18 April 2019: Upgrade in frequency urgently needed for Bus route 66

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

18th April 2019

Upgrade in frequency urgently needed for Bus route 66

Greetings,
Route 66 is in dire need of some serious capacity upgrades. Just yesterday, a RAIL Back on Track member boarded a Woolloongabba-bound 29 bus service from Boggo Road at approximately 2:20pm. Just prior to the arrival of their bus, a 'Sorry bus full' route 66 was observed skipping Boggo Road station. This service also happened to be one of the newer three-door extended Sherwood depot buses.

Even more concerning though, at the next stop (PA Hospital Station), a medical professional boarded the 29 in frustration because he had been left behind by three consecutive route 66 services with 'Sorry bus full' - over a half hour wait for an empty service. This passenger had no option but to jump on a 29 and backtrack to the inner CBD stations via Woolloongabba.

The issue of overcrowded 66 services is becoming increasingly troublesome, with UQ-bound 66 services frequently filling up before Mater Hill, and City-bound services unable to take boarding passengers along the Eastern Busway. This crowding is not limited to peak hour, but is occurring at all times of the day - anywhere between 7am and 8pm, and has been the subject of numerous complaints to TransLink, and on social media platforms such as in the Facebook group UQ StalkerSpace. Similar issues have also been observed on Routes 139 and 169:

"So when is someone going to address the issue of 169 and 139 buses driving straight past the PA Hospital station outbound from UQ? It's ridiculous to wait up to 30 minutes everyday because buses are full and cannot stop!" - Post from TransLink Facebook

A bus station is useless if people can't board any of the services passing through it! The alternative for hospital workers/patients is to walk down Ipswich Road and wait for the already crowded 100 BUZ, or backtrack to either Park Road, Buranda or Woolloongabba stations, adding at least 10 minutes to their trip.

Given the importance of the hospital, they deserve much better service than what is currently being provided. Strong residential growth in and around South Bank has made this issue particularly bad, and it will only worsen over time if not addressed, with more and more student housing and apartments being constructed along the 66's service corridor.

RAIL Back on Track strongly suggests that resources be found to increase the frequency of route 66 services during the inter-peak (11am - 3pm) on weekdays during university semesters, and at any other times where overcrowding is an issue on route 66. Passengers cannot wait for Cross River Rail or Brisbane Metro in 2023 - action is needed now!

Best wishes,

Robert

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


Reference: https://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=195.msg221451#msg221451

[ozbob]

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/railbotforum/status/1118540050122207232

[ozbob]

Going off like a rocket at FB. Big issue for many 👲

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/railbotforum/status/1118779064725041157

[techblitz]

jackpot....
post not from me but I did suggest something similar here a while back....

Yes. It has about double the patronage that the 100 BUZ has however runs at roughly the same frequency during peak times. My thoughts are that the 29 could be converted to a rocket service and extending to the city via the Capt Cook Bridge. With proper bus reform this can happen. This avoids extra services through the already choked Cultural Centre station. And a bus roughly every 2.5 mins from UQ Lakes to the city and more could be added if needed. Also the 412 could use an upgrade giving UQ students another option and it takes roughly the same time. 19 mins via the 412 and 18 mins via the 66

[ozbob]

951 People reached 309 Engagements !

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> 'We're as frustrated as they are': No short-term fix for Brisbane buses

Some of Brisbane's busiest bus routes are struggling to cope with demand, as students and professionals vie for space on routes through Woolloongabba to the University of Queensland.

Anecdotal reports of full buses daily driving past key stops such as Princess Alexandra Hospital backed up data on bus patronage, The Gabba ward councillor Jonathan Sri said.

The Greens councillor said bus routes such as the popular 66 - which travels from UQ at St Lucia through Woolloongabba, South Brisbane and up to the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital - were frequently overcrowded and missing stops.

Other routes, such as the 139 and 169, from Sunnybank and Upper Mt Gravatt through to UQ, also missed stops often because of overcrowding.

"What the data tells us and what I'm hearing anecdotally is that there's massive demand for those UQ-related bus routes, and that students are frequently missing out and that people get left at stops," Cr Sri said.

"At the moment it seems like the council is waiting for Brisbane Metro to happen and hoping to address some of the problems.

"The state isn't putting more funding into the creation of new routes and services, which means if the council sees the need for more services it has to cannibalise other routes."

Cr Sri said students in particular populated the bus routes but were less likely to raise issues with council or the state government about delays.

Public transport lobby group Rail Back on Track also reported increasing complaints from professionals and students getting left behind at stops along the route, particularly near the hospital.

Brisbane City Council public and active transport committee chairman Ryan Murphy (Doboy) said the council shared the frustrations of bus users on the busy routes.

"We plan all routes in conjunction with the network planner which is TransLink, we know that UQ particularly is a massive trip generator and that route 66 service essentially mirrors [Brisbane Metro] line 2," Cr Murphy said.

"So we know that the demand for a high-frequency turn-up-and-go service there is really high.

"We're proposing Metro because we know ultimately there is no short-term solution to bus overcrowding on this critical route."

Brisbane's buses are managed by state-owned TransLink and operated by the council.

A customer satisfaction report produced by TransLink for February showed Brisbane's buses scored 68 out of 100, or "satisfactory" performance for reliability and frequency.

A TransLink spokesperson confirmed the UQ routes were some of the busiest in the city and the authority was "well aware" of the high passenger demand to and from UQ.

Monthly travel data based on TransLink Go Card tap-on origin and tap-off destinations show several of the key routes, such as the 139 from Boggo Road at Dutton Park to UQ St Lucia, reported thousands of passengers filling popular bus routes.

"Our principal source of information is ticketing data, feedback from bus operators and feedback from our customers, including through social media," the spokesperson said.

"TransLink is currently working with a range of stakeholders including our delivery partner Transport for Brisbane in developing a solution to increase service capacity."

The spokesperson said there were no immediate plans to increase buses to the overcrowded routes, with route 66 buses already operating every five minutes using larger articulated buses.

A council spokesman said while the state government was ultimately responsible for delivering public transport, the council would work with TransLink to address overcrowding.

"Council last year rolled out 20 new high-capacity buses on Brisbane's busiest routes including routes 66, 169 and 139," the spokesman said.

"A further 10 high-capacity buses will be delivered in early 2020 and will be distributed across the network."

The spokesman said regular Brisbane buses carried fewer than 80 passengers, however, the high-capacity vehicles allowed significantly more passengers.

Cr Murphy said while there was no easy short-term solution for the overcrowding issue, the council was eager to begin work on its new high-frequency public transport service Brisbane Metro to resolve the issues.

"The message is that we need the state government to get on board with Brisbane Metro to get our approvals happening soon," he said.

"We are ready to start early works on Metro ... but until then we remain as frustrated as [passengers] are."

Transport Minister Mark Bailey said in late March that the state government would not be rushed in giving approvals to Metro as it carefully assessed the $900 million project and its considerable impacts on the city.

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1120352269738754050

https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1120356329724370946

[James]

"TransLink is currently working with a range of stakeholders including our delivery partner Transport for Brisbane in developing a solution to increase service capacity."

I have a solution: it's called running more bus services. There, done!

Not a single dollar paid to consultants, no faffing around with running surveys, just do it! The amount of spin and bluster in that article from all sides of government was just frustrating. Brisbane Metro this, funding commitment that, talking to operators blah blah blah. Blind freddy can see the problem - fix it!

[verbatim9]

"TransLink is currently working with a range of stakeholders including our delivery partner Transport for Brisbane in developing a solution to increase service capacity."

I have a solution: it's called running more bus services. There, done!

Not a single dollar paid to consultants, no faffing around with running surveys, just do it! The amount of spin and bluster in that article from all sides of government was just frustrating. Brisbane Metro this, funding commitment that, talking to operators blah blah blah. Blind freddy can see the problem - fix it!

^^The article doesn't surprise me. Many aspects of the article have been stated by uses including myself in this thread and the bus thread.

I am curious to know which routes Translink is planning to dispatch the new longer buses to in 2020? 4xx services?

[ozbob]

"TransLink is currently working with a range of stakeholders including our delivery partner Transport for Brisbane in developing a solution to increase service capacity."

I have a solution: it's called running more bus services. There, done!

Not a single dollar paid to consultants, no faffing around with running surveys, just do it! The amount of spin and bluster in that article from all sides of government was just frustrating. Brisbane Metro this, funding commitment that, talking to operators blah blah blah. Blind freddy can see the problem - fix it!

Spot on James.  TransLink is really struggling to do much with the Government rationing of service improvement and the like.  TransLink are way under-resourced and are now just a politically controlled  ' babble ' generator. Consumed by getting the ' message ' right for Government rather than real service improvement.  Nothing is really going to improve until there is a proper structural reform along the lines of a proper authority such as PTQ. It is no coincidence that WA with the Public Transport Authority of WA running the show over there end up on top on any public transport ranking survey in Oz, and have been for years ...

The failure to push through with the proper bus network reform in 2013 is now really coming home to roost.   

[Cazza]

I'm more concerned about Cr Murphy stating: there was no easy short-term solution for the overcrowding issue.

Surely, just surely, he's f%cking with us?

[ozbob]

 

[SurfRail]

Review. Bus. Network. Now.