RAIL - Back On Track Forum

And Southern wins the wooden spoon, again! Depsite apparently making timetables more accurate recently, it's all bullsh&t. The main one I use is the 545, it doesn't even have to compete with M1 traffic, yet rarely runs on time. The simple fact is that DTMR aren't willing to put in the resources to ensure a decent level of OTR.

I am currently waiting for a westbound 550 in Marsden that is currently forecast to be running 15 minutes late. One again, local route with no M1 congestion, but it can't run on time because the timetables are unrealistic. They are unrealistic because TMR won't allocate any new resources to the Logan region.

Edit: Now forecast to be 20 minutes late. Good thing I'm just going shopping and not to work, or an important meeting.

Edit 2: bus finally arrived, 31 minutes late. Following bus running 7 minutes late, so 5 minutes behind. No wonder the travelling public has no confidence!

Data source: Translink PT performance dashboard  https://translink.com.au/about-translink/reports-and-publications/performance

Updated bus OTR for Q1 FY 23/24

Spreadsheet > https://backontrack.org/docs/bus/otr/23_24/q1/busregionsq124.xls








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Discussion --> https://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?msg=275534

The bus OTR fantasy continues ....

Western with the wooden spoon for the Q1, Southern not far behind.  The rest is basically bullsh%t!

Southern misses the wooden spoon for the first time in I don't know how long! Not sure what's happening over west but it must be pretty bad.

Data source: TransLink PT performance dashboard  https://translink.com.au/about-translink/reports-and-publications/performance

Updated bus OTR for Q2 FY 23/24

Spreadsheet > https://backontrack.org/docs/bus/otr/23_24/q2/busregionsq224.xls

It's bad, isn't it? Most of the buses around town seem to be heading past the 5 min late mark to being 10 mins late. That's from my experience catching them as well. Even off peak this can be the case.

BCC needs to get cracking on this new traffic light system to give both bus and active transport more priority where it's needed.

We need it now more than ever!!!

That final graph in Ozbob's post #125 above.

Northern verses southern, wow, what an extreme variation.

https://translink.com.au/about-translink/reports-and-publications/performance

QuoteOn-time running is measured at selected key locations within specific time periods. The current on-time running calculation is based on an average monthly sample of all urban services across the SEQ bus network, consolidating the average performance from early departures, late arrivals and missed connections (as applicable) for a number of routes.

The bus OTR is determined from a ' sample '.  Some operators have better ' samples ' than others.

I have been requesting Translink now for around 18 months or so to explain to me in depth, the process of determining bus OTR.  They have refused now a number of times.  My conclusion is then, it is just a charade.

How the @#$! is OTR not determined from GPS location? I understand there's the occasional failure, but surely it can pick up 98-99% of trips!

Sent to all outlets:

Bus on-time running getting worse ....

13th April 2024

Greetings,

RAIL Back On Track has been recording SEQ bus regions on-time running (OTR) performance since it was first published in the then TransLink Tracker quarter one (Q1), financial year 2016-17.

The TransLink Tracker was replaced by the Translink PT Performance Dashboard from Q1 financial year 2019-20, and the SEQ bus regions on-time running continued to be published.  So we now have a series for all the regions from 2016-17 to the latest published dashboard (Q2 financial year 2023-24).

It is interesting to note for the first time in the series, the overall reported bus OTR for SEQ has fallen below the target of 90% or greater.

This probably reflects the worsening traffic congestion around SEQ and the lack of bus priority.

The data and graphs below can be viewed on the RAIL Back On Track forum at  https://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=15610.0

Translink state that the bus OTR is determined as follows:

* "On-time running is measured at selected key locations within specific time periods. The current on-time running calculation is based on an average monthly sample of all urban services across the SEQ bus network, consolidating the average performance from early departures, late arrivals and missed connections (as applicable) for a number of routes."

* https://translink.com.au/about-translink/reports-and-publications/performance

Where bus services are frequent a loss of OTR is not as significant as when buses have a low service frequency.  Late or cancelled bus services often means connections to rail and other bus services are missed, prolonging journey times.  More needs to be done to improve the bus OTR.


image: https://backontrack.org/docs/bus/otr/23_24/q2/busseqoverall_q224.jpg


image: https://backontrack.org/docs/bus/otr/23_24/q2/busSEQotrtrends_q224.jpg

Have we missed the bus?

Best wishes,
Robert

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

Quote from: verbatim9 on April 11, 2024, 14:02:15 PMIt's bad, isn't it? Most of the buses around town seem to be heading past the 5 min late mark to being 10 mins late. That's from my experience catching them as well. Even off peak this can be the case.

Yes, it seems to be getting worse.

Bus OTR targets as far as I know are  > 90% of services six minutes (after) or two minutes (before) the scheduled arrival time (at the timing point). 

I will confirm that as it no longer appears on the Dashboard.

I have been advised by staff at Translink that bus OTR is now assessed as:

> 90% of services five minutes (after) or one minute (before).  This was changed a number of years ago.

Queensland Parliament

https://documents.parliament.qld.gov.au/tableOffice/questionsAnswers/2024/332-2024.pdf

Question on Notice
No. 332
Asked on 21 March 2024

DR M ROBINSON ASKED MINISTER FOR TRANSPORT AND MAIN ROADS AND MINISTER
FOR DIGITAL SERVICES (HON B MELLISH)

QUESTION:

Will the Minister advise how many bus services serving Redland City residents have been
cancelled in the last three months (reported separately by date and route number)?

ANSWER:

I thank the Member for Oodgeroo for the question.

The Department of Transport and Main Roads' (TMR) delivery partner Transdev—which services
the Redland City area—has been experiencing driver shortages due to illness, resignations and
driver availability. Unfortunately, this has resulted in trip cancellations.

A total of 810 Transdev services were cancelled from 1 December 2023 to 28 February 2024 (of
which 414 were cancelled due to Protected Industrial Actions). There were 39, 269 and
502 cancelled trips in December 2023, January 2024 and February 2024 respectively. This
means 99.09 per cent (December 2023), 98.01 per cent (January 2024) and 96.57 per cent
(February 2024) of monthly scheduled trips were completed for this period.
 

Data source: TransLink PT performance dashboard  https://translink.com.au/about-translink/reports-and-publications/performance

Updated bus OTR for Q3 FY 23/24

Spreadsheet > https://backontrack.org/docs/bus/otr/23_24/q3/busregionsq324.xls

 

Data source: TransLink PT performance dashboard  https://translink.com.au/about-translink/reports-and-publications/performance

Updated bus OTR for Q4 FY 23/24

Spreadsheet > https://backontrack.org/docs/bus/otr/23_24/q4/busregionsq424.xls

Target is > 90% of services five minutes (after) or one minute (before).

The 'reported ' bus on-time running is magic!  Magic bullsh%t!!

Carry on ... 

For several years now I have made repeated requests to Translink for a coherent detailed explanation of how the bus on-time running is really determined.  They have failed to do this.

I suspect the reported bus OTR is similar to the reported bus service disruptions.  A few months ago Translink discovered that the bus service disruptions were being under-reported by around 40% (fuk!).

Northern SEQ region is reported as OTR of 96.59%, cf. to Western SEQ region at 84.41% for Q4 FY 23/24.

The reported bus service disruptions for both regions are much the same.  The reported bus OTR for SEQ Northern is clearly not true IMHO.

Care to enlighten us all          ?

I have again requested a detailed explanation of how bus OTR is determined and how it might be improved.

Not sure if this is related to how OTR is calculated but I was waiting for the 313 and it shows that the bus is already at the stop. It also shows it running 1 minute late when it is really 6 minutes late. How does it calculate 1 minute?

Side note: the location of the stop is incorrect in MyTranslink. Where I am waiting is the correct spot.



This route has absolutely no traffic yet the bus appears about 5 minutes later.

^ thanks.  The bus OTR metric defies any real logic. 

That is why I have been pressing for a detailed explanation from Translink. 
Once the new DDG is settled in her office, I might request an explanation once again.

Still waiting ...