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ABC News --> Brisbane bus network review ahead of Brisbane Metro launch in 2024

QuoteKey points:

Brisbane City Council is conducting the first full review of the bus network in decades

The review precedes Brisbane Metro's launch in late 2024, replacing several bus lines

A new Metro station at UQ Lakes will also be added to the existing bus station

Some of Brisbane's busiest bus routes will be replaced by on-demand Metro services under the first full bus network review in decades, as the council asks residents for input on public transport use citywide.

The council's transport committee spokesman Ryan Murphy said, with the $1.7 billion Brisbane Metro expected to significantly increase the network's capacity, the bus network review "will ensure all this extra capacity is going to areas where demand for services is growing the most".

"Brisbane's bus network hasn't had a root-and-branch review for over 30 years, and with Metro services commencing in 2024, now is the time to start the discussion with the community about bus network changes," he said. ....

https://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/traffic-and-transport/public-transport/brisbane-metro/metro-and-bus-network-review

Metro and bus network review

In Brisbane, two-thirds of public transport passengers are bus users, so our bus network is essential to keep our city moving. Brisbane Metro is Brisbane City Council's single biggest public transport project to date and it will be a key part of our city's greater transport network when services begin in 2024.

The first stage of Brisbane Metro will evolve our bus network to better meet the travel needs of our growing city and address demand for more efficient transport. As our city grows, there could be future opportunities for Brisbane Metro services to extend to other parts of the city, to further evolve our bus network. Future stages could see metro services extend to Chermside, Carindale, Springwood and the Brisbane Airport.

To realise the benefits, we need to make some changes to the current bus network, particularly in Brisbane's southern suburbs and CBD, to enable capacity for future growth and ensure you have more on-time services.

The network changes will make better use of our existing world-class busway infrastructure, reduce inner-city bottlenecks, and deliver more reliable, frequent and high-capacity public transport services from the suburbs to the city.

With increased connectivity to key destinations and other public transport services including Cross River Rail, the new network will provide greater opportunities to connect with the people and places you love.

Future network changes

The first stage of Brisbane Metro is expected to be delivered in 2024. This will enable some bus services to be redistributed across the broader network, allowing for service improvements in other locations.

As part of any future stages of the Brisbane Metro project, any extensions would require further detailed planning, the delivery of infrastructure, available funding and government approvals.

Survey available > https://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/traffic-and-transport/public-transport/brisbane-metro/metro-and-bus-network-review

https://twitter.com/brisbanetimes/status/1549643407286382592

QuoteBrisbane's bus network hasn't had a root-and-branch review for over 30 years,

Catch the bus like it was 1992!   

I would encourage every RBOT user to complete the survey and be specific as possible in the form (e.g. name the routes or suburbs of concern).

Sent to all outlets:

RBoT Welcomes BCC Bus Reform Consultation Stage 1

21st July 2022

RAIL Back On Track (http://backontrack.org) a web-based community group for rail and public transport and an advocate for public transport passengers  welcomes the announcement of Brisbane City Council's (BCC) bus review.

RAIL Back on Track has campaigned for the last 10 years on reforming the BCC bus network.

Bus Network Issues:

- Not enough buses in the suburbs, particularly BUZ routes (e.g. Centenary Suburbs)
- Too many buses along corridors leading into the Brisbane CBD (e.g. Coronation Drive, Ipswich Road, Old Cleveland Road, Wynnum Road.)
- Too many bus routes; precious service frequency is spread too thinly amongst too many routes so that none are frequent enough to be useful (e.g. Centenary Suburbs)
- Too many rocket buses with too many variations on the same route
- Overvaluing speed and undervaluing frequency. Journey time is the sum of both waiting time and in-vehicle time. Public transport is not like a car where speed is the only consideration.
- Bus services designed to avoid rail stations due to application of very high transfer penalties. Perth trains and Gold Coast Light Rail systems are built on interchange and clearly demonstrates that passenger transfer is central to a well-run all-day high frequency transport network.
- Poor or non-existent cross-town bus services, such as no direct bus service from Ashgrove to UQ Chancellors Place, or the Brisbane Great Circle Line which has only half the service frequency of the comparable bus route in Perth.

Potential Solutions:

- A move away from peak-hour only services towards supplying all day high frequency
- A move away from direct bus service everywhere for everyone. This is unsustainable and results in service denial to outer suburb areas that otherwise have the population and density to support frequent bus service
- More BUZ routes in the suburbs, such as in the Centenary suburbs, Eatons Hill, Bulimba, Yeronga
- Fewer bus routes along key corridors leading into the CBD.
- Divert some buses to terminate at train stations such as Coopers Plains, Enoggera, Indooroopilly, Morningside, and Toowong. This increases service frequency on the remaining route sections and reduces overall journey time versus a direct bus route by reducing the waiting time component of the journey
- Work with Translink, Queensland Rail, and the Queensland Government to build proper bus interchanges at Coopers Plains and Indooroopilly station and terminate buses there.
- Fewer, simpler and more frequent peak hour rocket services
- Better Cross-Town services. Consider a service from Enoggera to UQ Chancellors Place and consider breaking up the singular Great Circle Line into a family of Great Circle Line routes.

We understand that there is a strong aversion to shortening bus routes to terminate at or properly service key train stations, such as the Perth or Gold Coast Light Rail systems do. However, if not by bus, how else are passengers supposed to get to Brisbane train stations - move house?

We look forward to a comprehensive bus review.

References:

BCC: Metro and bus network review
https://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/traffic-and-transport/public-transport/metro-and-bus-network-review

"Transferring" Can Be Good for You, and Good for Your City
https://humantransit.org/2009/04/why-transferring-is-good-for-you-and-good-for-your-city.html

Why You Should Reconsider Your Hatred of Transit Transfers, in 2 Infographics
A brief lesson on how bus and rail connections save time.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-08/why-you-should-reconsider-your-hatred-of-transit-transfers-in-2-infographics

Brisbane bus network review ahead of Brisbane Metro launch in 2024
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-20/brisbane-bus-network-review-announced-ahead-of-brisbane-metro/101253746

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

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Sent to all outlets:

Brisbane City Council Must Expand BUZ and Brisbane Metro to Solve Northside Traffic Woes

15th August 2022

RAIL Back On Track (http://backontrack.org) calls on Brisbane City Council to explore practical public transport options in the wake of its Northside Motorway proposal.

1. Brisbane City Council and its councillors need to accept that no large city has built its way out of congestion by building low-capacity motorways. Additional road lanes offer a throughput of about 2200 passengers/direction/hour/lane. This is well below what public transport options can achieve.

2. BCC is working with Translink to conduct a bus review.

We suggest:

- Route 359 serving Eatons Hill and Albany Creek along Old Northern and South Pine Roads should be upgraded to a BUZ service. Unbelievably, this bus service operates only hourly during weekdays.

- Route 350 also represents a major gap in the BUZ network, serving Beckett Rd and South Pine Rd, parallel to the North West Transport Corridor, and then along the under-serviced Musgrave Rd.

- For over a decade we have also called for a bus service to UQ Chancellors Place via Ashgrove and Enoggera, and reform of the Great Circle bus line. Council has sat on these ideas for the last 10 years.

Failure to reform the BCC bus network is a key reason why Northside residents drive - they have to!

3. T2 Transit lanes already exist on Kelvin Grove Road. BCC should look at extending these transit lanes up Enoggera Road, South Pine Road and Old Northern Road either in existing lanes or in new lanes.

4. BCC should look at allowing Brisbane Metro bus services to run off the busways. Brisbane Metro vehicles have been undertaking extensive testing on normal urban and suburban roads so we know that they can run on ordinary roads. We believe that these vehicles should not be limited to busway-only operation, and can be useful for running along main arterial roads as well.

5. Finally, surface busway options either in the median or side lanes of Kelvin Grove Rd, Enoggera Road, South Pine Road and Old Northern Road should be considered. This is similar to the proposal to run Brisbane Metro bus services up the centre of Gympie Road. We provide a video of the AMETI Eastern Busway in Auckland which gives an impression of what may be possible.

All of these measures complement developing rail on the Northside.

RAIL Back On Track urges Brisbane City Council and councillors to dedicate funding to improving Route 359 to BUZ standards, expand BCC's successful BUZ network programme, and consider expanding the Brisbane Metro bus network beyond existing busways. These are practical and achievable options that will cost a fraction of what the Northern Motorway toll road would cost.

Reference:

AMETI (Auckland Manukau Eastern Transport Initiative) - Eastern Busway, Auckland, New Zealand.



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

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https://twitter.com/railbotforum/status/1558939603653890048

^^ Love this image! It never gets old. 

10+ years after the 2012/2013 bus review and they still haven't sorted it!

This is from Cr Nicole Johnston's Newsletter to constituents.

I post this as example of why bus reform has been so difficult.  This is the mindset in a lot of Councillors, they think bus reform means bus cuts.  They fail to grasp the fact it means an improved connected network.

BCC is going to have the tables reversed this time 

I think RBOT might need to engage them. BCC councillors are BCC. They have sat on their hands since the last full review apparently back in the 1990s? They can do that again.

Part of the reason why this is happening is governance. BCC can do minimum and TMR/TL will just rubber stamp it. There actually isn't any possibility of a competing operator coming in and taking the bus contract off them because BCC's bus contact isn't publicly contestable as it is in say Perth.

In Perth, the PTA calls the shots. Buses there are on publicly contested contract. If you don't run the routes that the PTA tells you to do, you're out. I think in SA a contractor didn't perform well - out. That is how quality is maintained.

At the very minimum, buses need to be removed from BCC as a legal entity and constituted as a separate legal entity with a board. That way board members as directors will have a legal responsibility to act in the best interests of the bus operator not councils politics. I believe this is how it is set up in Auckland NZ which completed its bus review the same time BCC did theirs in 2012. Auckland Transport - a council controlled organisation.

I still often wonder if the reason why 230 and 235 BUZ has not happened despite meeting all patronage indicators was because Red Team held the ward and the councillor at the time was Shayne Sutton.

Council was held by blue team and so no incentive existed to expend money in non-majority held territory.

It is up to BCC and Translink to sort them out.

Quote from: ozbob on August 16, 2022, 00:17:38 AMThis is from Cr Nicole Johnston's Newsletter to constituents.

I post this as example of why bus reform has been so difficult.  This is the mindset in a lot of Councillors, they think bus reform means bus cuts.  They fail to grasp the fact it means an improved connected network.

BCC is going to have the tables reversed this time 

To be fair to Cr Johnston she is not calling out cuts but saying it's time to ask for greater frequency and BUZ extensions. 

Agree that they should have been advised by the Transport Chair/advisors about the importance of accessibility so they could help sell the message but I suspect they are as much on the outside as the general public!!

Every councillor would prefer more funding to reconfiguration of existing resources.

It is not possible or desirable to increase the frequency of everything. Doubling frequency doubles cost, which implies ~ $500 part of the rates bill would go to $1000 if pursued generally.

For any level of funding, there are effective and ineffective combinations of service. This is true at every funding level.

Combinations should be more or less optimal before moving to the next level of funding.

Cr. Johnston has included peak only and coverage only services in the boost wishlist. But the case to upgrade those is greatly weakened if BUZ 196 or similar is extended to Yeronga. And so on across the city.

So in a way she is calling out changes as cuts because it's only one way. Cr. Cassidy has been more blunt and simply called for no cuts or changes to anything. The effect of this would be to lock the bus network into a 1990s configuration.

I'm not even sure councillors know what the current bus network looks like.

I would generally be applying a principle of no worsening to a network redesign, which does not mean no changes, it means not making low frequency services worse. Removing duplication, provides an opportunity for enhanced services without making low frequency areas worse. For example, corridors such as Newnham Road could be consolidated into a single high frequency service, rather than multiple route variations. Other corridors that are over-serviced, such as Old Cleveland Road and Gympie Road, could also be semi-consolidated with so that route kilometres can be allocated elsewhere.

QuoteI would generally be applying a principle of no worsening to a network redesign, which does not mean no changes, it means not making low frequency services worse.

I think the discussion needs to move from "saving" routes and numbers to accessibility (isochrones).
Does the network expand the 30-minute enclosed area or reduce it?

Centenary has many bus routes (~10+) compared to Moggill, but Moggill with only 2 bus routes has far better PT because it has the BUZ.

Jarrett is running some bus review work in Altlanta, and I think having two proposals with outcomes of each is good. I think having the old and the new compared would be good.

But that said... I have a feeling that BCC will be going for the smallest possible target strategy and doing the absolute minimum change possible.    We will see.

https://www.marta2040nextgenbus.com/alternatives