RAIL - Back On Track Forum

Couriermail --> 'Staff availability' sees eleven bus routes cancelled, says TransLink

QuoteBus commuters were left stranded after "staff availability" saw eleven bus routes cancelled across Toowoomba and Springfield Lakes TransLink bus lines.

Commuters were left stranded after multiple buses were cancelled on Thursday afternoon.

Eleven routes across three TransLink bus lines were disrupted due to "staff availability".

Toowoomba lines 905 and 904 copped eight cancelled routes and a singular Springfield Lakes line three.

Both inbound and outbound routes were affected.

TransLink have been contacted for comment but are yet to respond. ...

Toowoomba seems to be having a lot of issues of late ...

A record of all reported bus service disruptions is available here > https://railbotforum.org/forum/index.php?board=17.0

Some " staff availability " issues out in #TL100 land this morning ...

>>> https://railbotforum.org/forum/index.php?msg=2180

Quote from: ozbob on March 15, 2021, 10:18:19 AM
Some " staff availability " issues out in #TL100 land this morning ...

>>> https://railbotforum.org/forum/index.php?msg=2180

Fortunately most of these routes only have 10 minutes between buses. The issue I can see is possibly overcrowding, although I'm not sure what loading they're carrying right now (in my recent experience, most trains and buses are well under 50% full).

Pity the poor people in Toowoomba who have 2 hr wait because of bus cancellations.

I have been monitoring the reported bus delays for a while now.  This is done automatically using RSS based on the TransLink tweets and hash tags.  It is interesting to see the relative frequency of disruptions. Suffice to say the 500s are a standout! 

See > https://railbotforum.org/forum/index.php?board=17.0

^ I notice the 545 is mentioned a lot, yet I still don't think it's enough. I honestly can't remember when I last caught an on-time 545, and even the first bus on a weekend morning is late. What the reason for that could be is beyond me.

I have contacted TransLink on numerous occasions and the robot response comes back "Thankyou for contacting TransLink, your concerns are being investigated blah blah" and when I call back 2 weeks later for an update it's typically "you didn't provide enough evidence to suggest an ongoing problem", it's just a one-off due to traffic congestion or whatever. I call total BS. I know many people who use the 545 and it's always the same story, perpetually late. TransLink would have GPS data to confirm it but don't want to do anything because it would mean another vehicle is required to operate the route properly.

Quote from: achiruel on March 15, 2021, 11:19:15 AM
Pity the poor people in Toowoomba who have 2 hr wait because of bus cancellations.

Brisbane's Northside still has 2 hour gaps if a bus is cancelled. Still got 4hr gaps at Chermside if there is a cancellation... Petrie-Strathpine is also hourly in peak hour. Cancel 1 bus.....

@achiruel you have to be persistent. If they give you the standard line, respond and say that it's not a one off and ask them what their data says. These guys want you to go away. I find I get further if I persist. Doesn't guarantee a satisfactory response in the end but certainly increases your chances. Be polite though otherwise you might give them a reason to not respond.

Schrödinger's Bus: Early, on-time and late, simultaneously, until you see it...

So many annoyances with the bus system. Some obvious to the first time user, others less noticeable
Why is there a traffic island right in the middle of a busy intersection near the rbwh? apparently its too hard to walk the 50m to the crossing
Someone is going to get hit by a car driver who is speeding to make that green light

Lack of bus priority entering/exiting the busway. Sure, the 333 and 340 get their own red painted special lane,
but they sit and wait for ages with general traffic and don't get any special 10 seconds worth of green light at any time like they should

They've had ages to fix up these things and still nothing gets done

https://twitter.com/TransLinkSEQ/status/1406116342336397325

From: https://translink.com.au/updates/48861

QuoteDelays 25 mins: Coronation Dr, Milton

Last reviewed: Wednesday 25 Aug 2021 at 6.32pm

Buses travelling inbound along Coronation Drive, Milton are delayed up to 25 minutes due to a traffic accident.

There are no delays expected for buses travelling outbound.

Try telling that to the people on the outbound 5:45pm 417 which just left the CBD! Some pax could have walked home faster. The western suburbs buses are in absolute disarray.

This afternoons traffic congestion and bus delays are beyond a joke. From just a 15 minute look around on Anytrip and Google Maps:
-Buses taking 50+ mins to get from All Hallows/Valley Island stop onto Adelaide St (a distance of just 400m)
-An outbound 381 taking 67 mins to get from Wickham Tce terminus to Adelaide St Stop 42 (barely 1km). This bus (due into the Hilder Rd terminus at 6:04pm) arrived 54 mins late at 7pm, and as we speak, if currently still running over 50 mins late on the following inbound 380.
-Buses taking 60+ mins to get from Regatta to North Quay along Coro Dr, then being 40+ mins late to start their outbound journey (some of which continue onto random southside services like the 100, 110, 162, 171 etc. Why are commuters to Mt Gravatt affected by 40+ min delays due to congestion on Coronation Drive? Can someone please explain how this makes any sort of sense...)
-Route 60 Blue CityGlider, supposed to be running every 4 mins during peak hour, at around 5:30pm had a southbound service gap of 41 mins! Some services are taking over 90 mins to do the Teneriffe to West End journey.
-Southside Rockets taking 50+ mins to get from Creek/Queen Sts to the Alice St on ramp (1.5kms at the very most)
-Route 199, supposed to be running every 5 mins, at around 5:30pm had a 56 minute service gap southbound! Then, 7 arrive within 6 minutes of one another
-Routes 35x taking 30+ mins to get from Queen St terminus to Roma St Station
-And of course the M1 congestion from Pimpama all the way back to Slacks Creek, bumper to bumper for 27+ kms. But hey, the Coomera "Connector" will surely fix all of the Brisbane-Gold Coast corridor traffic woes, right? It's not like there's a slow, windy, capacity constrained, frequency limited rail line running the exact same route that is being starved of funding is there whilst it watches the Coomera "Let's Turn the Entire Northern Gold Coast Into a Car Dependant Sewer" go from non-existence to construction starting within years... They say an image speaks a thousand words, so take these 5 images and write me a bloody thesis: https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/180284791310239294/.

I seriously cannot grapple with the fact that there is such inaction to this constant, daily congestion problem. Even with cheapest, most cost effective, most basic and quickest things to implement are just not being touched. Like putting in bus lanes down key transport corridors (that have been highlighted in State transport plans for over a decade) or CBD route/stop consolidation or truncation of low frequency routes outside the CBD to allow those routes to run more frequently and provide commuters with easy transfer options. Am I asking too much here? Is that the problem?

This is absolutely shambolic and there is no leadership or motivation for things to change. I cannot stress enough how basic and simple some of these solutions are but there is just simply no interest in making any sort of improvements. The costs of congestion (both obvious and hidden) are huge, and in most cases, detrimental to the quality of life for everyone:
- social costs of increased stress levels (especially from bus drivers who relentlessly sit in traffic), less time with family and undertaking recreational activities, less time at home each day which reduces the amount of sleep each night which reduces happiness levels and increases agitation, reduction in life expectancy;
- economic costs of severely reduced productivity, increased transport costs (from using more fuel to trying to find the fastest, but not necessarily cheapest, way home), increased strain on our infrastructure, increased health costs from a lesser quality of life (both active wise, physical condition wise and pollution wise), a massive population growth without the most cost effective or efficient infrastructure being built;
- environmental costs including increased CO2 emissions, increased pollution within the area, greater uptake in private car usage rather than sustainable transport forms.
Do I need to say more? If I have any sort of say in the operation of Brisbane's public transport network in the future, things will be very, VERY different. Until then, if events like today are not a wake up call for some sort of change, then we really have no hope.

Meanwhile, I just found this leaked photo from 1 William St, Brisbane:

Cazza,

It's good to highlight these and document them.
Then they can be raised.

I have sent a condensed version of that spray to TransLink tonight (due to the 1000 character limit). Since late May, I have been taking screenshots of the traffic in Google Maps and then in Anytrip as well with associated bus late running. It's now built up to a collection of over 1,000 photos.

The thing is, TransLink don't let you send in photos on their feedback form, so the only real way to send through photos is via social media or email (but you can't send too many in an email due to the size and spamming their Instagram DM may not be the best way to go about it). I'm not sure when the opportunity will arise to be able to present them to anyone who has a say higher up in the transport sector, but I may start to group them into folders by Route/corridor once uni is finished this semester if I get around to it.

^ thank you for keeping up the fight Cazza, it is long and hard. Most of the bus timetables out this way are older than the school kids!

Quote-Buses taking 60+ mins to get from Regatta to North Quay along Coro Dr, then being 40+ mins late to start their outbound journey (some of which continue onto random southside services like the 100, 110, 162, 171 etc. Why are commuters to Mt Gravatt affected by 40+ min delays due to congestion on Coronation Drive? Can someone please explain how this makes any sort of sense...)

I believe the purpose behind this is to ensure network redundancy - so for example, if Coro Drive falls over, it means one 417, 110 and 175 each are delayed, rather than having to cancel services to divert buses onto other routes. I think there is a degree of timetable optimisation involved in this process as well.

If you are a crazy bus person like me, you actually look where each service comes from so you know which services to avoid and when to expect delays. AnyTrip and similar will tell you what the previous service was for your bus. Not very useful for the average punter though.

Quite simply though - there is no reason for this procession of inbound buses down Coronation Drive. Get the passengers transferring to a train at Indro or Toowong.

This was the generic response I received in regards to the catastrophic delays last week:

Dear Callum,

Thank you for your contact with TransLink about issues you've experienced with the route 60 bus service.

TransLink is committed to providing Queensland with an integrated, efficient and dependable public transport network and I apologise for the resulting inconvenience experienced when services have not run as planned.

Please understand buses operating in general traffic will always be subject to a variety of on-road issues which can include heavy traffic, changes in light sequencing and other traffic management measures, accidents and inclement weather, to name only a few.

While every effort is made to ensure services run as planned, regrettably, no amount of operational planning on our part can remove the variability caused by issues outside our control.

The depot for your service have advised that traffic congestion in the city, due to traffic light failures and multiple accidents, has caused all services to run late or be cut due to excessive late running.

I can assure you we continue to monitor the performance of all services and seek opportunities to improve them where absolutely possible as part of our service planning program.

I trust this information is of assistance and I apologise again for any inconvenience experienced when services may not have run as scheduled.

Kind Regards,


I mean, not having every single route run into the CBD, as a transport agency, put pressure on BCC to implement bus lanes down key corridors (and put bus lanes down state controlled roads like the missing link along Lutwyche Rd between Federation and Truro Sts), having feeder buses that run more than every hour, having timetables based on logical, commuter convenience with consistent headways, rather than based on operational convenience. Those are a few operational factors that could be improved to reduce the impacts of traffic congestion and get people onto PT in the first place.

If TransLink was truely committed to providing an integrated, efficient and dependable network like the claim, we definitely would not have the bus network we are currently stuck with. Crazy how hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent building park and rides, yet the entire Strathpine/Warner area doesn't see a bus after pretty much 8pm. Funding priorities are broken and it shows in how many cars are on our roads.

we continue to monitor the performance of all services and seek opportunities to improve them

Prepare for another absolutely horrendous afternoon on the buses. Crash M3 southbound @ Wellers Hill happened around 30 mins ago, traffic at a standstill all the way back to the Captain Cook Bridge already. River Tce traffic is already banking back to Main St. And this is all before most of the schools have been let out and before most people finish up for the day. It's gonna another hell of an afternoon, so strap yourselves in!

Another crash in pretty much the exact same spot happened about 40 mins ago. Traffic is already at pretty much a standstill all the way back to the Wesley Hospital. How long will it be before those at TransLink and BCC understand just how volatile and fragile our bus network is before any sort of bus priority or network reform comes into play? Traffic congestion is killing our bus network, social life and economy. Yet anytime I submit feedback to TransLink on it, I get the generic bus performance is regularly monitored and we continually review our network to increase efficiency and reliability".

If that were close to true, we would not be seeing the standstill of buses down Coro Dr every single day, QLD's second busiest route (Route 60) would not experience massive delays and service gaps, resulting in daily 20 min gaps for a service that is supposed to run every 3-4 mins in the peak and we would have a network that is connected and poly-centric, not disconnected and CBD centric.

Even just having bus lanes would solve so many problems. Anyone listening?

Many (most?) TfB bus services suspended. Exceptions: 60, 61, 66, 100, 111, 120, 130, 140, 150, 180, 196, 199, 200, 222, 385, 412, 444
(how on earth the 200 is still managing to run along Deshon St is beyond me).

https://twitter.com/TransLinkSEQ/status/1497788916275032072

All TfB buses are now cancelled effective from 4pm.

https://twitter.com/TransLinkSEQ/status/1497801368647655424

Hope anyone who's out & about is checking on their social media regularly!

A lot of bus cancellations of late ..

This is a sad one

The 4.25pm and 5.25pm route 531 to Orion Springfield Central buses are cancelled due to staff availability. The next route 531 to Orion Springfield Central bus departs Yamanto Shopping Centre at 6.29pm.

Reported bus service disruptions > https://railbot.info/forum/index.php?board=17.0

Toowoomba has seen a number over the past few days particularly. Mackay is also running with a number of services being cancelled until further notice: https://translink.com.au/updates/115971

I think it is quite inaccurate to say the services were cancelled due to the "availability" of staff.

Quote from: Cazza on June 03, 2022, 13:27:26 PMToowoomba has seen a number over the past few days particularly. Mackay is also running with a number of services being cancelled until further notice: https://translink.com.au/updates/115971

Yes, that Mackay alert is probably better than the random cancellations happening in other regions eg. Western.

Very difficult for the punters to cope. 

e.g just posted

The 3.43pm and 4.10pm route 527 to Orion Springfield Central buses are cancelled due to staff availability. The next route 527 to Orion Springfield Central bus departs Goodna Shopping Centre at 4.40pm.

 

https://twitter.com/Translink_QLD/status/1534632324016623619

 

https://twitter.com/Translink_QLD/status/1534999284936019969

https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1535011870335451136

https://translink.com.au/updates/119816

Quote3.49pm, 4.19pm, 4.49pm, 5.19pm & 5.49pm route 525 to Redbank station buses cancelled

The 3.49pm, 4.19pm, 4.49pm, 5.19pm and 5.49pm route 525 to Redbank station buses are cancelled due to staff availability.

The next route 525 to Redbank station bus departs Redbank station at 6.31pm.

Please check the journey planner to find your next best travel option.

Oh ok then . And they wonder why our outer regions are so car dependent.

Gawd ..

I will stand up for the punters!!

Quote from: ozbob on June 10, 2022, 16:44:22 PMGawd ..

I will stand up for the punters!!

Just not on the 525

Not a good day out West on the buses again ..

>> https://railbot.info/forum/index.php?board=17.0

https://twitter.com/Translink_QLD/status/1536440910304759814

Down here in Logan we've been suffering from cancelled services due to staffing issues.

Yesterday and late last week the local community FB pages have had posts about morning 573 & 575 peak hour services disappearing off the map, while this morning my peak 569 service turned up at the Hyperdome on schedule, but stopped at the other end of the interchange, and the driver walked down to let us know that the service had been cancelled (I'm assuming that bus had been pulled to cover another service).

https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1537169095900413952

https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1537175136721584128

This morning  in 3 and half hours around 30 bus service cancellations due to ' driver availability ' mainly Ipswich region.

 

Quote from: ozbob on June 17, 2022, 09:48:45 AMThis morning  in 3 and half hours around 30 bus service cancellations due to ' driver availability ' mainly Ipswich region.

 

68 bus service cancellations due ' driver availability ' last 24h reported by Translink ...

 

Quote from: ozbob on June 17, 2022, 11:10:39 AM

Quote from: ozbob on June 17, 2022, 09:48:45 AMThis morning  in 3 and half hours around 30 bus service cancellations due to ' driver availability ' mainly Ipswich region.

 

68 bus service cancellations due ' driver availability ' last 24h reported by Translink ...

 

This is beyond a joke. It's better to have a bus run half as frequently (which you can rely on) than a higher frequency service which has a high chance of getting cancelled. Obviously the flu and covid are still going round, and that can't be helped, but it's been a problem for a couple months now and yet there's been no action to try and improve the reliability. It's baffling.

33 service cancellations due to ' staff availability '  for Ipswich region Friday 17th June 2022

Doesn't include bus route 534 (several also). 
Source https://railbot.info/forum/index.php?topic=209.0 which is derived from https://twitter.com/Translink_QLD

Time of notification, details.

1. 5:05am Translink_QLD: The 6.40am route 503 to Bell Street bus is cancelled due to staff availability. The next route 503 to Bell Street bus departs Bundamba at 7.16am.  #TLAlert #TL500s

2. 5:11am Translink_QLD: The 6.48am route 502 to Bell Street bus is cancelled due to staff availability. The next route 502 to Bell Street bus departs Bundamba at 7.18am.  #TLAlert #TL500s

3. 6:21am Translink_QLD: The 6.55am route 509 to Yamanto bus is cancelled due to staff availability.
The next route 509 to Yamanto bus departs Bell Street at 7.25am.  #TLAlert #TL500s

4 & 5. 6:59am Translink_QLD: The 7.19am & 7.47am route 502 to Bundamba buses are cancelled due to staff availability.The next route 502 to Bundamba bus departs RiverLink Shopping Centre at 8.14am. Please check the journey planner to find your next best travel option.  #TLAlert #TL500s

6. 7:03am Translink_QLD: The 7.12am route 500 to Bell Street bus is cancelled due to staff availability. The next route 500 to Bell Street bus departs Redbank station at 7.44am.  #TLAlert #TL500s

7. 7:09am Translink_QLD: The 7.18am route 502 to Bell Street bus is cancelled due to staff availability. The next route 502 to Bell Street bus departs Bundamba at 7.48am.  #TLAlert #TL500s

8. 7:21am Translink_QLD: The 7.25am route 509 to Bell Street bus is cancelled due to staff availability.
The next route 509 to Bell Street bus departs Yamanto at 7.55am.  #TLAlert #TL500s

9. 7:21am Translink_QLD: The 7.29am route 503 to Bundamba bus is cancelled due to staff availability.The next route 503 to Bundamba bus departs Ipswich at 7.59am.  #TLAlert #TL500s

10. 7:29am Translink_QLD: The 7.48am & 8.16am route 503 to RiverLink buses are cancelled due to staff availability. Next route 503 to RiverLink Shopping Centre bus departs Bundamba at 8.48am.Please check the journey planner to find your next best travel option.  #TLAlert #TL500s

11. 7:30am Translink_QLD: The 7.34am route 528 to Springfield station bus is cancelled due to staff availability.The next route 528 to Springfield station bus departs Orion Springfield Central at 8am.  #TLAlert #TL500s

12. 7:50am  Translink_QLD: The 7.57am route 509 to Yamanto bus is cancelled due to staff availability. The next route 509 to Yamanto bus departs Bell Street at 8.31am.  #TLAlert #TL500s

13. 7:50am Translink_QLD: The 7.58am route 506 to Leichhardt bus is cancelled due to staff availability.The next route 506 to Leichhardt bus departs RiverLink Shopping Centre at 8.23am.  #TLAlert #TL500s

14. 8:09am Translink_QLD: The 8.14am route 506 to RiverLink Shopping Centre bus is cancelled due to a staff availability.The next route 506 to RiverLink Shopping Centre bus departs Leichhardt at 8.44am.  #TLAlert #TL500s

15. 8:09am Translink_QLD: The 8.18am route 502 to RiverLink Shopping Centre bus is cancelled due to staff availability.The next route 502 to RiverLink Shopping Centre bus departs Bundamba at 8.48am.  #TLAlert #TL500s

16. 8:26am Translink_QLD: The 8.27am route 528 to Orion Springfield Central bus is cancelled due to staff availability. The next route 528 to Orion Springfield Central bus departs Springfield station at 8.57am  #TLAlert #TL500s

17. 8:26am Translink_QLD: The 8.27am route 509 to RiverLink Shopping Centre bus is cancelled due to staff availability. The next route 509 to RiverLink Shopping Centre bus departs Yamanto at 9.01am.  #TLAlert #TL500s

18. 8:27am Translink_QLD: The 8.42am route 502 to Bundamba bus is cancelled due to staff availability. The next route 502 to Bundamba bus departs RiverLink Shopping Centre at 9.12am  #TLAlert #TL500s

19. 9:50am Translink_QLD: The 10.16am route 503 to RiverLink Shopping Centre bus is cancelled due to staff availability. The next route 503 to RiverLink Shopping Centre bus departs Bundamba at 11.16am.  #TLAlert #TL500s

20. 11:21am Translink_QLD: The 11.26am route 509 to Yamanto bus is cancelled due to staff availability.
The next route 509 to Yamanto bus departs RiverLink Shopping Centre at 12.26pm.  #TLAlert #TL500s

21. 11:32am Translink_QLD: The 12.01pm route 509 to RiverLink Shopping Centre bus is cancelled due to staff availability. The next route 509 to RiverLink Shopping Centre bus departs Yamanto at 1.01pm.  #TLAlert #TL500s

22. 12:25pm Translink_QLD: The 12.42pm route 502 to Bundamba bus is cancelled due to staff availability. The next route 502 to Bundamba bus departs RiverLink Shopping Centre at 1.42pm.  #TLAlert #TL500s

23. 12:47pm Translink_QLD: The 1.16pm route 503 to RiverLink Shopping Centre bus is cancelled due to staff availability. The next route 503 to RiverLink Shopping Centre bus departs Bundamba at 2.16pm  #TLAlert #TL500s

24. 2:41pm Translink_QLD: The 2.34pm route 528 to Springfield station bus is cancelled due to staff availability. The next route 528 to Springfield station bus departs Orion Springfield Central at 3pm.  #TLAlert #TL500s

25. 3:18pm Translink_QLD: The 2.47pm route 503 to Bundamba bus is cancelled due to staff availability. The next route 503 to Bundamba bus departs RiverLink Shopping Centre at 3.17pm.  #TLAlert #TL500s

26. 3:58pm Translink_QLD: The 4.12pm route 502 to Bundamba bus is cancelled due to staff availability. The next route 502 to Bundamba bus departs RiverLink Shopping Centre at 4.42pm.  #TLAlert #TL500s

27. 4:34pm Translink_QLD: The 4.46pm route 503 to RiverLink Shopping Centre bus is cancelled due to staff availability. The next route 503 to RiverLink Shopping Centre bus departs Bundamba at 5.16pm.  #TLAlert #TL500s

28. 4:53pm Translink_QLD: The 5.47pm route 503 to Bundamba bus is cancelled due to staff availability. The next route 503 to Bundamba bus departs RiverLink Shopping Centre at 6.17pm.  #TLAlert #TL500s

29. 5:34pm Translink_QLD: The 6.41pm route 502 to RiverLink Shopping Centre bus is cancelled due to staff availability. The next route 502 to RiverLink Shopping Centre bus departs Bundamba at 7.11pm.  #TLAlert #TL500s

30. 6:22pm Translink_QLD: The 7.21pm route 500 to Redbank station bus is cancelled due to staff availability. Please check the journey planner to find your next best travel option.  #TLAlert #TL500s

31. 7:23pm Translink_QLD: The 7.33pm route 531 to Yamanto bus is cancelled due to staff availability. The next route 531 to Yamanto bus departs Orion Springfield Central at 8.28pm.  #TLAlert #TL500s

32. 7:24pm Translink_QLD: The 8.24pm route 531 to Orion Springfield Central bus is cancelled due to staff availability. The next route 531 to Orion Springfield Central bus departs Yamanto at 9.24pm.  #TLAlert #TL500s

33. 7:25pm Translink_QLD: The 9.28pm route 531 to Yamanto bus is cancelled due to staff availability. Please check the journey planner to find your next best travel option.  #TLAlert #TL500s

https://twitter.com/railbotforum/status/1537866148653731841