Call for removal of the Sunday Timetable

[ButFli]

This morning (a Sunday), I needed to be in the City at 10AM. No worries, I thought. I will catch the same bus that I caught to be in the City by 10AM yesterday. I was wrong. That bus doesn't run on Sunday. To get to the City at 10AM I need to catch a bus at 8:45AM and wait in the City for just shy of an hour. That is ridiculous.

The Sunday timetable is not acceptable. This is the 21st Century and life goes on seven days a week. Even if we were back in the days of Church and family on Sundays public transport would be useless to me. The first bus service of the day would get me to my 9AM Church Service 5 minutes late. I would be forced to travel by my own private motor carriage!

The Sunday timetable should be disposed of and the Saturday timetable should become a weekend timetable, as it is now for CityCats. Ideally there should never be a time in daylight hours where there is more than 20 minutes between services on a route, but I realise this is somewhat impractical.

[david]

I honestly don't think that the government can do anything about this....it's all up to the bus and train drivers and I don't think they'll be very keen on working extra Sundays. It wasn't long ago that the possibility of train strikes dawned upon us just because QR wanted drivers to work a couple of extra Sundays.

[ozbob]

Interesting you should raise this ButFli.   This morning I was on my morning walk to Oxley and I noted the first down Citytrain service (5.39am at Oxley) and remembered the first rail service in Melbourne at Murrumbeena on Sundays (in many ways equivalent to Oxley) at 7.38am.  This late start is appalling and a product of the private-franchise set up.  I understand the next operators will be putting back more services on Sundays as part of an improved package.

If people are to be encouraged to use and continuing using public transport (and so the community gains the overall economic benefits) then we need frequency and accessibility.  There are gaps, and no more obvious than on Sundays.

As TransLink is presently attempting to cut all public transport operators the likelihood of increased services on Sundays is very remote.  TransLink won't allow operators to increase peak services.  Political feel good rhetoric about how to improve public transport is not being matched by actuality.  It is time for everyone to write to their political representatives and request action.

[ButFli]

This late start is ... a product of the private-franchise set up.

Is it really? The CityCat is the only private-franchise PT within Brisbane itself and it has the best Sunday timetable. I suppose it depends on how much autonomy the private operator has.

I will certainly be drafting a letter to my local member of State Parliament and Councillor.

How can people be expected to take public transport when travelling to an engagement 15 minutes away means catching the bus an hour and 15 minutes beforehand? Then there is the possibility of an hour wait for the bus on the way home!

[stephenk]

Sunday timetables seem to forget that some people have to work on Sundays! If I am on an 8am shift on Sundays, I have to catch an hourly train that gets me into work 50mins early or 10mins late. There is no bus option. Sunday services in Brisbane are a disgrace!

I might as well walk the 6km into work!

[dwb]

The weekend transport task is different to the week, but I absolutely agree... not only are the current Sunday timetables hopeless (across operators except perhaps Ferries), so are the Sat timetables.

How many more trips are people making on the weekend now by private means... without any improvement to weekend PT services. For example, has anyone tried to get to New Farm park by PT??

[#Metro]

Hmm. This I've had a similar thing. It is just that the times are so random for many timetables on the weekend. They don't seem to have much sense to them at all.

Demand would be to different areas on the weekend- Mt Coo-tha would probably be popular, as well as parks etc. Any transport modelling done for weekends, or is it all peak hour?

I don't think the concept of a Sunday timetable should be abolished. Paying people to drive on Sunday (time and a half, or double time is it?) costs heaps- better to re-arrange things so that people are getting the biggest bang for their buck.

[ButFli]

For example, has anyone tried to get to New Farm park by PT??

Yeah actually New Farm Park is pretty much the only place I will catch PT to on a weekend. It has good CityCat and Bus service even on Sunday. Sometimes I wonder why I don't set up camp there.

[Otto]

Sunday Timetables have not changed much since I started driving the buses 20 years ago with the exception of the introduction of BUZ services and a few minor adjustments when the bus routes were renumbered quite some years ago.
20 years ago, the shops did not open on Sundays with the exception of the CBD and Gold Coast strip... I have worked Sundays continuously for 18 years, but made the decision to no longer work Sundays as of January last year as they are becoming the busiest day of the week due to increasingly selling more cash fares and enduring greater traffic and mayhem.

[O_128]

Sunday Timetables have not changed much since I started driving the buses 20 years ago with the exception of the introduction of BUZ services and a few minor adjustments when the bus routes were renumbered quite some years ago.
20 years ago, the shops did not open on Sundays with the exception of the CBD and Gold Coast strip... I have worked Sundays continuously for 18 years, but made the decision to no longer work Sundays as of January last year as they are becoming the busiest day of the week due to increasingly selling more cash fares and enduring greater traffic and mayhem.

this just shows how out of touch translink is. shops are now OPEN on a sunday people do work on sundays aswell.