RAIL - Back On Track Forum

Extend the 199 BUZ bus service up to the RBWH

> https://www.epetitions.brisbane.qld.gov.au/petition/view/pid/1238

"Petitions express the views of the Head Petitioner and may not represent the views of Council.

Residents draw to the attention of Council the need to provide a high frequency bus connection from the New Farm/Teneriffe peninsula and Bulimba to the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital (RBWH) and northern busway. Currently, people residing in the New Farm/Teneriffe area wishing to access the RBWH or northern busway have to travel into the CBD then travel back out to access the RBWH and its busway station. The situation is the same for people coming from Bulimba, except their journey has the additional time of ferry travel. Regardless of where you begin the journey, what should be a simple journey of less than 4kms takes anywhere from 40 minutes to over an hour.

Your petitioners therefore request Council works with Translink to extend the existing high frequency 199 BUZ bus service from the Teneriffe ferry terminal to the RBWH. This simple 2.5km extension to the route along Skyring Terrace, Montpelier Road and O'Connell Terrace could utilise existing bus stops resulting in minimal outlay. It would not duplicate the existing 393 bus service as this route uses a less direct route and its infrequent service pattern is of little benefit to those wishing for a quick journey. It would cut the existing journeys from the New Farm/Teneriffe area and Bulimba to the RBWH down to as little as 10 to 20 minutes with the additional benefit of improved connection to northern busway services, Bowen Hills station and future Cross River Rail services."

Sign > https://www.epetitions.brisbane.qld.gov.au/petition/sign/pid/1238

While I agree that better connections between Fortitude Valley/New Farm/Teneriffe and Herston/Kelvin Grove would be beneficial, I don't know whether extending the 199 there is necessarily the way to go about it.

It already takes ~40 minutes to get from West End Ferry to the Commercial Road terminus, how long will it add to the journey to wind its way down Skyring, Montpelier & O'Connell Terrace, then up Bowen Bridge Road to Butterfield Street, around Ernie's Roundabout and up to the RBWH Station. And of course there's the question of the return trip - as far as I can tell, the bus would then have to continue down towards Herston, get off the busway at Gilcrest Avenue, do a loop of the Herston Road carpark and get back on the busway in the reverse direction, then get off and go around Ernie's Roundabout again to get back to Butterfield Street. It all seems rather convoluted.

I think a better alternative would simply be to boost the 393 frequency and extend it down to the centre of New Farm. 

Might be more of a redesign of Route 393. Extending 199 is possible but would be wildly expensive given the frequency.

Quote from: nathandavid88 on July 17, 2023, 12:29:57 PMWhile I agree that better connections between Fortitude Valley/New Farm/Teneriffe and Herston/Kelvin Grove would be beneficial, I don't know whether extending the 199 there is necessarily the way to go about it.

It already takes ~40 minutes to get from West End Ferry to the Commercial Road terminus, how long will it add to the journey to wind its way down Skyring, Montpelier & O'Connell Terrace, then up Bowen Bridge Road to Butterfield Street, around Ernie's Roundabout and up to the RBWH Station. And of course there's the question of the return trip - as far as I can tell, the bus would then have to continue down towards Herston, get off the busway at Gilcrest Avenue, do a loop of the Herston Road carpark and get back on the busway in the reverse direction, then get off and go around Ernie's Roundabout again to get back to Butterfield Street. It all seems rather convoluted.

I think a better alternative would simply be to boost the 393 frequency and extend it down to the centre of New Farm. 

I agree totally. This is the value of have major transfers point in a clear and legible network rather than buses running on range of different routes/stops. Further the stations at key transfer points are actually located at the transfer point not 50-100m down each the road because that gets it out of the way of the car traffic.

Extend the 199 BUZ bus service up to the RBWH. It has now been investigated.

Please click on the link below for the outcome.

http://www.epetitions.brisbane.qld.gov.au/petition/view/pid/1238

"Translink's BUZ standards"???

So BUZ belong Translink and is their standard?

Interesting

From memory, the 393 had much better frequency when it was first introduced, but was cut due to lack of patronage.

As an aside, is there a reason it can't use Folkestone St instead of Edmonstone Rd? It seems the former would better serve the residential area of Bowen Hills.

The 393 also terminated at Roma Street I think.  I would have thought that sort of capacity would be useful for the RBWH and QUT, but there may have been issues terminating and reversing inbound of the Roma Street platform (ie blocking the busway at the Roma Street portal).