25 Nov 2010: SEQ: Route 88 has few positives and many negatives ...

[ozbob]

Media release 25 November 2010

SEQ: Route 88 has few positives and many negatives ...

RAIL Back On Track (http://backontrack.org) a web based community support group for rail and public transport and an advocate for public transport commuters has said the announcement of a new bus service, the Route 88 has largely gone unheralded (1,2). Route 88 is a high frequency, pre-paid service between Indooroopilly and Eight Mile Plains via the Captain Cook Bridge and South East Busway.

Robert Dow, Spokesman for RAIL Back On Track said:

"The route for the 88 bus route is duplicating many existing public transport services. It will also add to bus and road congestion on the western part from the City to Indooroopilly. Indooroopilly railway station will soon have a 15 minute around the clock out of peak train frequency, including weekends and a much better peak frequency for trains and express services during peaks.  Is the Route 88 western leg really needed?"

"Currently, the weekend 444 runs to Moggill are crowded by people who wish to travel from the city to locations between Milton and Indooroopilly.  This is because it is the only route to Indooroopilly with an even and reasonable frequency, and no other routes share its city stop location.  The former poor outbound routing for the western routes via Grey St from Queen St Bus Station also served as a disincentive.  While a number of routes leave out of Queen St Bus Station for Indooroopilly, this stop is unattractive due to the inconsistent weekend frequency (3,4).  These routes are considerably less congested than the 444.  RAIL Back On Track calls for the consolidation of the routes in a single location, most likely Queen St Bus Station.  The frequency from Queen St Bus Station isn't as bad on weekday daytimes."

"Heading inbound, the 444 is preferred if heading to the city over the other "express" routes, due to the "express" routes needing to deviate into the Cultural Centre, and also it needs to use the bus turnaround facility, which is slow.  A recent poll of RAIL Back On Track members had a strong majority in favour of a revised inbound routing via Skew St and Roma St Bus Station (5).  This makes the most sense if the old Boomerang St inbound stop is reinstated and a new indented stop created on the slip lane from the Go Between Bridge for outbound services.  RAIL Back On Track is unsure why both of these things didn't occur on the opening of the bridge.  The other alternative to running inbound via Roma St is to run via the Go Between Bridge and no longer serve the Cribb St stop."

"The other problem is that even if routes run to time, they are still bunched up from Indooroopilly when heading inbound.  This means that there are gaps in the service followed by 3 buses to the city arriving within a few minutes (6)."

"The SE busway component of the service is largely good, however the southbound reliability is likely to be poor if the route has just come from Coronation Drive.  For best use of available funds, this should replace the 160 service."

"The failure to move forward with a truly integrated public transport network is no better highlighted than with the 88 bus route. Extending the Great Circle Bus route to a 7 day operation with increased frequency or a BUZ 100 would be a better investment of funds in our opinion."

References:

1.   http://www.translink.com.au/travel-information/service-updates/bulletin/1289964278

2.   http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=4772.0

3.   http://jp.translink.com.au/travel-information/stops-and-stations/stop-timetable?stopName=Qsbs%20Stop%20B1

4.   http://jp.translink.com.au/travel-information/stops-and-stations/stop-timetable?stopName=Qsbs%20Stop%20B4

5.   http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=4501.0

6.   http://jp.translink.com.au/travel-information/stops-and-stations/stop-timetable?stopName=Indooroopilly%20B

Contact:

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org

[ozbob]

Discussion thread --> http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=4772.0

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

26 November 2010

Greetings,

We welcome the news the LNP may have a shadow Minister for Public Transport portfolio.

We continue to receive a lot of feedback questioning the basis of the route 88 bus.

The community would be much better served by an expansion of the Great Circle Bus routes (598/599) in terms of frequency and expanded to a 7 day a week operation. In case TransLink has not noticed, shops and hospitals function 7 days a week.  Many citizens are dependent on public transport to get around, 7 days a week.  Rather than just layering more questionable services on already congested radial routes, think laterally!

Best wishes
Robert

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org

Media release 25 November 2010

SEQ: Route 88 has few positives and many negatives ...

RAIL Back On Track (http://backontrack.org) a web based community support group for rail and public transport and an advocate for public transport commuters has said the announcement of a new bus service, the Route 88 has largely gone unheralded (1,2). Route 88 is a high frequency, pre-paid service between Indooroopilly and Eight Mile Plains via the Captain Cook Bridge and South East Busway.

Robert Dow, Spokesman for RAIL Back On Track said:

"The route for the 88 bus route is duplicating many existing public transport services. It will also add to bus and road congestion on the western part from the City to Indooroopilly. Indooroopilly railway station will soon have a 15 minute around the clock out of peak train frequency, including weekends and a much better peak frequency for trains and express services during peaks.  Is the Route 88 western leg really needed?"

"Currently, the weekend 444 runs to Moggill are crowded by people who wish to travel from the city to locations between Milton and Indooroopilly.  This is because it is the only route to Indooroopilly with an even and reasonable frequency, and no other routes share its city stop location.  The former poor outbound routing for the western routes via Grey St from Queen St Bus Station also served as a disincentive.  While a number of routes leave out of Queen St Bus Station for Indooroopilly, this stop is unattractive due to the inconsistent weekend frequency (3,4).  These routes are considerably less congested than the 444.  RAIL Back On Track calls for the consolidation of the routes in a single location, most likely Queen St Bus Station.  The frequency from Queen St Bus Station isn't as bad on weekday daytimes."

"Heading inbound, the 444 is preferred if heading to the city over the other "express" routes, due to the "express" routes needing to deviate into the Cultural Centre, and also it needs to use the bus turnaround facility, which is slow.  A recent poll of RAIL Back On Track members had a strong majority in favour of a revised inbound routing via Skew St and Roma St Bus Station (5).  This makes the most sense if the old Boomerang St inbound stop is reinstated and a new indented stop created on the slip lane from the Go Between Bridge for outbound services.  RAIL Back On Track is unsure why both of these things didn't occur on the opening of the bridge.  The other alternative to running inbound via Roma St is to run via the Go Between Bridge and no longer serve the Cribb St stop."

"The other problem is that even if routes run to time, they are still bunched up from Indooroopilly when heading inbound.  This means that there are gaps in the service followed by 3 buses to the city arriving within a few minutes (6)."

"The SE busway component of the service is largely good, however the southbound reliability is likely to be poor if the route has just come from Coronation Drive.  For best use of available funds, this should replace the 160 service."

"The failure to move forward with a truly integrated public transport network is no better highlighted than with the 88 bus route. Extending the Great Circle Bus route to a 7 day operation with increased frequency or a BUZ 100 would be a better investment of funds in our opinion."

References:

1.   http://www.translink.com.au/travel-information/service-updates/bulletin/1289964278

2.   http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=4772.0

3.   http://jp.translink.com.au/travel-information/stops-and-stations/stop-timetable?stopName=Qsbs%20Stop%20B1

4.   http://jp.translink.com.au/travel-information/stops-and-stations/stop-timetable?stopName=Qsbs%20Stop%20B4

5.   http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=4501.0

6.   http://jp.translink.com.au/travel-information/stops-and-stations/stop-timetable?stopName=Indooroopilly%20B

Contact:

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets

30 November 2010

Greetings,

Grave concerns now with the axing of the bus routes out at Ipswich.

The route 88 bus should be junked and the savings used to provide proper public transport services out at Ipswich in our opinion.

See article from Queensland Times below.

Best wishes
Robert

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org

============================

From the Queensland Times click here!

Resident enters bus route dispute

Resident enters bus route dispute

Andrew Korner | 30th November 2010

AFTER a week riding Ipswich buses dawn to dusk, Ipswich retiree Ray Radunz has blown a hole in Translink's case for shutting down an important bus route.

Ray Radunz has been travelling on buses all week counting passengers to get an idea of actual numbers of bus patrons.
David Nielsen

AFTER a week riding Ipswich buses dawn to dusk, Ipswich retiree Ray Radunz has blown a hole in Translink's case for shutting down an important bus route.

The State Government infuriated residents when it announced recently that three bus routes – the 505, 510 and 523 – would be replaced with a subsidised taxi service, called FlexiLink, on December 13.

It justified its decision by claiming to have collected data showing that the three routes had sustained passenger numbers averaging less than three customers per trip over a prolonged period.

But Mr Radunz, for one, was not willing to take Translink's word for it.

Ipswich's bus services are of such importance to Mr Radunz, 78, that he gave up a week of his life riding each one of the 505's trips from Tivoli to Bell Street and back, counting the numbers of passengers that use it.

From Monday to Saturday, he counted 1003 passengers on the 505 route alone.

Route 505 has a total of 25 trips per week day – 13 trips inbound and 12 trips outbound, plus 18 trips on a Saturday.

By his figures, that works out to an average of more than seven passengers per trip.

"I have been starting at 7am and going through to 6.15pm each day and I can tell you there are times in the morning where there are up to 26 people on the bus," Mr Radunz said. At the end of the

day all I get out of doing this – apart from the passenger figures – is a sore backside.

"But I'll tell you, this business about there being two or three people on the bus is an utter crock. I'm going to keep riding the bus until Saturday and as soon as I've got the final figures I'm taking them to Translink."

Translink explained the jump in passenger numbers as an anomaly – saying that it could be put down to the busier Christmas period.

"The decision to maintain or cancel bus services takes into account long periods of TransLink data based on both go card and paper tickets," a spokesman said.

"Translink data shows that, on average, these services carry two to three people each per trip."

Mr Radunz is one of many concerned residents who have questioned how the Flexilink taxi service – set to replace the buses after December 13 – will cope with demand.

Translink has repeatedly stated that the taxi-based service was well-placed to handle the demand.

"During the 12-month FlexiLink trial period, factors including the number of passengers using the service and how well it meets passenger needs will be evaluated," the spokesman said.

[#Metro]

http://www.humantransit.org/2010/08/the-perils-of-succeeding-on-average.html

[ozbob]

Are there any real checks and balances on TransLink?

The apparent evidence suggests there isn't.

[ozbob]

Twitter

TransLink SEQ TransLinkSEQ
 
From Mon 13 Dec get on board route P88, a pre-paid bus servicing Indooroopilly to Eight Mile Plains - http://twurl.nl/mgl22q
about 1 hour ago via web

Response:

Twitter

Robert_Dow
 
The 88 bus is a waste of valuable resources --> http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=4920.0 @TransLinkSEQ ramp up 598/599
less than 20 seconds ago via web

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

11 December 2010

Catch the 88 and you will arrive late!

Greetings,

We really do wonder about the continuing bus fantasy by Government and TransLink as demonstrated in the route 88 bus.  This bus service is to start on Monday 13th December.  Adding to the already well serviced and hopelessly congested western road bus routes from Roma St to Indooroopilly on the western leg, it completely ignores the fact that soon Indooroopilly rail will have a 15 minute out of peak rail service around the clock, and very high frequency express services during peak.

The community has been offered consultation on the new rail timetables for 2011.  It is not as though TransLink doesn't know that the plan is to give Indooroopilly high frequency rail services.  There has been no indication of what the bus arrangements will be to properly utilise the frequency and capacity on rail once the new timetable is implemented, particularly at Darra and Indooroopilly rail stations and this in itself cause for much concern.

There is no better demonstration of what is wrong with public transport planning and policy in south-east Queensland than the 88 bus route.

The good citizens at Ipswich suffer, the public transport poor continue to loose services, the public transport rich cup overflows ...

Much better bang for buck would be to extend the Great Circle Bus line to 7 day a week operation with improved frequency.

Yours in continuing bewilderment,

Robert

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org


==================

Media release 25 November 2010

SEQ: Route 88 has few positives and many negatives ...

RAIL Back On Track (http://backontrack.org) a web based community support group for rail and public transport and an advocate for public transport commuters has said the announcement of a new bus service, the Route 88 has largely gone unheralded (1,2). Route 88 is a high frequency, pre-paid service between Indooroopilly and Eight Mile Plains via the Captain Cook Bridge and South East Busway.

Robert Dow, Spokesman for RAIL Back On Track said:

"The route for the 88 bus route is duplicating many existing public transport services. It will also add to bus and road congestion on the western part from the City to Indooroopilly. Indooroopilly railway station will soon have a 15 minute around the clock out of peak train frequency, including weekends and a much better peak frequency for trains and express services during peaks.  Is the Route 88 western leg really needed?"

"Currently, the weekend 444 runs to Moggill are crowded by people who wish to travel from the city to locations between Milton and Indooroopilly.  This is because it is the only route to Indooroopilly with an even and reasonable frequency, and no other routes share its city stop location.  The former poor outbound routing for the western routes via Grey St from Queen St Bus Station also served as a disincentive.  While a number of routes leave out of Queen St Bus Station for Indooroopilly, this stop is unattractive due to the inconsistent weekend frequency (3,4).  These routes are considerably less congested than the 444.  RAIL Back On Track calls for the consolidation of the routes in a single location, most likely Queen St Bus Station.  The frequency from Queen St Bus Station isn't as bad on weekday daytimes."

"Heading inbound, the 444 is preferred if heading to the city over the other "express" routes, due to the "express" routes needing to deviate into the Cultural Centre, and also it needs to use the bus turnaround facility, which is slow.  A recent poll of RAIL Back On Track members had a strong majority in favour of a revised inbound routing via Skew St and Roma St Bus Station (5).  This makes the most sense if the old Boomerang St inbound stop is reinstated and a new indented stop created on the slip lane from the Go Between Bridge for outbound services.  RAIL Back On Track is unsure why both of these things didn't occur on the opening of the bridge.  The other alternative to running inbound via Roma St is to run via the Go Between Bridge and no longer serve the Cribb St stop."

"The other problem is that even if routes run to time, they are still bunched up from Indooroopilly when heading inbound.  This means that there are gaps in the service followed by 3 buses to the city arriving within a few minutes (6)."

"The SE busway component of the service is largely good, however the southbound reliability is likely to be poor if the route has just come from Coronation Drive.  For best use of available funds, this should replace the 160 service."

"The failure to move forward with a truly integrated public transport network is no better highlighted than with the 88 bus route. Extending the Great Circle Bus route to a 7 day operation with increased frequency or a BUZ 100 would be a better investment of funds in our opinion."

References:

1.   http://www.translink.com.au/travel-information/service-updates/bulletin/1289964278

2.   http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=4772.0

3.   http://jp.translink.com.au/travel-information/stops-and-stations/stop-timetable?stopName=Qsbs%20Stop%20B1

4.   http://jp.translink.com.au/travel-information/stops-and-stations/stop-timetable?stopName=Qsbs%20Stop%20B4

5.   http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=4501.0

6.   http://jp.translink.com.au/travel-information/stops-and-stations/stop-timetable?stopName=Indooroopilly%20B

Contact:

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org

[#Metro]

There has been no indication of what the bus arrangements will be to properly utilise the frequency and capacity on rail once the new timetable is implemented, particularly at Darra and Indooroopilly rail stations and this in itself cause for much concern.

If Indooroopilly were a busway, there would be a giant ramp to allow buses to enter it. But because it is a rail station, the buses avoid it like the plague, despite it having extremely high frequency.

In a truly mode neutral philosophy, we would neither care nor see a difference between a bus approaching a busway station to jump on to the busway, and a bus approaching a rail station to dump its passengers into the rail system.

Yes, it involves a transfer. But the buses, once terminated at indooroopilly can be turned around and rushed back to the suburb in which they came from to do another run. This cuts waiting time at the bus stop and increases the frequency, which offsets the transfer penalty. This cannot be done if the buses continue to run via Coronation Drive. (Of course there should always be some routes that go via Coronation Drive to service the offices there, I have previously suggested BUZ 450, BUZ 412, BUZ 444 and there is scope for possibly one other BUZ here).

I have previously shown that if applied to some routes, frequencies could be effectively doubled: http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=4415.0 A bus + rail trip may also be faster than going via coro, and possibly faster than using the western freeway as well.

And before we 'model' and penalise out of existence anything to do with integration (i.e. transfers), I would make a small case for applying heavy travel penalties on any bus route that goes via Coronation Drive, which is chronically and randomly the subject of extreme congestion should there be a car accident on coro, milton rd, moggil rd and more surprisingly, Ipswich rd or the SE freeway.

A number of empirical studies have demonstrated the importance of considering travel time variability when estimating the benefits to travellers of time savings. There is evidence that unexpected delay should be valued significantly different from average travel time valuations – values between 2.5 and 5 times in-vehicle travel time has been used.

Small et al (1999) 'showed that a reduction of one minute of travel time under unexpectedly congested conditions was valued at over 2.5 times the value of one minute of time under normal condition'.

http://www.airtrain.com.au/pdf/Airtrain_Impacts_Apr06.pdf

Finally, even if the train is full, this only makes a case for rocket and more buses in peak hour only to take the overflow.
Because at all other times, there is more than enough capacity.

Resources should be used to get the most out of them...

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

14th December 2010

Off with a fizz

Greetings,

I ventured out on the first day of the route 88 bus services yesterday.

Despite being advertised by TransLink as rear door loading capable, when I attempted to board the P88 bus (G1370) at Indooroopilly via the rear door I was whacked with a fixed fare penalty.  So I have had to claim that back, not a good start.

The use of bus stop 24 in Musgrave Road Indooroopilly for the 88, away from the Indooroopilly bus interchange is also perplexing.

Of the 88 services I travelled on, and observed yesterday by members there was no pax or occasionally one or two, except for one service that had the grand total of 5.   I would suggest that maybe the 88 should be flexi-linked, not the buses at Ipswich.

Many with an interest in public transport are shaking their heads at the introduction of the 88.  There are far more pressing community needs.

The mediocre start yesterday for the 88 confirms our fears.

Details --> http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=4772.msg42477#msg42477

Best wishes
Robert

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org

On 11/12/2010 3:55 AM, RAIL Back On Track Admin wrote:
Greetings,

We really do wonder about the continuing bus fantasy by Government and TransLink as demonstrated in the route 88 bus.  This bus service is to start on Monday 13th December.  Adding to the already well serviced and hopelessly congested western road bus routes from Roma St to Indooroopilly on the western leg, it completely ignores the fact that soon Indooroopilly rail will have a 15 minute out of peak rail service around the clock, and very high frequency express services during peak.

The community has been offered consultation on the new rail timetables for 2011.  It is not as though TransLink doesn't know that the plan is to give Indooroopilly high frequency rail services.  There has been no indication of what the bus arrangements will be to properly utilise the frequency and capacity on rail once the new timetable is implemented, particularly at Darra and Indooroopilly rail stations and this in itself cause for much concern.

There is no better demonstration of what is wrong with public transport planning and policy in south-east Queensland than the 88 bus route.

The good citizens at Ipswich suffer, the public transport poor continue to loose services, the public transport rich cup overflows ...

Much better bang for buck would be to extend the Great Circle Bus line to 7 day a week operation with improved frequency.

Yours in continuing bewilderment,

Robert

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org

==================

Media release 25 November 2010

SEQ: Route 88 has few positives and many negatives ...

RAIL Back On Track (http://backontrack.org) a web based community support group for rail and public transport and an advocate for public transport commuters has said the announcement of a new bus service, the Route 88 has largely gone unheralded (1,2). Route 88 is a high frequency, pre-paid service between Indooroopilly and Eight Mile Plains via the Captain Cook Bridge and South East Busway.

Robert Dow, Spokesman for RAIL Back On Track said:

"The route for the 88 bus route is duplicating many existing public transport services. It will also add to bus and road congestion on the western part from the City to Indooroopilly. Indooroopilly railway station will soon have a 15 minute around the clock out of peak train frequency, including weekends and a much better peak frequency for trains and express services during peaks.  Is the Route 88 western leg really needed?"

"Currently, the weekend 444 runs to Moggill are crowded by people who wish to travel from the city to locations between Milton and Indooroopilly.  This is because it is the only route to Indooroopilly with an even and reasonable frequency, and no other routes share its city stop location.  The former poor outbound routing for the western routes via Grey St from Queen St Bus Station also served as a disincentive.  While a number of routes leave out of Queen St Bus Station for Indooroopilly, this stop is unattractive due to the inconsistent weekend frequency (3,4).  These routes are considerably less congested than the 444.  RAIL Back On Track calls for the consolidation of the routes in a single location, most likely Queen St Bus Station.  The frequency from Queen St Bus Station isn't as bad on weekday daytimes."

"Heading inbound, the 444 is preferred if heading to the city over the other "express" routes, due to the "express" routes needing to deviate into the Cultural Centre, and also it needs to use the bus turnaround facility, which is slow.  A recent poll of RAIL Back On Track members had a strong majority in favour of a revised inbound routing via Skew St and Roma St Bus Station (5).  This makes the most sense if the old Boomerang St inbound stop is reinstated and a new indented stop created on the slip lane from the Go Between Bridge for outbound services.  RAIL Back On Track is unsure why both of these things didn't occur on the opening of the bridge.  The other alternative to running inbound via Roma St is to run via the Go Between Bridge and no longer serve the Cribb St stop."

"The other problem is that even if routes run to time, they are still bunched up from Indooroopilly when heading inbound.  This means that there are gaps in the service followed by 3 buses to the city arriving within a few minutes (6)."

"The SE busway component of the service is largely good, however the southbound reliability is likely to be poor if the route has just come from Coronation Drive.  For best use of available funds, this should replace the 160 service."

"The failure to move forward with a truly integrated public transport network is no better highlighted than with the 88 bus route. Extending the Great Circle Bus route to a 7 day operation with increased frequency or a BUZ 100 would be a better investment of funds in our opinion."

References:

1.   http://www.translink.com.au/travel-information/service-updates/bulletin/1289964278

2.   http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=4772.0

3.   http://jp.translink.com.au/travel-information/stops-and-stations/stop-timetable?stopName=Qsbs%20Stop%20B1

4.   http://jp.translink.com.au/travel-information/stops-and-stations/stop-timetable?stopName=Qsbs%20Stop%20B4

5.   http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=4501.0

6.   http://jp.translink.com.au/travel-information/stops-and-stations/stop-timetable?stopName=Indooroopilly%20B

Contact:

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org