Main cross town routes

[Gazza]

Following on from the 410 proposal topic. What would the main orbital network look like if We broke up the 599 etc?

My thoughts is it would be something like this.

Green - 410 proposal
Light Blue - Current 369
Orange- GCL North
Red- Modify 590
Light Yellow - Route that ties together 1XX routes
Teal - Modify GCL South and Combine with 102
Dark Blue - 209
Purple - Cross Town from 2013 bus review
Pink - New route Wacol to Springwood

[#Metro]

I would like to see a "Family" of Great Circle Line routes. They would all be branded 'Great Circle Line' and all be orange but have their own section route numbers. These individual routes would then interlock to make the circle.

That and we get to keep the GCL symbol, signs and name, and people don't roll into loss aversion/hysteria.

[achiruel]

Re: the 590, is it now going via Murrarie station? Would it bet better to have it go along Barrack Rd and connect with Cannon Hill instead, thereby getting 4tph rather than 2? I think there's also a lot more housing within walking distance of Barrack Rd than there is Queensport Rd, and I reckon it would only make ~1 minute extra in travel time for a much better experience (IMO).

Also, is the 590 itself too long, should it be split into 2 sections? Garden City - Cannon Hill & Cannon Hill - Toombul?

[AnonymouslyBad]

I would like to see a "Family" of Great Circle Line routes. They would all be branded 'Great Circle Line' and all be orange but have their own section route numbers. These individual routes would then interlock to make the circle.

That and we get to keep the GCL symbol, signs and name, and people don't roll into loss aversion/hysteria.

Yeah, I'm inclined to agree. The GCL is a sub-par service, mostly because it's straight out of the 80s. However, the branding of a flagship, legible "circle" service is its one good aspect. It can still be sectorised in practice (which to be fair the GCL is, just not enough).

The Circle Family
Something along the lines of:

• From Indooroopilly (bus and rail), straight down the Centenary to Darra station (via Mt Ommaney if you must), then across to Altandi station, then back up to Upper Mt Gravatt.
• From Upper Mt Gravatt, the usual arterials to Carindale, then Cannon Hill station, across the Gateway, then to Toombul interchange[1].
• From Toombul, the fastest route available to Chermside, include the PCH, then Gazza's blue line, down to Enoggera station[2] then down the 5 (yuck) to Indooroopilly.

[1] Or Northgate, but I can't really go past the existing infrastructure and connectivity at Toombul.
[2] Or Mitchelton, but I think straightening out the route wins here. Brookside isn't that compelling, sorry BCC planners.

The emphasis here is on transfers, fast, direct connections between frequent rail and bus spines. It must have minimum BUZ service levels.
Compared to the current GCL, there's some deviations which may seem curious but meeting faster and more frequent rail service from more places is worth these deviations. At the same time, it won't be a milk run for anyone to reach "local" destinations because it's not supposed to be.

Secondary orbitals

• I think UQ to Enoggera is a bit overplayed but if the demand is there, add UQ to the end of the Enoggera-Indro route. (There's no way to win at orbitals in this area)
• Something very similar to Gazza's teal line. Not sure if Altandi would be needed here as well, or you'd just follow the existing GCL.
• Gazza's orange line, but maybe it should just be a regular local all-stops route. Can't see too many people riding it the whole way.
• An alternate south-east sector that combines what's left of the 590 and what's left of the existing GCL. (All about that noise reduction)

This is, of course, just covering off the stuff that needs to be part of a "core" network: fast, frequent and (at times) brutally express. I think to really create a revolution in cross-town travel, this is what needs to happen. Everywhere should have all-stops service between the interchanges a few km either side, but that's just regular local service.

[SurfRail]

I don't think any bus routes need to be branded.  BCC has for ages now conflated branding with patronage increases instead of the improvement in quality of service.

Nobody gives a toss what the difference is between a "rocket", a "bullet", a "BUZ" or any other pointless description.  Just focus on making services better without all the guff.

[verbatim9]

They could rationalise the branding of all 3 and 4 into one called "GO Rapid" services running on a 7 day time table. The Go Rapid branding can also be used in other regional cities throughout the state providing consistency. e.g. in Toowoomba from USQ to the Toowoomba CBD, Gold Coast 700 and TX services and the 600 service on the Sunshine Coast.

[achiruel]

I do like the idea of the Springwood to Wacol route, but should it connect with the Beenleigh line somewhere?

The obvious choices are Kuraby or Woodridge. I think I prefer Kuraby because of peak hour starters/teminators there, and I although think the traffic is less bad than along Kingston Rd/Wembley Rd during peak hour.

Maybe in the future, Trinder Park station could be scrapped in favour of a Compton Rd station, and this service could use that.

[ezekial]

I don't think any bus routes need to be branded.  BCC has for ages now conflated branding with patronage increases instead of the improvement in quality of service.

Nobody gives a toss what the difference is between a "rocket", a "bullet", a "BUZ" or any other pointless description.  Just focus on making services better without all the guff.

I generally dislike BCC's approach to branding as well, however I think that when trying to encourage use of cross-towns services in a place that has a history of almost entirely radial routes, a brand name that helps people refer to the 'product' (and at the same time, simply explains itself) like Great Circle Line makes sense and has value.

In a broader sense, I think that a simple prefix like "Hi" to indicate high-frequency routes is preferable to something like GO Rapid. "Hi" is snappy, it more directly says what it's about, it is small enough that it can be on the desto board. And of course can be used in all different parts of the state, providing a touch of consistency.

For the record, I absolutely despise the term "BUZ" in Brisbane!  Short for "Bus Upgrade Zone", it is a way of describing something purely in comparison to to what used to be in place (before the 'upgrade'). With some of the upgrades having occurred 10-15 years ago, for how long can they be considered upgrades??... kinda like how long can news be "breaking"?. 

[Jonno]

We need to move to a new BRT Network

https://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=14588.0