Northern bus issues

[Paul B]

Translink say they are 'monitoring' the Fat 310's, which means they are instructing them to all leave 5 mins late.
I'd prefer they drive normally, arrive early, sit idle for 7-8 mins. That way we know exactly how bad the timetable is.
Can any incremental changes be made? or are we just gonna wait until an entire rewrite is done?
12bph inbound at Gympie Rd (333,330,340) yet 13 minute gaps between because they all depart a minute apart.

[SurfRail]

Just give the driver 6-7 minutes more layover time at Stop 60 before leaving.  Nothing else leaves from there anymore so it shouldn't affect anything else.

[Paul B]

it will solve the complaints, but it still leaves the timetable slow as hell.
How many bus routes have to wait 3-5mins to START their route? I'd bet a few of the "every 10 mins" routes, but not hourly ones.
Perhaps a few halfway through a long route have to dwell in a shopping interchange.
As it currently stands, drivers leaving deliberately late, driving 40-50 the whole way is just a band-aid fix so that TL/BCC can argue theres "nothing wrong with this timetable, anyone who says so is a whinger"
Leaving when the timetable says, driving normally, getting to timing points 5-10 mins early at least highlights the issue and proves how long it actually needs to do the run. Leave the dwells to out in the suburbs.

[SurfRail]

With a network as overtly complicated as Brisbane's, I think everybody is going to be waiting a long time for modest fixes.  There is too much interconnectivity between the way things are scheduled to imagine that it's as simple as changing the run times on a single route, or worse a single run on a single route.

With the scheduling software used, there are generally always a few slightly suboptimal scheduling arrangements because you gradually lose any benefit trying to shoehorn everything into perfection.

Perhaps a more relevant question is what benefit accrues from catching a bus route like the 310 all the way from the CBD as against any of the trains or other services that shadow it.

[Paul B]

I agree the 310 is wasteful. Why there aren't short run depot 310's from Toombul or at least some 310 to Virginia station with train connections is beyond me. I looked forward like HappyTrainGuy did with the Translink Review, but with being either delayed or ditched, It'd be nice to have the 310 as it is at least having fat trimmed, as it already suffers from poor frequency (hourly, not even 30 mins during peak), poor span (last service outbound weekends 5:58pm. its not as if theres a better route a short walk anywhere. from Virginia station onward you at least get some "other" routes like the horrible 306. I sometimes forget I'm in QLD 

[Paul B]

Route 306 - minor timetable changes
https://translink.com.au/service-updates/188486

They're able to do this, but seem unwilling to slightly alter the 310
so it isn't painfully slow and continually having to wait at stops because of being 5-10mins early. or the weekend inbound 325s that have to drive at 40km/h from Boondall to Chermside

[Paul B]

The other day I boarded an outbound 310 that was 11 minutes early at RBWH (5:27pm arrival, due to depart 5:38pm)
I guess I'll never know who actually made this 18 mins call. Was it just to guarantee "on time running" ? was it to ensure that
it never grows due to the padded timetable / infrequency ?
Surely someone with even the tiniest amount of knowledge in timetabling would say "hey, how did it even get there in 7 mins, instead of 18?" so whoever wrote the timetable wasn't just mistaken, it was deliberately made this way.
Guessing the only way to ever get this fixed is if one of the buses trying to depart behind an idle 310 accidentally hits it 

[Paul B]

So now buses can leave 3 and a half minutes before a timing point and TL won't even investigate. hilarious
I can't get a single person to help me get this 310 fixed. QLD at its finest.

[James]

So now buses can leave 3 and a half minutes before a timing point and TL won't even investigate. hilarious
I can't get a single person to help me get this 310 fixed. QLD at its finest.

TransLink's general response to departures of <5 minutes are "passengers are expected to be at the stop five minutes before departure". Which is a complete garbage response, especially if you are making a quick trip - you might as well just take the car.