#GetMovingSEQ campaign targets southeast’s commuter crisis

[ozbob]

#GetMovingSEQ Tweets

Couriermail --> #GetMovingSEQ campaign targets southeast's commuter crisis

TIME is quickly running out for southeast Queensland's public transport system.

The region is on a fast track to commuter chaos within five years, as crucial rail routes reach capacity, unable to cope with rising passenger demand.

Official forecasts say the number of people catching trains in Brisbane each day will soar 84 per cent to 395,000 by 2021, and 160 per cent to 558,000 a decade after that.

Share your public transport frustrations and ideas for fixing them using the #GetMovingSEQ hashtag

Documents prepared for the previous LNP government's proposed Bus and Train (BaT) Tunnel project warn the expected growth would result in the inner-city rail network reaching capacity by 2021.

Overcrowding is expected to increase on all lines, according to the report.

One in five passengers on the Beenleigh and Gold Coast services will be standing within five years and a third of ­passengers on northern lines, such as Ferny Grove and the North Coast, would be forced to stand.

By 2031, the problem will have spread to the Cleveland and Ipswich lines and most routes northwards.

Spilling demand over to the bus network is not an option, with the same report warning that some key routes are already at, or beyond, capacity, making it "very challenging'' to meet future demand anticipated to add 53 per cent more daily bus passengers by 2021 ...

[ozbob]

Couriermail has launched a campaign to improve public transport.

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

23rd May 2015

#GetMovingSEQ campaign

Good Morning,

Courier Mail has launched a campaign to improve public transport.

#GetMovingSEQ campaign targets southeast's commuter crisis

Thank you.

Best wishes
Robert

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org
RAIL Back On Track http://backontrack.org

[Stillwater]

It is not just commuter rail, folks.  Rail freight operations are just as bad. 

Remember these words not all that long ago from Howard Hobbs MP, who headed a parliamentary committee investigation into the adequacy of Queensland's rail freight lines and services:

(From the Queensland Country Life)

SHAMBOLIC, outdated, inefficient, unreliable and inflexible.

These are just some of the words that Howard Hobbs MP used to describe Queensland's rail freight service as he handed down the final recommendations from a parliamentary inquiry to ways to incentivise the agricultural and livestock industries to use more rail freight.

The Member for Warrego tabled the final report from the Parliamentary Transport, Housing and Local Government Committee (THLG) in State Parliament today, calling upon the government to act now to fix rail freight services across Queensland.

"Rail service to the agricultural sector is currently in a shambles; infrastructure is out-dated and inefficient; there is limited access to train paths; serious inefficiencies in the supply chain; and the above all the rail service is inefficient, unreliable and inflexible," Mr Hobbs said.

"The THLG Committee has been disturbed by reports of either no rail freight service – even where rail lines exist - or slow and unreliable rail services for the non-mining sector."

Mr Hobbs said the Queensland Government needed to act immediately if it was genuine about doubling the value of Queensland's food production by 2040 to respond to global food demand.

He said THLG committee found projected agricultural growth would place an enormous burden on the state's already congested roads unless rail infrastructure was modernised and brought into the twenty-first century.

"Doing nothing is not an option," Mr Hobbs said.

"The report states the current freight system will not cope with the forecast demand and roads will quickly reach capacity."

"The Port of Brisbane Motorway is estimated to reach full capacity by 2026.

"Rail freight is the only solution – a single grain train can take at least 500 trucks off the road.

"Given the predicted growth in the freight business it would seem evident that rail freight can be transformed into a commercially viable business.

[#Metro]

^ Too many things bearing down on a small committee of government ministers. I mean, look at the super portfolios! They are just DESIGNED to fail. There is no way on Earth 1 person can do all those things. You'd have to be an Octopus. With structures like that we are in for some really bad decision making. Specialisation is an efficiency, not an inefficiency.

The growers or whoever might have to band together and buy out the rail alignment/long term lease and upgrade it themselves. If it is dilapidated the value would be pretty low.

[ozbob]

It is great that the Courier Mail has stepped up to the plate.  Public transport and Transport generally is a basket case.  It needs a dedicated Minister IMHO to argue strongly for funding etc. within the Cabinet environment.  That would help I think, but there also has to be a real committment by Government for addressing the longer term transport needs.  The former LNP Government did have a Transport Minister and an Assistant Minister for Public Transport.  It was a start even if things were also stalled to a degree.

[verbatim9]

The Northern busway needs to be in the planning stage and a date set for construction (Kedron Brook to Chermside). Traffic volumes from Kedron Brook to Aspley have already reached capacity in afternoon peak #GetmovingSEQ

[ozbob]

Couriermail --> http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/opinion/editorial-congestion-chaos-is-premiers-chance-to-show-her-leadership/story-fnihsr9v-1227365824448

Editorial: Congestion chaos is Premier's chance to show her leadership

THE release of the Australian Infrastructure Audit should serve as a wake-up call for Queensland. Quite simply, without major investment in urban transport the cost of congestion in southeast Queensland is expected to more than quadruple to $9.2 billion by 2031.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has been dismissive of critics in the business community who claim her Government is suffering from inertia, and is wasting more energy on "undoing Can-Do" than moving the state forward.

Likewise a Federal Government looking to improve its stocks must also step up to the plate with some serious funding.

The best way Ms Palaszczuk can demonstrate her repeated commitment to jobs and development, though, is to get some runs on the board, rather than calling back already approved projects such as the $900 million Cedar Woods development. This is particularly critical given the figures Treasurer Curtis Pitt released on Thursday showing Queensland technically slipped into recession in the second half of last year – with a lack of private and public-sector investment being a major contributor.

One area of infrastructure neglect crying out for real leadership and commitment is public transport. As The Courier-Mail reports today, southeast Queensland is facing commuter chaos within the next few years unless urgent action is taken to address public-transport bottlenecks.

The Palaszczuk Government must make major infrastructure investments to stop Queensland's looming transport crisis.

Basically the rail network is at tipping point, and risks being overwhelmed by the projected growth in passenger numbers. Yes, the State Budget is constrained, and the fiscal discipline exhibited by the Newman government must be maintained. That said, our increasingly overcrowded transport arteries arguably pose as great a threat to the Queensland economy as the profligate spending that marked the boom years.

This is Ms Palaszczuk's great opportunity to make a real and binding start on projects such as the cross-river link, duplication of the Sunshine Coast rail link, and increased capacity on the Gold Coast service and other key capacity constraint areas.

This does not mean another review followed by a glossy media presentation that is more aspiration than reality – and one largely predicated on going cap in hand to a Federal Government that to date has not demonstrated much love for public transport infrastructure as a funding priority.

If Ms Palaszczuk can address the lack of progress in this area she would have a solid argument to counter those who may level accusations of inertia at her.

It may require a degree of fiscal and political pragmatism that sees considerable private-sector participation and even ownership, but that is what leadership is all about when tough decisions are needed. Dithering is not an option.

[pandmaster]

The Northern busway needs to be in the planning stage and a date set for construction (Kedron Brook to Chermside). Traffic volumes from Kedron Brook to Aspley have already reached capacity in afternoon peak #GetmovingSEQ

For minimal cost a peak bus lane could be built from the end of the Northern Busway to Chermside. Politically difficult but by far the cheapest a quickest option to move people along the corridor.

[Jonno]

They will celebrate with much fanfare the opening of the congestion busting Legacy Way. Beware the wolf in sheep's clothes!

[Stillwater]

IA is seeking submissions.  Maybe RailBOT's contribution could be the excellent work done on a revamped Brisbane bus network.

[HappyTrainGuy]

The Northern busway needs to be in the planning stage and a date set for construction (Kedron Brook to Chermside). Traffic volumes from Kedron Brook to Aspley have already reached capacity in afternoon peak #GetmovingSEQ

For minimal cost a peak bus lane could be built from the end of the Northern Busway to Chermside. Politically difficult but by far the cheapest a quickest option to move people along the corridor.

Sorry but I'm with Pandmaster. There is no need for a busway to Chermside. There is no need for a busway from Kedron to Albion. Quite frankly the new road design has added some congestion as it has made traffic light cycles longer at Albion and Kedron. IMHO Gympie road should have been upgraded to 3 lanes with peak hour buslanes installed. At the same time the bus network had to have a major reform. Every single train station from Geebung to Caboolture has had parking expanded. Another prime example is Bracken Ridge. Those residents should not have an express bus service to the city. The entire peak hour capacity can be put onto 2 trains. Trains that which run more frequently during peak hour and currently have capacity available.  Oh. And the Gympie Road delays. You can thank poor traffic light cycles (especially at Chermside. Watch the westbound traffic wanting to turn onto Gympie Road from Hamilton Road and see how that goes when someone presses the ped buzzer to cross east-west) and North Lakes with their poor public transport network. Quite a lot of the cars parked at Bald Hills are from those that drive onto the Bruce Highway/Gympie Road arterial link and then catch the train as its cheaper to the city. That too is then reflected at North Lakes with those driving from Narangba-Caboolture to work at North Lakes. And just to top it off it also coincides with the tradie peak hour. In the morning there are two city bound peak hour cycles. Traffic starts building from 4-6 before relaxing and then comes the second wave from around 6.45-10am. In the afternoon is all merges into the tradie knock off, school mums in their 4wd, after work commitments, knock off etc.

[BrizCommuter]

BrizCommuter's thoughts on the #GetMovingSEQ campaign.
http://brizcommuter.blogspot.com.au/2015/05/getmovingseq-brizcommuters-thoughts.html

[Stillwater]

BrizCommuter pretty much nails it.  It doesn't require governments to set up yet another taskforce to advise it -- maybe a few design teams to get things moving.  Right now, Ms Trad is like a tearful tragic with $100 in her purse and a maxed out credit card, on her knees and bawling in the middle of the card yard, realising she can't afford any of the models on show. "What will I do?" she wails.  "Daddy (the feds) is such a meany for not shouting me what I want.  I am going to throw a big hissy fit and ask my friends what to do."  Is that leadership?  Is that a plan for action?

[ozbob]

Couriermail --> #GetMovingSEQ: Troubled waters ahead over Brisbane's Merivale Bridge

IT'S Brisbane's bridge of sighs – a bottleneck at the heart of the city's looming public transport crisis.

As the only inner-city rail crossing over the Brisbane River, Merivale Bridge is a vital link in southeast Queensland's network for trains running in and out of the CBD.

But with only one track in each direction, it is already struggling to keep up with demand in peak periods.

The bridge will hit capacity within five years, preventing further services for the soaring passenger numbers predicted for the Gold Coast, Beenleigh and Cleveland lines.

Nineteen trains cross the bridge every weekday morning peak hour, carrying commuters from the south and east to Roma St and Central ...

[ozbob]

Could the Queensland Government self-fund Cross River Rail?

>> http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=2034.msg156640#msg156640

[richard]

Good to see anticipated future public transport congestion on the public agenda.  I'll add a couple of comments which I haven't seen in print recently for discussion:

Standing on trains and buses is not overcrowding.  Standing uncomfortably close to fellow passengers is.  Passengers pay for the journey, not for a seat on commuter transport.  If a few have to stand, so be it.  Work on changing the culture if we need to.

New infrastructure is expensive, and funding is clearly an issue.  There are some things we can do to reduce the cost of new infrastructure.  Firstly, State  and Federal Government Departments, and other large clerical environments, do not need to be in the city.  Many no longer interact to any great extent with clients, and so could be moved to the burbs, or even to regional cities.  There will be industrial issues, staff restructuring and perhaps changes to suburban bus routes and rail patterns (eg a large office and shopping complex at Strathpine may see trains from Caboolture terminate there to free  space on the Caboolture to Central service.  It also means that not all trains need go to town.

QR have said they are looking now at investing in new rolling stock. We could increase the capacity of trains by almost 20% if they purchased some single vehicles that could be attached between  the two three car units.  I realise that would extend the train beyond the platform length, but judicious use of technology could ensure the train was stopped such that rear and front doors do not open, so all passengers are decanted on to the platform.  (The Circle Line in London does this now).  May require moving the stater signal, and possibly block access to Platform 1 or 4 at Central while 2 or 3 are occupied.

Is it possible to make better use of the Moolabin Line to ease congestion on the Merivale Bridge? Either by diverting certain trains from Beenleigh to run this way, or using it to reduce the number of against peak flow trains on the bridge, so taking advantage of existing or potential bi-directional signalling.

I think we need to be looking at options other than huge infrastructure expenditure (or as well as).  The suggestions I make above are easily argued down.  But we can't get stuck in paradigms that were created last century when dealing with future challenges. 

Richard

[ozbob]

The Urbanist --> Infrastructure: is there more to it than just building more?

[pandmaster]

Good to see anticipated future public transport congestion on the public agenda.  I'll add a couple of comments which I haven't seen in print recently for discussion:

Standing on trains and buses is not overcrowding.  Standing uncomfortably close to fellow passengers is.  Passengers pay for the journey, not for a seat on commuter transport.  If a few have to stand, so be it.  Work on changing the culture if we need to.

New infrastructure is expensive, and funding is clearly an issue.  There are some things we can do to reduce the cost of new infrastructure.  Firstly, State  and Federal Government Departments, and other large clerical environments, do not need to be in the city.  Many no longer interact to any great extent with clients, and so could be moved to the burbs, or even to regional cities.  There will be industrial issues, staff restructuring and perhaps changes to suburban bus routes and rail patterns (eg a large office and shopping complex at Strathpine may see trains from Caboolture terminate there to free  space on the Caboolture to Central service.  It also means that not all trains need go to town.

QR have said they are looking now at investing in new rolling stock. We could increase the capacity of trains by almost 20% if they purchased some single vehicles that could be attached between  the two three car units.  I realise that would extend the train beyond the platform length, but judicious use of technology could ensure the train was stopped such that rear and front doors do not open, so all passengers are decanted on to the platform.  (The Circle Line in London does this now).  May require moving the stater signal, and possibly block access to Platform 1 or 4 at Central while 2 or 3 are occupied.

Is it possible to make better use of the Moolabin Line to ease congestion on the Merivale Bridge? Either by diverting certain trains from Beenleigh to run this way, or using it to reduce the number of against peak flow trains on the bridge, so taking advantage of existing or potential bi-directional signalling.

I think we need to be looking at options other than huge infrastructure expenditure (or as well as).  The suggestions I make above are easily argued down.  But we can't get stuck in paradigms that were created last century when dealing with future challenges. 

Richard

I think you raise some good points. On the matter of decentralisation, I do not think it is a good idea. Knowledge industries (including government) often locate together to share ideas and attract the brightest in the field (e.g. Silicon Valley). This would be lost by moving government departments out to the suburbs. Plus it would make commuting for some employees horrible as the CBD is the most accessible part of the Brisbane metropolitan area (e.g. people from Logan who work in the CBD would struggle to get to Strathpine). The government may also find it hard to attract people to suburban offices.

I believe that signalling can be upgraded to get more out of existing track. Extra cars I think could work if managed properly where platforms are too short (they could use the long platforms at Roma Street). Acquiring the extra cars may be difficult and expensive though, so perhaps other options would be more cost effective.

I am not sure how the Ipswich line would cope with trains from the GC/Beenleigh line using it, in terms of passenger and freight headways and the junction with the Tennyson line. It would add some time to the trip and may turn people off using PT. If push comes to shove and it can be done cheaply then it may be a good stop-gap option.

[Stillwater]

In NSW, the Department of Primary Industries has operated for quite some time from the City of Orange.  In Qld, our Department of Agriculture could operate from Toowoomba, say.

NSW Department of Primary Industries
Locked Bag 21, Orange NSW 2800
161 Kite Street, Orange NSW 2800

[HappyTrainGuy]

Adding an extra car is simply not a cost effective option. I have no idea why this keeps getting brought up since the late 90's.

[SurfRail]

^ One of the reasons why this campaign is doomed to failure, which is that the average person does not have a clue how to improve public transport for the same reason that any layperson cannot be called on to give a reliable opinion on something beyond their specialisation at work or through their interests.  It is too specialised a discipline to expect people who don't have a particular interest or competence in the field to suggest how to fix things.  What people can give feedback on is what is important to them (which can then inform the decision-making), but to expect people to come up with operational solutions out of the blue is courting madness.

[ozbob]

Couriermail --> #GetMovingSEQ: Billions spent to get nowhere fast

BRISBANE'S busway system has cost $100 million per ­kilometre to build, but crucial sections are already at bursting point.

The 25km web of dedicated bus corridors into the city centre has so far racked up a total bill of $2.54 billion. The latest stretch — the 1km extension from Buranda to Coorparoo — came with a $465 million price tag.

The busway network is not yet complete but Department of State Development reports prepared for the former Newman government warns: "Brisbane's South East Busway infrastructure has reached ­capacity, causing bottlenecks at key points."

More than 500 bus services an hour head into the CBD at the morning peak.

Traffic volumes on the busiest section — between Woolloongabba junction and the Allen St exit to the Pacific Motorway — "are recognised as among the highest found anywhere in the developed world'', the report says.

The 379 buses an hour through that stretch is 79 above capacity, while the 225 buses crossing Victoria Bridge each hour is 45 more than it is meant to carry. During the morning rush hour, a bus goes through the Cultural Centre bus station every 15 seconds.

An SEQ bus network study published by Transport and Main Roads two years ago warned it was approaching a level where half of all evening peak buses through that section of the network experienced delays.

But bus numbers since then have continued to rise.

The crush of buses is not new. The department documents point out that the South East Busway hit ­capacity seven years ago ...

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

#GetMovingSEQ? Fix BCC Bus Network!

New Bus Network Proposal (Updated)
>> http://tiny.cc/newnetwork

Current Brisbane City Council Bus Network
>> http://tiny.cc/checkyourbus

Report: Frequency is Freedom
>> http://backontrack.org/docs/bus/reform/BusReformBlueprint.pdf

26th May 2015

Greetings,

We can #GetMovingSEQ by fixing Brisbane City Council's Bus network.

The level of inefficiency, duplication and numerous 'black hole' areas such as the Centenary suburbs, Yeronga, Bulimba and Albany Creek within the BCC bus network is not acceptable. Deputy Premier Jackie Trad has the power to fix this. She can call a bus review of the Lord Mayor's bus network.

RAIL Back on Track proposes new CityGlider services for Bulimba and the Centenary Suburbs, which are both public transport black holes. Our proposed BulimbaGlider bus service would run every 15 minutes, all day, into Bulimba and connect to Morningside rail station. Similarly, Centenary suburbs residents who suffer with a spaghetti of 15 different low-quality bus routes will get a bus boost with our CentenaryGlider superbus. Coming every 10 minutes all day, using 150-passenger capacity superbuses, high-speed stop spacing and 24-hour service on Friday and Saturday nights, it will be the closest thing to Light Rail without laying the track.

Our proposal will give Brisbane Australia's best bus network within 2 years.

We understand that money is tight, and fares must be affordable. That's why our New Bus Network Proposal for Brisbane was designed with cost efficiency and value for money in mind. Our proposal is near-cost neutral, funded by amalgamating and recycling resources from existing legacy bus services.

Compare a map of our New Bus Network Proposal (http://tiny.cc/newnetwork)  to what Lord Mayor Graham Quirk is offering the people of Brisbane (http://tiny.cc/checkyourbus/). Our network is far better than what he's offering.

Deputy Premier Jackie Trad needs to intervene and fix Lord Mayor Graham Quirk's bus network.

As has been highlighted in the Courier Mail today.  Adding more buses to bus-jam is pointless.  A  network redesign is needed.  TransLink wanted to do this in 2013 but non cooperation by BCC and weak political leadership have just worsened the bus crisis. Falling bus patronage, worsening road congestion just confirms the failure.  How much more transport failure must the citizens of Brisbane and SEQ endure?

Bus regions outside Brisbane have all suffered cuts to routes, frequency and span of operation to continue to prop up the failing Brisbane bus network.  Hardly equitable is it?

Best wishes
Robert

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org
RAIL Back On Track http://backontrack.org


References:

Brisbane Bus Reform: Brisbane City Council's Bus Network - What Went Wrong?
http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=11175.0

BulimbaGlider
http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=11363.0

Brisbane Bus Reform: 400 CentenaryGlider Superbus
http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=11047.msg155205#msg155205

#GetMovingSEQ: Billions spent to get nowhere fast | The Courier-Mail http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/getmovingseq-billions-spent-to-get-nowhere-fast/story-fnihsrf2-1227368951479?sv=73a777111263326537413c3e4a038344#.VWNRnFOKGic.twitter

[Stillwater]

Commuters shouldn't have too much expectation that the state government will address the infrastructure shortfall anytime soon:

From the Courier-Mail ... The Labor government remains committed to completing the busway network by extending the northern route at least as far north as Chermside and extending the Eastern Busway to Capalaba. But how long it takes, and how it is funded, is "still up in the air,'' Deputy Premier and Transport and Infrastructure Minister Jackie Trad said.

Minister clueless.  No plan.

The RailBOT bus network revamp is the only game in town.  It is affordable and achievable.

It remains incongruous that an influential minister's preference is that things be "still up in the air."  Why is the plan not to have a plan?

The eminently sensible suggestion that the Queensland Productivity Commission look at PT efficiencies would factor into the equation the cost of congestion and delays due to doing nothing and keeping things "in the air".

What would the community think of a Police Minister, asked about the government's strategy for reducing rates of crime, replying that things were "up in the air?"

[#Metro]

Fed up with the sentence 'The Government is committed to...', yes just like the Government is committed to unicorns and flying pigs. 

[ozbob]

George St  is a  ...



I've got a plan ... just sayin' ...   

[richard]

Adding an extra car is simply not a cost effective option. I have no idea why this keeps getting brought up since the late 90's.

Everything is an option. If it didn't work or was not desirable 20 years ago, we need to re-examine it.  If, and I don't know the true story, just what I read in the media, things are going to be desperate in a few years, we cannot afford to ignore any option.  Increasing capacity on trains may provide a medium term solution without the cost of new track and land. A bus only lane may be short term solution to Gympie Rd (still the issue of getting into Hamilton Rd, unless peak buses cut out the shopping centre stop, making interchange more difficult), unless only the 333, not the 340 or 330 connect.  It may be that we need to reduce convenience to increase capacity and speed.

Ed: fixed quote

[#Metro]

I think they will increase fares. Dancing with electoral wipeout though

[ozbob]

Twitter

Australia Trends ‏@trendinaliaAU 1m1 minute ago Ghan, Northern Territory

@Robert_Dow the 1st mention of #GetMovingSEQ appears on your TL. Now is Trending Topic in Australia! #trndnl

[#Metro]

Adrian Schrinner @Schrinner
@couriermail rail is reaching capacity, but bus infrastructure carries far more passengers and is already over capacity #GetMovingSEQ
9:07 AM - 26 May 2015

^ Hope you have the $2BN contribution for the E Busway and Ready to announce bus reform!

[ozbob]

With BCC Crs it's polyticks first .. real integrated network solutions last.

[Stillwater]

  half-filled buses, all clogging routes to the city instead of feeding to rail and interchanges = over capacity?

[SurfRail]

With BCC Crs it's polyticks first .. real integrated network solutions last.

Party politics should be banned at Council level.  How Fabianism and Toryism have anything to do with fixing footpaths is beyond me.

[techblitz]

half-filled buses, all clogging routes to the city instead of feeding to rail and interchanges = over capacity?

im assuming the "over-capacity" he means is the odd 1 or 2 routes which are at crush to the front...usually in the peaks and more often than not because a previous bus is running behind.......unavaoidable in reality...no matter how much you fine tune a bus network....

[HappyTrainGuy]

Adding an extra car is simply not a cost effective option. I have no idea why this keeps getting brought up since the late 90's.

Everything is an option. If it didn't work or was not desirable 20 years ago, we need to re-examine it. If, and I don't know the true story, just what I read in the media, things are going to be desperate in a few years, we cannot afford to ignore any option.  Increasing capacity on trains may provide a medium term solution without the cost of new track and land. A bus only lane may be short term solution to Gympie Rd (still the issue of getting into Hamilton Rd, unless peak buses cut out the shopping centre stop, making interchange more difficult), unless only the 333, not the 340 or 330 connect.  It may be that we need to reduce convenience to increase capacity and speed.

Ed: fixed quote

The reason that it is never going to be an option is simply due to cost. For example the EMU's have very very complex electrical systems because of the era they were built in. They don't like new stuff. Rollingstock positioning is another ie where trains run and are positioned ie Gold Coast trains forming out of Shorncliffe services. Central station has very limited space and you'd be lucky to get an extra carriage length of platform in there without massive works. Signaling is another. Platform modifications to the whole network including the moving of trackside equipment such as electrical boxes and those metal things that hold up some power lines Disability access points will change. Some stations will have to have crossovers moved. MTCE facilities will have to have modifications - some of the workshops are only set up for 3 car units. The 7 car unit idea was born as a fantasy proposal for the Gold Coast line when the running pattern was express South Brisbane to Beenleigh with the idea of a new river crossing in the future and ever since then it has spread its way to other lines as an idea to improve capacity... which is usually always mentioned by polies playing the game.

And the media don't know most of the story. Quite frankly they just want you to read their articles and pay for their advertisements otherwise they would have took a better approach at the most recent Translink review rather than sending every reporter in Brisbane to a bus stop with a tea cosy on it. The bus network congestion is simply due to the state government failing to modify the BCC bus network. Take the 330/331. It's entire morning peak capacity can be put onto 2 trains and there is capacity on the trains. There are buses that go to bed when the sun sets. The 327 has route modifications during peak hour ie dead runs Strathpine-Bald Hills and Bald Hills-Strathpine rather than doing the passenger runs (Yes, that's right. The afternoon Toombul Interchange-Strathpine Interchange bus terminates at Bald Hills and dead runs back to Strathpine interchange/Lawnton depot instead of doing a passenger run).

336/337. They are very very good routes. They feed locals into the Aspley interchange, chermside interchange, Geebung interchange, go past schools and go past points of interest like the Chermside RSL/library, Geebung RSL, Aspley Homebase etc yet the routes are run every 2 hours between 8.30-4.30pm. Missing the 2 big periods where locals might actually want to use them to get to the train or local bus station but instead now drive there (Geebung-Caboolture have all had extensive car park upgrades yet no additional buses in any of the brisbane areas). The perfect interchange feeder bus and look at how well its run. I'd rather have the 335 terminate at Chermside and run a half hourly route Chermside-Sandgate than going to the city. 330 should be reversed though Bracken Ridge and feed into the Carseldine railway interchange like it bloody should. 340 should be cut City-Chermside. The chermside interchange needs to be improved as its designed by a blind person (332/333 have two dedicated bays yet the 330, 340 buz and 335 share the same stop which can and does frequently block the interchange - sometimes up to 3-5 minutes depending on how the buses are stopped).

I have documented quiet a lot of the above. I was one of the people that was really keen on seeing the translink review brought on to the northside. Forget everywhere else. The northside finally had a proper network. It finally had proper feeder routes. More buses were terminating at train stations and bus interchanges. There were more east-west routes. There were key city routes. The northside was finally having a real step forward in its public transport and then someone bent over and p%ssed  it all away when they passed it back to the BCC to design who just kept this.



Yep. The 354 can't squeeze between the parked bus and our bus blocking the interchange until we left.

The 340 using its other bay when a 330 beats it to chermside first.

But the next 340 beat the 330 to Chermside. Becausr the 598 was there the 330 blocked the interchange.

Usually how the 330, 333 and 370 arrive at Chermside.

Peak hour getting a bit tighter at aspley and chermside.





Well, at least its better managed in the afternoon....... or maybe not.




And another 330 vs 340 vs 335 battle for who blocks the interchange for some laughs.



This is nothing new. Passengers are not at over capacity. Its poor network designing causing the infrastructure to be over utilised which is causing the infrastructure to be over capacity. James. Hit it with the Toowong conga line.
*inserts tape* We're going to the ci-ty! We're going to the ci-ty! We're going to the ci-ty!

[ozbob]

Some progress?

Interesting exchange ..

============

Twitter

Adrian Schrinner ‏@Schrinner 3 hours ago

@couriermail it's clear the Palaszczuk Gov. is only looking at rail & has no plan to improve vital bus infrastructure #GetMovingSEQ

============

^

Twitter

Robert Dow ‏@Robert_Dow 3 hours ago

@Schrinner @couriermail Bus network reform will deliver very significant improvement, concrete not the only solution #GetMovingSEQ #qldpol

============

Twitter

Adrian Schrinner ‏@Schrinner 2 hours ago

@Robert_Dow @couriermail you may be right, but only if done with community support. SEQ passengers aren't too keen on interchanging

[bcasey]

The public in SEQ aren't too keen on interchanging because they are used to low-frequency, low-reliability routes which makes makes for long wait times when interchanging. As long as they are educated on what interchanging is like in a high-frequency network, I think the majority of people would be all for it.

[ozbob]

The public in SEQ aren't too keen on interchanging because they are used to low-frequency, low-reliability routes which makes makes for long wait times when interchanging. As long as they are educated on what interchanging is like in a high-frequency network, I think the majority of people would be all for it.

Spot on.  The anti-transfer excuse from Council is simply not sustainable any longer.  TransLink could have and should have done a lot more community education in 2013, on that point they failed. 

My final tweet in the above exchange ..

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Twitter

Robert Dow ‏@Robert_Dow 2 hours ago

@Schrinner @couriermail Yes agree .. community education is important .. was botched by TL 2013 time for another go $$$ very short

[dancingmongoose]

No better example than my daily route. I catch the 104 from Corinda but it terminates at Yeerongpilly. I've lost track of the amount of times someone has got on, asked the driver if they're going to the PA, driver says no, they hop off, meanwhile I'm facepalming and thinking to myself "hop on the train at Yeerongpilly, get off at Park Road, go to platform 5, get on the first bus that comes along and get off at the next stop". It literally takes you to the same place. But of course no-one bothers to understand the network, they all suffer from express-to-my-station-itis.