Translink Tracker Q1 2010/11 (July to September)

[Golliwog]

Latest Translink Tracker available here!

Just starting to read now.

[Golliwog]

Some interesting additions. As well as total bus statistics, in the satisfaction sruvey section they added in a seperate category for BCC buses. Interesting as in most cases they seemed to perform below the average line. Do like the improvement in this section with almost all (there was I think one that didn't) the graphs having the smae scale (90 as the max down to 50 as the min on the y axis) I know it was a small thing but in previous editions this changed on some of the lower scoring sections and made it look like they were actually doing well as unless you checked you would just assume they all the the same scale.

A bit of a waffle about the Gold Coast light rail at the start. Some good points. I especially like the change in view of stations with a mention of stations having a commercial aspect, which would provide Translink with another revenue source.

[ozbob]

 

The fantasy continues with the stated ontime performance for bus, just beggars belief.  Especially when correlated with customer satisfaction, it is clearly at odds.

The services delivered for bus still not published as publishing 100% fantasy figures is even too much for TransLink apparently.

[ozbob]

Courier Mail --> Commuters abandon CityCats

[Sunbus610]

Courier Mail --> Commuters abandon CityCats

Interesting!! I rather enjoy travelling by Citycat or Cityferry along the river but they are certainly slow when it comes to the boarding practices of commmuters' **YAWN**

[ozbob]

Courier Mail --> Commuters abandon CityCats

I am not confident the figures are accurate ..  if you recall they used to publish bus reliability as 100% as well, but it was removed when I challenged it.

Not sure if BCC will be too impressed either with their addition to the mix ... 

[#Metro]

BCC should be in there. Absolutely. State Capital of Queensland. Transport cannot fail there.

[#Metro]

CityCat needs speed and capacity. Capacity can be dealt with as the ferries are large, but speed needs to be looked at. The more stops = slower service = not competitive vs the car when waiting times are built into the equation.

[Sunbus610]

Public transport use at record levels, customers complaints at all time low
Tuesday 30 November 2010

Public transport use across South East Queensland has hit a new high while customer complaints are at an all time low according to figures released in the latest TransLink's Tracker.

Transport Minster Rachel Nolan said the latest Tracker covering Q1, 2010-11 (July-September) showed the highest level of patronage for a three month period since South East Queensland public transport services were integrated in 2004.

More than 49 million trips were recorded on the TransLink network for the latest reporting period which is an increase of 2.7 per cent compared with the same period last year.

Overall, bus trips increased by nearly a million trips compared with this quarter last year, climbing to over 31 million trips.

Patronage on Queensland Rail also increased by over 500,000 trips to more than 16 million trips for the quarter while ferry patronage fell by 212,000 using the same quarterly comparisons.

"The new Queensland Rail has also raised the bar on performance, lifting the target for on-time running," Ms Nolan said.

"The proportion of peak hour trains running within four minutes of schedule has risen from 92.94 per cent to 93.46 per cent – above TransLink's benchmark which has been increased to 93.01 per cent."

Customer complaints were down to 3.62 per 10,000 trips. Compared to the same period last year complaints per 10,000 trips have fallen from 4.64 to 3.62.

"Customer uptake of go card also continues to climb with the go card being used on 62.5 per cent of all trips," Ms Nolan said.

Other data from this edition of Tracker shows: Customer satisfaction levels across all 12 categories for bus and train customers all increased or remained steady, while ferry customer satisfaction levels fell in seven categories. The average fare per trip paid by customers remained at $1.64 per trip. A decrease in the number of morning and afternoon peak train services exceeding passenger load benchmark.

TransLink's Tracker is available at www.translink.com.au under Reporting and Publications, Annual and quarterly reports.

Click HERE for this media release.

[somebody]

A year-on-year 2.7% increase in patronage is nothing to crow about.  That means patronage isn't growing much faster than population.

What is concerning is the trend which as the fare per trip is increasing, the subsidy per trip is also increasing.  Why is this?  Costs can be expected to rise at a certain rate, but it shouldn't eat up all of a 15%p.a. fare rise.

Part of me expects that a large part of the reason is poor bang for buck we get out of the rail network, due to the poor off peak frequency, actually.

[ozbob]

From the Brisbanetimes click here!

Public transport satisfaction 'at odds' with reality

Public transport satisfaction 'at odds' with reality
Marissa Calligeros
November 30, 2010 - 1:00PM

More than 95 per cent of bus services across the Brisbane ran on time in the September quarter, according to Translink.

Commuter satisfaction is at odds with claims bus service reliability is improving, a transport lobby group says.

The latest Translink Tracker report released today showed nearly 50 million trips were made across Brisbane's public transport network in the September quarter.

Bus journeys increased by 3.2 per cent from the same quarter last year to 31.37 million trips.

According to the report, more than 95 per cent of bus services across the city ran on time, well above the Translink benchmark of 90 per cent.

However, Rail Back on Track spokesman Robert Dow said that was at odds with commuter reports, which indicated on-time bus performance was closer to 80 per cent.

Translink standards allow buses running up to six minutes behind schedule, or up to two minutes ahead of schedule, to be considered on time.

"We have some concerns with the data," Mr Dow said. "Bus on-time performance is nothing like 95 per cent, bearing in mind buses have an eight minute [performance] window."

The report showed bus satisfaction had increased marginally to 71 per cent in the last quarter.

"The satisfaction is definitely lower than what you would expect for a service operating at 95 per cent on time," Mr Dow said.

"There lies the inconsistency."

Mr Dow said independent commuter surveys had shown the contrary.

"Our own feedback mechanisms would suggest that outside the busways, on-time performance is struggling to get to 80 per cent," he said.

However a Translink spokesman said key performance indicators for "reliability and frequency" for buses and trains on the network were tracking upwards and were well within Translink's satisfactory range.

"This reflects the continued improvement in on-time running and the 301,000 additional weekly seats added to the network last financial year," the spokesman said.

"The on-time running for bus is calculated manually by an independent company at major public transport interchanges and hubs."

The report also showed Go Card use had plateaued at 63 per cent in the three-month period.

"We believe that's further evidence of the need to improve the fare structure before the end of the year," Mr Dow said.

The report also confirmed commuters were paying extra per trip.

Commuters paid $1.64 per trip, up about 9 per cent compared with the same time last year, while the state government's subsidy remained relatively unchanged at $5.03 for every trip.

Mr Dow said better off-peak fare discounts, in the order of 30 per cent for Go Card users, would encourage further uptake of the smart cards.

Patronage on the city's ferries fell to 1.54 million in the September quarter - 212,000 trips fewer than in the same period last year.

Brisbane City Council is investigating the fall in patronage, although the Translink spokesman said it was likely more commuters were choosing to catch more frequent buses over CityCats.

[ozbob]

Bus delays --> http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=2695.120

[ozbob]

"The on-time running for bus is calculated manually by an independent company at major public transport interchanges and hubs."

says it all ..

[#Metro]

What does this statement mean? 

Independent company? Who? The bus company? A market research or consultancy company?
Mystery shoppers?GPS tracking on the Cubic system?

The second thing is loss of speed due to traffic congestion.
I think that I might have a way to measure this actually...

[somebody]

Eight minutes is a huge margin for error.  And also that they say that it is outsourced: well it says it all, as you say.

[ozbob]

I was asked by the journalist how might bus on time performance be actually determined.  I responded that surely as the go system has GPS as part of the system it would not be difficult to program a solution that tracks and plots real time all bus positions and correlates to actual timetables.  I am sure then the on time performance would be a lot different from what is reported now.

What on earth do they do? Sample a few here and there and multiply (extrapolate)???  "calculated manually" < ---- ???

The rail figures are true, they are a function of the safe working signalling records.  

The real proof though that the bus stuff is a bit of charade is the reliability.  They used to report 100%, that means no cancellations, none ever.

That figure has disappeared of late. We all know that is not the case (ie. reliability = 100%), and even bloggers today have complained about late buses and no shows ..

What I actually find amazing is despite the enormous feedback TransLink, and others must receive concerning late and no shows, is the fact they just accept the figures as gospel ...  

There is another consideration, is this a wise expenditure of taxpayer funds if the data is really meaningless IMHO?

[Golliwog]

I agree the GPS should be able to do it, but the problem is how complex would the software have to be to do it? From my understanding the route display system and the cubic box are seperate and so the cubic box doesn't have any of the route data on it (correct me if I'm wrong) and past that you then have to tell the system not only is this bus the XXX, it's the XXX that leaves YYY at ZZ:ZZam/pm. If the system had initially been designed that way it wouldn't have been too hard to implement, but now that we have the current system going, how much is it going to cost to change the set up?

[#Metro]

Increase frequency. Even if your bus is late, there will be another one shortly.

[STB]

I agree the GPS should be able to do it, but the problem is how complex would the software have to be to do it? From my understanding the route display system and the cubic box are seperate and so the cubic box doesn't have any of the route data on it (correct me if I'm wrong) and past that you then have to tell the system not only is this bus the XXX, it's the XXX that leaves YYY at ZZ:ZZam/pm. If the system had initially been designed that way it wouldn't have been too hard to implement, but now that we have the current system going, how much is it going to cost to change the set up?

Firstly, can you clarify what you mean by 'Route Display System'?

Secondly, the Cubic equipment does have each route loaded onto the system both for an inbound and an outbound.  That's what the drivers are doing when they log in.  There is a code for each route and if it's inbound or outbound, as found on the run sheets.  I have been reliably told in the past that the location of the bus is recorded with a timestamp only when someone touches their card to the reader, not when the readers open and close as it passes each stop.  Which is a little unfortunate IMO.

I wouldn't be surprised if the records in the Cubic system show each person's card of when they touched on and when they touched off and where.  That would be only seen by authorised persons though, and they'd probably deny it if one asked them about how that data is displayed when they are analysing patronage.

[Golliwog]

I meant the destination boards on the front of the bus. Ok, I didn't realise it had specific stops for each route in the Cubic system, I just thought as it came into range of each stop it would connect and the readers would activate for that stop.

[ozbob]

From the Brisbane mX 30th November 2010 page 4

Trips figure is ferry low

[ozbob]

This is way system reliability data should be presented ..  

--> http://www.transperth.wa.gov.au/AboutUs/SurveysandStatistics/tabid/346/Default.aspx

Interesting to note the difference between Brisbane and Perth bus performance ... lol

Perth 4 minutes, Brisbane 8 minutes ..  for bus, rail is the same.

The figures in the TransLink tracker fool no one except the fools who publish the rubbish ...

[ozbob]

Victoria,

Example -->  here

Queensland the secret state ... obfuscation and dress up of limited data sets ... 

[somebody]

Queensland the secret state ... obfuscation and dress up of limited data sets ... 

Not sure if its that way across the board though.

TTA do have something to hide, but in spite of the secrecy, TTAs non performance is evident to many.

[Stillwater]

Well, it is all about statistics and damned lies, as the saying goes.  WA and Victoria publishes richly-informed sets of statistics.  Here's what TransLink publishes in its annual report:

'In 2009–10, bus on-time running and service cancellations exceeded benchmarks, with 99.99 per cent of services running without cancellation and 95.01 per cent of all bus services running on time. This represents a 3.1 per cent improvement on 2008–09 on-time running levels.

In the first quarter of 2009–10 train services delivered without cancellation and train on-time running levels were above contracted benchmarks. However these dropped below benchmarks during the middle quarters of 2009–10.  In quarter four, train performance showed an increase both in on-time running and services delivered during peak periods — achieving an average overall performance of 99.75 per cent of services delivered without cancellation and 92.71 per cent of all train services running on time for the 2009–10 reporting period. This represents an overall improvement on 2008–09 performance levels.

TransLink continues to work with all operators to ensure services run on time.

This year, TransLink completed its first Network Enhancement and Efficiency Review of the entire TransLink bus network.  This review will allow us to reinvest non-productive kilometres back into the network to create additional efficiency gains for customers in increased service reliability and better bus– train connections. In future years, efficiency gains will be further enhanced through the availability of passenger data from go card and the introduction of HASTUS – a new, stateof-the-art transport scheduling software program, due for implementation in the 2010–11 financial year.

TransLink is now in the best possible position to deliver the end goal promised in last year's annual report – an innovative, efficient and value-for-money public transport system that people want to use.'

TransLink is being sold like soap powder.  Just as 'new Omo' has 'added enzymes for a brighter wash', TransLink now comes with HASTUS for an even more efficient service.

Presumably it was HASTUS that gave us the proposed new rail timetables.

If only the brains behind WikiLeaks could hack into it  to deliver on the promise of 'an innovative, efficient and value-for-money public transport system that people want to use.'

[ozbob]

99.99 per cent of services running without cancellation and 95.01 per cent of all bus services running on time

Simply not true IMHO ....  even if bus is given an 8 minute window.  They never point out candidly the different time assessments.  Other jurisdictions compare apples with apples, TransLink compares apples with straight bananas (straight bananas themselves a myth .. )

[ozbob]

better bus– train connections

Oh dear ... 

[STB]

Stillwater - HASTUS is not used to produce the rail timetables in SE Qld.

[Stillwater]

The first step an alcoholic makes on the road to recovery is to admit the problem.  If TransLink won't acknowledge the problem, then it's easy to believe there isn't one.  

[Stillwater]

Thanks for that correction STB.  What does HASTUS do?  Whatever it does, let's hope it works better than the software used to determine health workers pay.

[ozbob]

--> http://www.giro.ca/en/products/hastus/index.htm

I wonder how much they pay for this bunch of code ..

[ozbob]

On bus rail integration.

When the new rail timetable for Sunshine Coast, Caboolture Ipswich Rosewood is implemented (sometime in the first half of 2011) to make better bus and train connections there is a major task in re writing all the bus timetables with this noble aim of better connections.  Do you think they will bother? 

[STB]

Thanks for that correction STB.  What does HASTUS do?  Whatever it does, let's hope it works better than the software used to determine health workers pay.

It's used to create bus timetables and stop timetables, while Railsys is used to create the proposed rail timetables.  HASTUS is replacing Austrics which was used by TL in the past to create stop timetables in regional areas.  BCC has been using HASTUS to create their bus timetables and stop timetables for years, hence the difference in layout and design.  Both programs, HASTUS and Austrics can create driver rosters as well, Veolia Transport Brisbane is one company I know of that uses Austrics to create their driver rosters/shift pads.

[Stillwater]

C'est Francaise Ozbob, so must be good.  The company blurb list as the one Australian city where HASTUS has been implemented successfully as .... Sydney.

[Stillwater]

STB, is HASTUS regarded by the industry as being a better system?

[ozbob]

C'est Francaise Ozbob, so must be good.  The company blurb list as the one Australian city where HASTUS has been implemented successfully as .... Sydney.

[STB]

STB, is HASTUS regarded by the industry as being a better system?

Honestly I'm not exactly sure as I never have used the programs. TL used a specially created Microsoft Excel workbook in years past to create bus timetables, while Austrics created stop timetables.  

Being 'better' tends to be a subjective thing, some planners and/or schedulers would find HASTUS better, while others would prefer Austrics.  Bit like some people prefer Microsoft, while others prefer Linux.

Personally I doubt there is much difference between the two programs as they both pretty much do the same thing.  I think with TL taking up HASTUS it's more to do with coming in line with BCC (and other bus companies) who has used HASTUS for years to create their bus timetables and stop timetables.  Which would be an improvement in the sense that all bus routes in SE Qld, including BCC would be loaded up into HASTUS, rather than being seperated (Microsoft Excel/Austrics - TL; HASTUS - BCC).

[Stillwater]

Then it would make sense for all to be singing from the same hymnsheet.  Thanks STB.

[#Metro]

TransLink is being sold like soap powder.  Just as 'new Omo' has 'added enzymes for a brighter wash', TransLink now comes with HASTUS for an even more efficient service.

Is this some kind of gimmick? I mean, nobody is going to notice, all they are doing is a software upgrade really.
Q: Will I still be waiting 30 minutes + at my local rail station
A: YES

If it doesn't increase the frequency, I am not interested!!!

[mufreight]

TransLink is being sold like soap powder.  Just as ‘new Omo’ has ‘added enzymes for a brighter wash’, TransLink now comes with HASTUS for an even more efficient service.

Is this some kind of gimmick? I mean, nobody is going to notice, all they are doing is a software upgrade really.
Q: Will I still be waiting 30 minutes + at my local rail station
A: YES

If it doesn't increase the frequency, I am not interested!!!

Nor Sir am I