27 Apr 2013: Lord Mayor and BCC can no longer be trusted to run city's buses

[somebody]

Yes, I'm aware of that.  But Rocket services are run because it's ultimately more efficient to do so, and generally provides a better service.

I'm getting pretty tired of this rocket hating.

[#Metro]

I think rockets are important to the network, with the exception of certain services such as the 161 Rocket which runs all day. There could be some scope for a simpler rocket system, and under a feeder network, taking pooled passengers from nodes into the CBD, shadowing BUZ routes in peak.

Not all rockets are created equal. And I think some areas (Sunnybank and Centenary Suburbs) have quite a mess of rockets going all over the place.

[HappyTrainGuy]

Rockets have their place but I still don't know why 330/333/340 buz routes even have rockets (331/332/341) when the only thing they do differently is bypass Chermside interchange (332 starts there) and the RBWH-City leg. They are always the more quiet buses out of the city that I've noticed.

Also adds to the mess of the Gympie Road-City corridor.

[SurfRail]

My basic beef is that where the rocket is more efficient, it should probably be what runs ALL DAY.

I would have been reasonably happy if it had been proposed that services like the 179 and 180 were amalgamated so that they just ran via CCB full time under a single line number, with sufficient other services left to run via the Cultural Centre.

[#Metro]

3000 views 

[minbrisbane]

I've thought that many (if not all) of the southern rockets could just feed to busways only - full time.  This plan of course, would need the busway spine to be beefed up.  (Maybe as TL planned (555+111))...

[Gazza]

3000 views 

What's the significance of 3000 views? Is 3000 page views considered a large number on the Internet or something?


http://i.imgur.com/3Ukm4H2.png

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

13th October 2013

BCC Bus Review Reveals Hi-Waste Bus Philosophy

Greetings,

Many RAIL Back On Track members are of the view that legislation separating of Brisbane Transport (BT) from Brisbane City Council (BCC) and for the bus contracts to be thrown open to competition is now needed to rescue the Brisbane and indirectly the rest of the SEQ bus network.

It is our opinion that any savings made by BCC this year will be engulfed by BCC's bus cost explosion and yet another round of harder cuts will be required again next year to keep the bus network financially afloat. Some of BCC's changes are cosmetic and do not constitute fundamental reform. For example from tomorrow, the Wishart 161 rocket will now stop at all busway stations, slowing the passenger journey times for everyone on that service while actually costing slightly more to run due to this extra stopping. There is no actual saving here and any new passengers this bus will carry as a result of the changes will not be genuinely new passengers but simply be passengers cannibalised from other busway services. It would be cheaper and simpler to simply make passengers connect at Upper Mt Gravatt Busway station but the hi-waste design philosophy adopted by BCC prevents this.

Passengers will be pleased no doubt when they realise that they are now paying more for less and the council is dipping into their rates to the tune of $400 per rate payer annually to prop up the BCC hi-waste bus network which has the remarkable feat of managing to carry 50% loads of air through Cultural Centre at the height of morning peak hour and 80% loads of air at other times all while claiming with a straight face that "the bus network is not broken and does not need revolutionary change ...".

As we keep saying, what is not sustainable shall not be sustained. Perhaps it will take a financial catastrophe at Brisbane Transport or passenger revolt at yet another 7.5% fare increase coming in three months time before BCC will listen to reality, and if so, so be it.

What an embarrassment it is that private car parks are now actively swooping on bus passengers exiting bus stations outside City Hall to peddle cheap parking deals.

It is also embarrassing that an identical bus review performed by Brisbane's sister city, Auckland (NZ) came to identical conclusions as the TransLink Bus Review did and is now being implemented.

The State Government must do something and not sit idly by as workers, families and ratepayers are are taken to the proverbial cleaners. It must pass legislation altering the City of Brisbane Act 2010 to strip BCC of all public transport functions.

The Lord Mayor and BCC can no longer be trusted to run Brisbane's buses. After a decade of games, it's time to dump Brisbane City Council and separate Brisbane Transport.

Best wishes
Robert

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

References:

Lord Mayor and BCC can no longer be trusted to run city's buses http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=9895.0

Re: Lord Mayor and BCC can no longer be trusted to run city's buses
http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=9895.msg125285#msg125285

The Costello Commission of Audit assessment of BCC:

"Increases in the payment required to be made to operators (especially to BT) for the
provision of bus services are a significant financial risk for the State." page 2-122

"Payments increased by 61% between 2008-09 and 2011-12, and are expected to increase by a further
35% between 2011-12 and 2015-16. "