Applying 15 Minute Neighbourhood and Multi-Modal Theories to Network Design

[Jonno]

I have been off crook with the "spicy cough" and to stop me thinking about how annoying the cough actually is I started to do some doodling.

I know we have all had a go with this before but for me I wanted to see on-paper (digitally anyway) what the transport network would look like for a 15 Min Neighbourhood (many would call it a TOD) and a Multi-Modal, Transit Orient city.

The discussion about the network and the CRR Wollogabba Station also got me thinking along the same lines so bear with me. The fact the Metro stops at Eight Miles Plains is just playing political silly buggers.

I have also been using this OECD "well being in transport" video a lot lately and it is inspiring too. The Well-being lens applied to transport.

Concepts I used:

• 15 Min Neighbourhood - walkable and cyclable (including e-bikes) within 15mins. CNU use a 3/4 mile (~1200m)as the area within such a neighbourhood. I went for 1km to be safe.  Defining the 15-minute city
  
• major roads/thoroughfares are design with separated and dedicated lanes for cycling and buses/light rail/metro bendy buses - National Association of City Transportation Officials
• yes some of the routes are very long but in dedicated lanes they will run on time better but will likely need driver changes just like rail
• stops are "super stops" co-located with commercial centres and/or major intersections - centre of each circle is a station existing or conceptual
• the coverage of each stop/neighbourhood uses the principle of cycling-transit integration - BRT Implementation Guide - Bike Integration
• routes stick to major roads where possible
• its not perfect, there are bits missing, it is not based on any known trip study
• the Salisbury to Kuraby section of rail line needs some major fixing
• neighboourhood streets would be Complete Streets/Living Streets
• the Courier Mail has been bought out buy The Conversation - The Conversation
• the public is on board that we need prioritise walking, cycling and public transport to be a carbon netural region.
• current road budgets have redirected funding to active and public transport.
• public also recognises that every trip not made by foot, bike, e-scootor or public transport is costing a minimum of 6x the subsidy of public transport.
• these trunk routes are treated like rail/light rail lines
• these are trunk routes for the mass movement of people. There will be other less frequent routes and or on demand service.
• we should be encouraging the elderly to cycle and be active - https://blog.hif.com.au/healthy-lifestyle/7-unexpected-benefits-of-cycling-for-over-60s
• the way we work has dramatically changed and CBD have moved closer to being high density mixed use suburbs than the key employment centre
• our major shopping centres have become mixed use town centres
• the is a few infrastructure assumptions to make integration between lines better.
• I have not even thought about the fleet you would require but we seem happy to build freeways that are just creating more congestion and have buses wandering all over the city so why not say we can afford any bus/tram fleet we need
• Brisbane looks more like Vancouver, Paris and Kobenhavn than it does today (aka car-dependent) just with our sub-tropical take on the urban design.

The concept works (on paper) but can this ever be achieved I can't see our political parties even getting close.

Network

Network of Trunk Routes - Dedicated ROW

Network Map in Google

West

Trunk Routes West

South

Trunk Routes South

East

Trunk Routes East

Inner South West

Trunk Routes Inner South n West

Inner North

Trunk Routes Inner North

It was a bit of fun and the cough is still annoying.

[#Metro]

Well done, looks good 👍

I'm not sure about 15 min, it takes at least 15 minutes for me to decide to go anywhere tbh!

To bring places closer two things need to happen, slow transport needs to be phased out and rapid transport phased in. This means wider stop spacing, dedicated ROW and higher frequency.

Next, zoning and incentives need to change around transport hubs.

[Jonno]

This then got me thinking, in between sleeps, that out public transport maps really don't help people get comfortable about how they would get around. An app is all great and useful but people need to be comfortable that they are not going to end up lost or in the wrong place.

I think it is way past time that Translink created a "metro style integrated map" that shows high frequency routes.  Thus the concept above would look like.

Network Doodling


Note - very much WIP and some of the dimensions are out of whack but it was fun and distracting.

[Jonno]

Latest version of the doodle

Network Doodling v3

[ozbob]

Looking good Jonno   

[Jonno]

That do it.  23 trunk routes on all Network Doodling v3

[AJ Transport]

I love the map jonno, translink desperately needs this plus more zoomed in north/south/west versions. I have none of the necessary skills to do this so I'm all the more impressed.
I notice you haven't reached the top of the city train network (Petrie to kippa ring at least) which would be awesome.

I wonder if it could be improved with different thicknesses/tones for train and bus routes. Or could  colours be reduced by using the same colours for all buz routes?

[Jonno]

Without the Translink logo. Don't want to get anyone's hopes up or confuse them.  My ideas but Translik welcome to have them anytime

Network Doodling v4

[Jonno]

Minor updates to T2 and T12. Fixed/added a few stops.

Network Doodling v5

[Jonno]

Updated with the Greens Metro Proposal and to match Aldonius Rail/Tram and Busway updated map.  Noting that my doodling has Beaudesert and NWTC lines.

Network Doodling v6

[Jonno]

So was looking at the 1961 Trams Network which I believe carried more passengers than our current buses network (I remember reading that somewhere) yet there were just 13 routes of which 2 terminated in the city.  And they just ran down the main roads. Yet any discussion about bus redesign says there is no way "all the passengers could be catered for unless the buses terminate in the city".  What am I missing.

• Fortitude Valley – Belmont 06 (Current equivalent bus route 204)
• South Brisbane – St Pauls Terrace 08
• Ascot Doomben – Balmoral 60
• Ascot Oriel Park[17] – Balmoral 70 (Toombul to Cultural Centre 300; Valley to Balmoral 230)
• Clayfield – Salisbury 71 (Toombul to Cultural Centre 306/322; Valley to Salisbury 117/124/125)
• Chermside – Enoggera 72 (Chermside to City 370; City to Brookside Shopping Centre 390) (Formerly Chermside to Enoggera 172)
• Kalinga – Rainworth 73 (Toombul to City 321; Valley to Rainworth 475), terminating at Rainworth State School, 185 Boundary Road (27.4665°S 152.9845°E)[18]
• Stafford – Bardon 74 (Route 375), terminating at the junction of Simpsons Road and Morgan Terrrace (27.4593°S 152.9759°E)[18]
• Grange – Ashgrove 75 (Stafford to City via Grange 379; City to West Ashgrove 379/380/381)
• Bulimba ferry – Toowong 76 (Teneriffe wharf to Toowong 470)
• New Farm Park – West End 77 (New Farm to City 196; City to West End wharf 199)
• New Farm wharf – Dutton Park 78 (Teneriffe wharf to City 199; City to Fairfield via Dutton Park 196) (27.4616°S 153.0501°E) [19]
• Fortitude Valley – Mount Gravatt 79 (Valley to Garden City via Mount Gravatt Central 174/175)

This just reinforces to me that our bus network does not need to be CBD centric terminators.  Cross city is the way to go.  Yes in their own dedicated ROW not stuck behind traffic.

Connecting SEQ 2031 - T, M, L & B - Full Colour

[#Metro]

Yes, trams were though routed from one side of Brisbane to the other.

Services that are thorough routed transfer delays from one part of the city to another.

The driver also needs a break.

I could only really see main busway routes being though routed.

Trams were really frequent, base frequency was one every 12 minutes, though this tended to fall back in the afternoon.

[Jonno]

Only when stuck in traffic!! It used to work why do we assume it won't now?

[timh]

Only when stuck in traffic!! It used to work why do we assume it won't now?

Well for one thing, more cars. If you're comparing it to 1961, that's definitely at the start of the car started to become more popular/affordable

[Jonno]

Only when stuck in traffic!! It used to work why do we assume it won't now?

Well for one thing, more cars. If you're comparing it to 1961, that's definitely at the start of the car started to become more popular/affordable

Dedicated ROW

[HappyTrainGuy]

Traffic lights or a lack of them back then.

[#Metro]

The Lord Mayors Mass Transit Report 2007 considered this issue of where to terminate buses. It was a very good report.

There were a few options, though running, feeder network, near side terminus, far side terminus.

We have the BCC 1960s tram timetables Jonno. I would consider comparing the average speeds peak and off peak with the bus to test for whether there is or isn't a significant time difference.

Perth has some routes that are cross-city. Route 950 and 960 (high frequency) for example.

Personally, I don't see a huge amount of value being created by through running for most buses, other than from busway to busway (e.g. Chermside to 8 Mile Plains, Chermside to UQ).

The opening of the SE Freeway means that Coronation Drive and Milton Road plus CBD streets are flooded with traffic. This could be a key factor as to why.

A large proportion of buses are rockets which use Captain Cook bridge, these are best terminated in the city or nearby IMHO.

[HappyTrainGuy]

Buses are slower. Bcc fought tmr for extra funding as they couldn't meet otp targets so a number of routes had up to 20-30 minutes added to them.

[Jonno]

I would take anything by the Lord Mayor with a grain of salt that would make the salt mines of Russia look like a table shaker.

The answer is always "No change to buses all going straight to CBD". When the answer is a hammer then every problem looks like a nail!

Our public transport is near worst practice so the CBD centric duplicative bus network just doesn't cut the mustard!! There is a lot of value in changing a model not meeting set goals!!

[Jonno]

On point  Great Twitter read Comments are very funny too
https://twitter.com/stuartbdonovan/status/1648299229822205953?

[#Metro]

I would take anything by the Lord Mayor with a grain of salt that would make the salt mines of Russia look like a table shaker.

The answer is always "No change to buses all going straight to CBD". When the answer is a hammer then every problem looks like a nail!

For interest, BCC did run a feeder-and-transfer model when the trams were around. You can see mention of them in some of the tram timetables.

In the 1980s they also did feeder and transfer at Toombul and Enoggera. Something happened and they got burned and have been against it ever since.