against the
competing needs of the network.
TransLink has advised that services in the Albany Creek and Eatons Hill catchment area
received a major upgrade of services in 2008. The upgrades included:
• the extension of bus route 359 to Eatons Hill
• improved weekday and evening services on bus route 359
• additional peak services for bus routes 357 and 359
• Saturday/Sunday services for bus route 359
• bus route 338 altered to service Saraband Drive
• Sunday services for bus route 338.
TransLink has undertaken analysis of patronage data on current bus routes including routes
338, 357 and 359 which service Albany Creek and Eatons Hill. This analysis indicates that
the services are currently not operating at capacity or at benchmark levels to trigger
consideration for additional services.
TransLink will continue to monitor patronage levels on bus routes in the Albany Creek and
Eatons Hill area to ensure there is sufficient capacity to meet demand.
Yours sincerely
Scott Emerson MP
Minister for Transport and Main Roads

http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/apps/Epetitions_QLD/responses/1851-12.pdf

I find this a bit disappointing.  I'd be surprised if the urban form between Enogerra and Rode Rd is less dense than between Compton Rd/Beaudesert Rd and Browns Plains, and the former has 30 minute service gaps, the latter 15.  3 buses per hour operate on the former, so the gaps can be divided relatively cheaply.  The problem is that the 350 goes a different way to the 359 so takes slightly longer, but a number of users find the 350 going via Ashgrove shops useful in my observations.

Not too sure about the 338 serving Sarabrand Dr either.  It means doubling back to reach Strathpine.

[#Metro]

Can't agree with this one Minister.

CFN services should be right up there. All three- Bulimba, Centenary and Northwest.

Why isn't patronage "enough to trigger an upgrade" its because the service already is RUBBISH.

Patronage would be doubled with decent services.

[HappyTrainGuy]

338 shouldn't go there. It already does a loop of Eatons Hill. The serious issue I have with the 338 is the running hours. Its a 10 min ride to Strathpine Westfield yet the last one leaves Westfield just after 5pm and AM peak focuses on running to Chermside with priority. It also feeds people living there to the north around Brendale, Strathpine, Warner, Bray Park and Lawnton. The whole area needs a redo. Get rid of the 338, 357, 359 afternoon mess for starters.

[#Metro]

TransLink has undertaken analysis of patronage data on current bus routes including routes
338, 357 and 359 which service Albany Creek and Eatons Hill. This analysis indicates that
the services are currently not operating at capacity or at benchmark levels to trigger
consideration for additional services.

The analysis doesn't indicate. No, someone looked at the data and decided that no new services
were going to be put on there, given the patronage, ignoring the role that terrible rotten apple service on
that section has on patronage. Both the 350 and 359 should be looked at for BUZification.

[ozbob]

Media release 9 August 2012

SEQ: Northwest Bus Petition - Bad service equals bad patronage - you don't say!

RAIL Back On Track (http://backontrack.org) a web based community support group for rail and public transport and an advocate for public transport passengers has called for high-frequency buses for Bulimba, Centenary Suburbs and the Northwest.

Robert Dow, Spokesman for RAIL Back On Track said:

"RAIL Back On Track refers to a petition for more bus services to Albany Creek and Eaton's Hill (1,2). In the two weeks that the petition was live it gained 342 signatures. We think it is time decent services that are actually useful were put on, and we call for the BUZification of the 359 bus to Eatonvale to be included in the roll-out of a large 'Core Frequent Network' and wider Brisbane bus review. Old Northern Road and South Pine Road are fast arterial roads suitable for high capacity, frequent BUZ service and the whole area is a major gap in the BUZ network."

We quote from the formal response:

"The TransLink's challenge is to fill the gaps in the network while ensuring that services are well patronised, reliable and represent value for money."

"While we understand that money is tight, does this criteria apply with respect to Brisbane City Council's pet project / fiesta of waste Maroon CityGlider bus which duplicates everything and adds nothing new to the wider network?"

"Clearly not!"

"The letter goes on to assert that their analysis 'indicates that the services are currently not operating at capacity or at benchmark levels to trigger consideration for additional services.'  Given that the frequency of the 359 is hourly, does it not seem extremely unreasonable to require a full bus load of people (68 people) to wait at a bus stop for a bus that only appears once an hour before triggering an upgrade? Could it be that the poor patronage is actually due to worst class frequency, and not 'demand'? Brisbane Transport's own data shows that patronage increases of 100% can be achieved when frequency is improved (3).

"The residents of the northwestern suburbs are not alone in their dissatisfaction and want for proper, useful services - the residents of the Centenary Suburbs in Brisbane's west and the long-suffering residents of Bulimba are also in public transport service 'no-go' zones."

"We sympathise with the residents of the Northwestern Suburbs, who have been let down yet again!"

"As RAIL Back On Track has always said, services must be frequent, bottom line. We again call on the Minister for Transport to cut all funding for the Maroon CityGlider and re-direct that funding to decent services in areas such as Bulimba, Centenary and the northwest suburbs."

Contact:

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org
RAIL Back On Track http://backontrack.org

References:

1. Eaton's Hill E-Petition response http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=8910.0

2. Bus services in Albany Creek and Eatons Hill http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/work-of-assembly/petitions/closed-e-petitions

3. BUZ Routes, Frequency and Reliability - the winning formula http://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/handle/2123/6058

Note:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohring_effect

"The Mohring effect is the observation that, if the frequency of a transit service (e.g., buses per hour) increases with demand, then a rise in demand shortens the waiting times of passengers at stops and stations. Because waiting time forms part of the costs of transportation, the Mohring effect implies increasing returns to scale for scheduled urban transport services."

[#Metro]

https://maps.google.com.au/maps?q=Eatons+Hill&ll=-27.374804,152.980946&spn=0.000958,0.00173&hnear=Eatons+Hill+Queensland&gl=au&t=h&z=20
^ A break needs to be cleared in that barrier wall and a path put in so people can actually get to the bus stop from the estate behind it. You can see just how anti-public transport the urban layout - clearly nobody thought of pedestrians when this thing was approved!

[somebody]

Looks like that isn't present in street view.

What's the point in having a bus stop there then?  Hmm.