3 Mar 2011: SEQ: Northern busway bus upgrade could be done almost for free

[ozbob]

Media release 3 March 2011

SEQ: Northern busway bus upgrade could be done almost for free

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 called for returning peak buses to be put into service between Roma St and Royal Brisbane Hospital at least.

Robert Dow, Spokesman for RAIL Back On Track said:

"There have been numerous complaints about the Northern Busway since King George Square Bus Station opened and the 393 was truncated.

"It took TransLink 7 months to do anything about this problem initially.  The solution implemented was also more expensive than what was needed.

"It would have been possible to put into service returning out of service runs particularly from the P331/P332/P339/P341/P343/P344/351/P356 rocket routes.  This would have reduced the dead running of these routes, but also reduced the strain on the 66 which will require more trips on this route than would otherwise be required.

"These trips must run out of service from Garden City.  Another cheaper option would have been to re-extend the 393 back to Roma St Station.  RAIL Back on Track has previously pointed this out (1), but the suggestion wasn't picked up.  It is also odd that the 66 is not pre-paid.

"TransLink's belated solution is not keeping pace with demand (2,3,4).  It is time for something to be done about the Northern Busway.  While adding extra 66 trips is an option, it is the most expensive option.

"Best option is having a counter peak route which would be almost free.  Other options are: increased counter peak service on the 330, 333 and 340 routes; including the 376 or other nearby rockets in the above which currently only operates in the peak; and/or extending the 393 to Roma St, Woolloongabba or UQ.  It is possible that not enough capacity would be provided by the new counter peak route alone and some of the other options would be needed at some point in time."

"The other point is that Garden City Depot is reputedly straining and requiring it to run additional 66s in addition to the P88 and all its other routes will increase requirements for other depots to run routes closest to Garden City, which also adds to dead running.

"It is hard to see what TransLink have been trying to achieve on the Northern Busway.  They have been providing a very inconvenient service at times, particularly when the 66 still terminated at QUT Kelvin Grove and the 393 was truncated to Normanby.  This discouraged patronage.  The operating cost was also not at all minimised, not only because of the out of service trips but also the 393 being made far less useful.  One could be forgiven for thinking that their main priority was to increase patronage on the 66, which is a different thing from trying to increase patronage on the busway."

"This seems to be consistent with the mediocrity afflicting other aspects of Brisbane's transport planning, in particular the separation of the 111 and 444 from the other routes on their respective corridors which resulted in these routes being overcrowded and the other routes being relatively dead."

References:

1. http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=4521.0

2. mX newspaper on 15/02/2011, p19

3. http://brizcommuter.blogspot.com/2011/02/more-inner-northern-busway-woes.html

4. http://brizcommuter.blogspot.com/2011/02/inner-northern-busway-can-it-get-any.html

Contact:

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org

[ozbob]

Bus forum discussion area --> http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?board=34.0