New Brisbane West bus system proposal

[somebody]

Well, IMO theres little point in stopping at both KGS and QSBS. They're next to each other. Plus not all stops at QSBS are wheelchair friendly. If you were going to go to QSBS I would think you would run across the Go Between bridge, stop at CC and then end at QSBS, but that removes the interchange with the trains at Roma St.

That's true, but you could interchange with the trains at Toowong or Indooroopilly.  Neither are perfect interchanges, of course.  There is no perfect PT system.

With the 444, why cant it go Roma St, KGS, and then Terminate at QSBS?

You can't leave from QSBS B and go to Roma St, without doing a ridiculous loop around via George St.

I still think the best idea is to have the buses run into the centre of town and allow interchange at the Cultural Centre with the trains taking care of the top of town.  The only real problem with this plan is the lack of an 8/hour frequency at either train station.  The part where buses and trains compete with each other for the same passengers is something which has been done wrong in Brisbane for some time.

[Gazza]

So in QSBS, when they come out of KGS, cant they go down that narrow little tunnel, loop around past the A and C stops, and then load up at the B stop? And then go straight back to KGS.

I still think interchange with Roma St is important...People need to be able to access rail services, and interchange to get to QUT Kelvin Grove and the health precinct etc.

[somebody]

So in QSBS, when they come out of KGS, cant they go down that narrow little tunnel, loop around past the A and C stops, and then load up at the B stop? And then go straight back to KGS.

I still think interchange with Roma St is important...People need to be able to access rail services, and interchange to get to QUT Kelvin Grove and the health precinct etc.

No, they would be facing in the wrong direction to access platform B.  Link: http://translink.com.au/resources/travel-information/maps/interchange/090501-queen-street.pdf

If it was a priority, you could re-shuffle the services so that they used platform C instead.  Whoever has to put up with platform B isn't going to be happy!  It would also mean that the 444 couldn't serve the Cultural Centre anymore, which would be a somewhat controversial decision.

But even if you took the 444 out of Roma St, these people would still be able to access the rail network.  They would just do so in a slightly different way.  I understand that this is controversial, as it does make the 444 route slightly less desirable.  But the effect on the overall network is positive, and would be more so with an 8/hour rail frequency.  A 20/hour bus frequency is ok, but an 8/hour rail frequency isn't?

[Gazza]

Working the other way then, would it be possible to base all western routes out of KGS instead, and forget QSBS?

[somebody]

Working the other way then, would it be possible to base all western routes out of KGS instead, and forget QSBS?

Main limitation to that would be the capacity issues in KGSBS.  But with all the other routes currently excluded from here, then yes, it is achievable.  I just see that Kelvin Grove Rd routes are more of a priority.

[Gazza]

How many dedicated stops do you reckon it would need. I mean if they could sufficiently trim the western routes to be say two BUZes serving the Centenary Suburbs, another two serving Indro, Kenmore and Beyond, and then say one from St Lucia, with no other routes using the station. If each of those routes is every 10 minutes at peak then that is 30 bph entering.
What's the average stop occupation time in peak hour? (We can assume 100% prepaid boarding)

[somebody]

How many dedicated stops do you reckon it would need.

Two for the full time services.  The one for the 444/443/88 (1a), and another for the 425/430/435/450/453/454/460 (1b, currently unused).  Note that the services I'm putting into a single stop use 2 stops in QSBS currently.

For the record though, I am not recommending the above.

Then something would need to be done about the departure stop for the 426/431/446/455/456/461 rockets.  I say Charlotte St for all except the 431, which should be Adelaide St.

[Golliwog]

1b is not specified to any routes, but the 444 and 88 do use it. Not sure about in the off peak, but they certainly do during peak, at least when they turn up at the same time.

I also think 1b is a bit too close to 1a to allow a bus to pull out from 1b if a bus is in 1a, or a bus to pull into 1a if a bus is already at 1b. I could be wrong on that, but thats how it appears when two buses are stopped there.

[somebody]

1b is not specified to any routes, but the 444 and 88 do use it. Not sure about in the off peak, but they certainly do during peak, at least when they turn up at the same time.

I also think 1b is a bit too close to 1a to allow a bus to pull out from 1b if a bus is in 1a, or a bus to pull into 1a if a bus is already at 1b. I could be wrong on that, but thats how it appears when two buses are stopped there.

I had wondered about the first part.

With the second part, is 1b closer to 1a than 1d & 1c?

[Golliwog]

Not sure. I hardly ever use KGS. The most I see of it is passing through on a 385 on my way to uni when I have a late start. Otherwise I use the FG trains.

[somebody]

I think the Valley-PA Hospital service could be provided by the 370 and Grange part of the 379, rather than having them run though to town.  You can access the CBD easily with interchange at RB&WH.

Maybe the 475 could attach to the Stafford part of the 375 rather than just truncating it, which also allows the Bardon part into KGSBS.

[somebody]

I've decided to stay at Indooroopilly for a while, so I want to move forward with this one.  Is it a suitable topic for a media release, or do you think we should handle it in a different way?

A few additional comments.  The 4xx express outbound route is slow to reach Cordelia St.  I suggest going via Grey St and Peel St then onto Cordelia St.  Going via the GoMA may also be a possibility, but I'm not too sure about that one.  This should also be done in both peaks.  Removing from Melbourne St should mitigate concerns about PM peak outbound congestion.

471/475 (no more 476) should use George St/Upper Roma St/Milton Rd outbound, but Coronation Drive and North Quay to Adelaide St inbound.  475 needs to have the PA Hospital bit transferred to the 370.  The western bit of the 475 could be connected to the Stafford bit of the 375.  Bardon bit should be in KGSBS IMO.

Here's an updated image (removing the PAH bit of the 475):