Target 400 - a campaign to get 400 million passenger trips on SEQ PT by 2032

[aldonius]

(About $20m of extra bus funding a year would fix most of the problems here.)

Really drives home how much we screw up our opex/capex allocations. That's something like $40/resident/year... or 650 car park spaces per year.

Does GCCC have a PT levy?

Either way. State imposed problems require state level solutions. As is happens, Meaghan Scanlon, MP for Gaven, is first term Labor on a razor-thin margin, she could always do with another tangible win before the election next year.

[SurfRail]

^ City Transport Improvement Separate Charge is $128.30 per annum per rateable property for FY19/20.  It doesn't just fund public transport - in particular it no longer funds buses and the biggest PT line items it would cover would be light rail capital funding costs, bus stop upgrades and free seniors' travel.  Put that up by a dollar a week and we'd have another $11m or thereabouts which they could use to either cut a new deal with DTMR to fund buses again or have more funding tobtip into light rail capex.  GCCC is pretty reticent to put anything up, though it is travelling a lot better in terms of its finances and infrastructure than the other LGAs in the region.

[Gazza]

Light rail aside (which is clearly the gold coasts best asset as it has eliminated the need for buses to access its busiest precint of surfers paradise).......most GC bus routes are fed into at least one major trip generator.... with the busiest routes fed into major retail/shopping generators at both ends.....some also have action mid-route...

704 >> southport shopping - harbortown - Helensvale plaza,  train/LR station..
750 >> pacific fair one end- robina town center the other and a train/LR station
765 >> the pines/Burleigh/Miami - robina town center....whenever I use the 765 there are always people joining before varsity and staying on after the bus leaves....whats that telling ya.... extra trip generator right there...
760 >> tweed heads tourist precinct - the pines - robina town center ,train station...

And that's what makes them.......the extra trip generators......face it....if most of these successful gold coast feeders lacked the shopping center trip generators....they would be just a another struggling 30 min frequency feeder into substandard train frequency..


The problem with Brisbane and surrounds is they aren't using every shopping center out there effectively enough......take the useless 691 for example.....make more use of it for peats sake....extend it all of 15 minutes to taigum shopping center which is the nearest major shopping hub for people in brighton etc..
Last time I was @ sandgate.......i noted one person jumping off a 691 and a departing 690 with 1 person onboard.....both routes at half hourly frequency when I observed then.......i simply have to shake my head at this...
(I will be doing some patronage analysis into these routes offpeak due to those obs)

So im pretty sure we would all love our little 690/691`s feeding into a Helensvale or robina town center at one end and a pacific fair at the other.....this is what generates patronage...especially with added frequency....

Take a look at the 545 on the southside......both ends....big retail precincts and half hourly frequency....that's why its decent on patronage...560 hyperdome - grand plaza...
Same goes for the 680...north lakes plaza, Strathpine plaza,petrie station and Chermside,kipparing shops...its coming out at 30 pax per service which Is actually better than the 545.......590 is another good one...

Frequency is only part of the picture....functionality is the other part...

Yeah I agree. Pure rail feeders do badly, as does any other single purpose route.
A basic route anywhere should at least connect with a retail precinct, and another major route (Bus or rail) at the very least.

High frequency routes need several trip generators.

[achiruel]

(About $20m of extra bus funding a year would fix most of the problems here.)

Really drives home how much we screw up our opex/capex allocations. That's something like $40/resident/year... or 650 car park spaces per year.

Does GCCC have a PT levy?

Either way. State imposed problems require state level solutions. As is happens, Meaghan Scanlon, MP for Gaven, is first term Labor on a razor-thin margin, she could always do with another tangible win before the election next year.

I suspect it will arrive in the form of more car parks.

[techblitz]

A basic route anywhere should at least connect with a retail precinct, and another major route (Bus or rail) at the very least.

yep we should definitely be aiming for this as a minimum....the game really has changed......these westfields,centros etc will always have patronage demand because they constantly rotate new tenants.....mixing the variety up of choices on offer....

Increased demand also creates increased parking issues......so people need genuine bus options so that they don't need to drive and fiddle around finding parking spots......and when a bus route finishes up at a rail station but doesn't continue on down the road then a direct trip option is lost..

I can think of no better example than brisbanes worst performing bus route the 304......send it to skygate and/or toombul after Doomben and it opens up more than you think....due to less stuffing around people from racecourse rd would probably do the walk and catch it on nudgee rd because it would be so handy.......your also talking some serious options from skygate across the river to appollo rd  and vice versa

[#Metro]

I had a thought - it is about how to phase in a feeder service when so many people have major loss aversion reactions.

One solution could be to trial 'peak extension' services.

Take route 411 for hypothetical example.

During peak hours, the CITY 411 could run to the city as it normally does. However, after 9 am the service could revert to a 15-minute frequent shuttle TOOWONG INTERCHANGE 411 terminating at Toowong.

A study could then compare off-peak patronage levels before and after the change. It could use variations in the patronage of another route (e.g. 428) as a reference to account for / correct for seasonal variation in patronage (e.g. school holidays, uni holidays).

Doing a 12 month trial this way solves a few problems:

(1) You don't have to run a competing bus that costs extra $$$

(2) You get around objections by peak hour commuters

(3) You avoid massive loss aversion reactions by keeping both the route and the route number

(4) There is a clear link between the change and the benefit - the route is shorter, but the frequency is doubled, so you can say 'adding services to the timetable'

(5) It should be more or less cost-neutral to perform - getting around the usual "We have no funds for that!" excuse we hear all the time.

411 would be a good test case for this concept.

[HappyTrainGuy]

A basic route anywhere should at least connect with a retail precinct, and another major route (Bus or rail) at the very least.

yep we should definitely be aiming for this as a minimum....the game really has changed......these westfields,centros etc will always have patronage demand because they constantly rotate new tenants.....mixing the variety up of choices on offer....

Increased demand also creates increased parking issues......so people need genuine bus options so that they don't need to drive and fiddle around finding parking spots......and when a bus route finishes up at a rail station but doesn't continue on down the road then a direct trip option is lost..

Which is what translinks proposed network for the north did. There were still some black holes here and there and the rest of the network had flaws but it actually addressed the northside quite brilliantly. It cut up so many city bound touring routes, introduced services to areas that never had buses, made a network that you could actually use and introduced services that also acted as rail replacement services so if one network went down there were still options to go north and move the congestion around instead of focusing it all on one area. All the routes started and finished at some major interchange hub. Sandgate and Mitchelton railway stations I think were the only railway stations that had it as a terminus. All the other stations were on routes running between Aspley, Chermside, Taigum, Strathpine, Toombul and Stafford bus interchanges.

The best example of the redundancy was when a truck took down the overheads in peak hour at Sunshine. No/limited rail replacement buses were available at first because BBL, Thompsons and KangarooBL were busy finishing up school services and were eventually caught in traffic trying to get to Northgate. Translink advised people to catch the 326/327 from Toombul if they lived within that area. Only problem was it was an hourly route and quite some time had elapsed that there were only a couple services left when they tweeted that rail passengers should use it. The north loop feeder serviced 3 train stations, 4 major shopping complexes, 5 schools, the heart of an industrial area that has not 1 bus service, 3 full set up bus interchanges and 3 HF routes which it crossed at multiple locations. If the dewirement happened on that network you could advise rail passengers to board a HF bus to Aspley, Chermside or Taigum interchanges from Roma Street and transfer onto the north loop. Alternatively catch the train to Boondall and transfer onto the loop route there. Then you had the other feeders such as the Chermside-Strathpine via Zillmere, Taigum-Strathpine via Carseldine or Sandgate-Strathpine all of which connected to HF routes. It was one of the few feeder loop routes that you could deem worthy to run every 10 minutes in peak as the buz standard because it had so many trip generators and interchange options consistently throughout the day in both directions.

[verbatim9]

If people see buses moving faster than general traffic and arriving on time, I reckon people may make the switch? Overcrowded and slow buses are not a draw card. Articulated buses on key routes where possible e.g 412 and 333. As well as more T3 Bus lanes and bus, cycle and pedestrian priority at key intersections to speed up travel times by bus and active transport. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bus_priority.

[aldonius]

Yep - most of what's achievable in the next decade means doing more with what we have. More and tactical peak-hour transit lanes are surely a critical part of that. My model here is what the Waterworks Rd and Kelvin Grove Rd corridors do.

And it often only needs to be a T2 rather than a T3. All we need to do is ensure that the transit lane stays fairly free-flowing, so while more than half of all cars on the road have only the driver in them, any level of transit lane is probably sufficient.

[ozbob]

Burke, Edmund.The Sunday Mail; Brisbane, Qld. 14 Oct 2007: 66.

Transport plan's exciting new goal:

The State Government is working on a major overhaul of the southeast's public transport network, writes Edmund Burke

PREMIER Anna Bligh's announcement last week of a new transit authority to co-ordinate southeast Queensland's public transport network is a clear sign of just how important the issue has become.

Increasing oil prices, population pressure, traffic congestion and environmental concerns have sparked calls for a revolution in the commuter landscape.

The new transit authority, yet to be named, will replace Translink, which was established in 2003. Ms Bligh says the new body will have more power to integrate rail, bus and ferry services.

The challenge facing our transport planners is daunting. Translink research predicts the number of trips on public transport services in the state's southeast will double over the next nine years, adding 147 million trips to the already-struggling network.

Forecasts estimate patronage will increase from 152 million annual passenger trips in 2005-2006 to 299 million journeys on public transport networks by 2015. The 100 per cent increase will come as the region's population grows from 2.7 million today to an estimated 3.25 million by 2015.

But how will a system already struggling to meet demand be able to support such massive growth?

The new authority will be charged with making transport simpler and easier for customers by offering a one-stop shop for scheduling, customer needs and complaints.

Experts say Translink's hands have been tied by the nature of their relationship with the 17 bus, rail and ferry service providers across the region.

"We have been able to encourage an increase in patronage, but because we have no real control maybe we haven't been able to ensure the best use of resources," a Transport Department spokesman said last week.

Ms Bligh has said the new authority would have "real grunt".

"A transit authority will have greater freedom to redeploy resources, like buses, to different areas in southeast Queensland as needed based on demand," she said.

But some experts say the State Government still has to commit more funding to our public transport system if the service is to meet demands.

The South East Queensland Infrastructure Plan committed $82 billion over 20 years to new projects, but public transport advocates complain the vast majority of that money will be invested in conventional roads.

About $10 billion has been allocated to public transport infrastructure overall, and of that more than $2 billion has been committed to new busway projects, with construction on the Eastern, Northern and Inner Northern busways under way.

But as The Sunday Mail reported this month, the flagship South East Busway is already nearing capacity just six years after it opened.

And there are fears that we are facing gridlock on the very system that was intended to alleviate our transport woes. Despite these fears, Queenslanders' attitudes are already changing towards public transport.

Patronage of buses, CityCats and rail has resulted in a combined increase of 30 per cent since Translink was formed, and areas such as Logan have had a 100 per cent increase in bus use over the same period.

"We believe we can cope with what is happening," Translink manager Luke Franzmann told The Sunday Mail. "We are building the busway network and we are building increases to the rail network with additional rolling stock."

But even the Translink chief admits that more money will have to be made available if the network is going to cope with 299 million annual passenger trips.

"There will need to be additional service funding over and above what we have on the table now." Encouraging more Queenslanders on to trains is likely to be a main focus of any future funding.

While Brisbane bus patronage has increased by 35 per cent, Queensland Rail patronage has increased by just 16 per cent over the past three years.

Under the new authority, Queensland Rail's passenger services -- incorporating the Citytrain and Traveltrain division -- will be separated from QR's much-criticised freight and coal operations.

This will free up the passenger services and allow for greater integration with the bus services.

But while the funding for rail is likely to come from the State Government, questions remain over where the funding will come for improved bus services and other initiatives in the rest of the region.

Funding for buses was the subject of a recent slanging match between Brisbane's Liberal Lord Mayor Campbell Newman and Labor's transport chairwoman Victoria Newton.

Brisbane City Council has pledged almost $190 million of ratepayers' money to public transport services for 2007-08, and ratepayers are feeling the strain.

Paradoxically, most other councils in the southeast contribute little or nothing to their public transport systems, which are run by private operators and subsidised by the State Government.

Cr Newman controversially called on Translink to provide further funding for Brisbane's network to spend on buses and public transport infrastructure.

BUT this month Department of Transport director-general Bruce Wilson rejected the call, asking other councils in southeast Queensland to start contributing to their own public transport systems.

"We are putting in the lion's share of all the funding for public transport in southeast Queensland," he said.

"One point the Lord Mayor makes which is quite valid is that there are few councils that aren't putting in any money at all. Gold Coast is putting in a small amount and I think Noosa has put in a tiny bit.

"We would like to see other councils contribute serious money towards public transport."

Mr Franzmann agrees.

"We are putting a lot of extra money into improving the public transport system," he said.

"We have come a long way and we are getting great rises in patronage, so if the local councils feel that more should be done, we are happy to accept their contribution."

Existing funding arrangements for the region's public transport network can often seem as complicated as taking a bus from one side of Brisbane's suburbs to the other.

Translink was set up in 2004 and operates services for Queensland Rail, Brisbane's bus service (Brisbane Transport) and the CityCat ferry service. It also subsidises and operates 14 private bus services throughout the region.

As it exists now, the company is responsible for 143 rail stations, 14 busway stations, 30 normal bus stations and 12,300 bus stops, and maintains and operates 1850 buses, 147 trains and 21 ferries.

Translink leases buses off the providers, who stump up the capital costs for the vehicles.

It seems likely the new authority will buy buses directly, giving them greater control over where and how they operate.

Despite its problems over the past four years, Translink has done a lot to encourage use of public transport.

The organisation introduced integrated ticketing, provided additional services including about 500 new buses, and is rolling out its smart card system.

But Dr Jago Dodson of Griffith University's Urban Research program says there is an inevitability to the increased patronage we are now seeing.

"For public transport, carbon pricing and a rise in global oil prices will inevitably contribute to greater demand," he says.

"Forcing people to leave their cars deliberately is always going to be problematic. It is much better to keep improving the quality of the public transport system and allow the quality of the car travelling experience to remain static.

"As the inconvenience and cost of travel goes up and the inconvenience and cost of public transport relative to that comes down, people will increasingly start turning to public transport.

"Sometimes we tend to see these things in extremes and think that suddenly we will see people leaving their cars to rust in the garage. That is not going to happen. What we are going to see is a gradual and incremental change."

A recent Brisbane City Council report into a Rapid Mass Transit system for Brisbane recommended "super buses" carrying up to 200 people and using existing roads and more special busways.

Meanwhile, an underground railway similar to those in London and New York is under consideration for Brisbane's inner city.

One rapid transit system almost certain to come to fruition is the Gold Coast's Mass Rapid Transit system.

The State Government has committed $550 million to the project, while the council is believed to have set aside $100 million.

On the right track

Infrastructure projects already under way

RAIL

Salisbury to Kuraby third track (9.3km)

* One-third track laid

* New signalling system

* Mains Road overpass

* New Coopers Plains station

* New car parks open to traffic at Runcorn station

* Construction of new Kuraby station underway

* New pedestrian bridges at Fruitgrove station

* Completion due early 2008 - total cost $255 million

Helensvale to Robina second track (15.9km)

* Track laying began Helensvale to Nerang in June

* Robina Town Centre Bridge largely complete

* Due August 2008 - $72 million

* Robina to Varsity Lakes extension (4km)

* Project due mid 2009

- total cost $324 million

Rolling stock

* 44 new trains * Due for progressive delivery by 2011 - total cost $500 million

Caboolture to Maroochydore Corridor study

* Planning and land acquisition being undertaken for a rail service between Beerwah and Maroochydore.

The service will be integrated with the bus system between Maroochydore and Caloundra

North Coast rail line improvements

* Major upgrades underway between Caboolture and Landsborough and planning is progressing for further improvement in alignment and duplication of the track between Landsborough and Nambour to increase passenger and freight capacity

BUS

Inner Northern Busway

* Now possible to walk underground from Queen Street Mall to Roma Street station

* New paving nearing completion in Albert St

* Track and platform work for XPT nearing completion.

* Will take hundreds of buses off CBD streets every day

* Six months ahead of schedule * Project due June 2008 - total cost $333 million

Eastern Busway

* Stage 1 construction about to start on first section PA Hospital to South-East Busway

* Project due 2009 - $140 million

* Boggo Road Busway * Links Eastern Busway with Eleanor Schonell Bridge and UQ

* Project due 2009

- total cost $217 million

This >>>

" ... Forecasts estimate patronage will increase from 152 million annual passenger trips in 2005-2006 to 299 million journeys on public transport networks by 2015. The 100 per cent increase will come as the region's population grows from 2.7 million today to an estimated 3.25 million by 2015. ... "


It was actually 176 million journeys in 2015 !

[AnonymouslyBad]

^ Notice how Things Got Done when the TransLink Transit Authority(TM) was around. As soon as TMR was back in charge it all became a shitshow.

299 million trips may have been a stretch though! We can only dream...

[ozbob]

Agree.  I am now of the view that TMR is anti-public transport.  There is little hope for real growth under the present organisational structure.

There are some good people in TransLink.  They are being stymied in my opinion.

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

17th October 2019

SEQ Public transport decade of failure ...

Good Morning,

The failure of public transport in SEQ to maintain let alone increase patronage over the past decade is well demonstrated by consideration of the following.

It was reported in the Sunday Mail Brisbane on the 14th October 2007 ' Transport plan's exciting new goal ' page 66 that

" ... Forecasts estimate patronage will increase from 152 million annual passenger trips in 2005-2006 to 299 million journeys on public transport networks by 2015. The 100 per cent increase will come as the region's population grows from 2.7 million today to an estimated 3.25 million by 2015. ... "

It was actually 176 million journeys in 2015.

It is time to seriously consider the need to reform how public transport is delivered.  The present structures have been a gross failure in SEQ this past decade with an anti-public transport culture dominating Governments and its bumbling bureaucracies. Been a lot of cash bonuses paid out for mediocrity in our view.

We expect reform and significant improvements.  We will be watching closely leading up to the State Election in October 2020.  Our aim is 400 million passenger journeys by 2029.  Let's get it back on track.

Best wishes,

Robert

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


Reference:

Target 400 - a campaign to get 400 million passenger trips on SEQ PT by 2029
> https://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=13648.0

Sent to all outlets:

29th September 2019

How to improve public transport outcomes

Good Morning,

Thanks to Tony Moore and Brisbanetimes for today's article on the past decade of the real public transport patronage decline.

Brisbanetimes --> As SEQ's population grows, per capita public transport usage falls https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/as-seq-s-population-grows-per-capita-public-transport-usage-falls-20190927-p52vm9.html

Public patronage has not kept up with population increases.  In trips / capita terms it has gone down around 11% over the decade.

What has gone wrong?

From our perspective two great failures standout.

1.  The failed bus network review in 2013.

2.  Almost concurrently the failed 5 year fare path ( 2010-2015) which corresponded to the increasing uptake of the go card.  The go card system itself was fine, it was the fare structure that delivered year on year very significant fare cost increases.  In same cases well over 100%. A loss of periodical ticketing options was also a factor.  It is little wonder that patronage declined.  The new fare structure ' Fairer Fares ' introduced in December 2016 in the midst of railfail has helped to turn around the patronage loss.  This was a very welcome move by the State Government.

What is now needed is improvements to the bus network particularly.  Frequency, span and routes need review and improvement.  New routes need to be introduced and operated 7 days a week, not only weekdays.  Rail needs much better support from the bus network.  The buses are the spider web, the glue, of our public transport network.  They provide the vital connections to and between the fixed route heavy and light rail, and also our ferry network to a more limited extent.  Parts of the Citytrain network need urgent service improvement. First priority should be the Sunshine Coast line.

The new smart ticketing system ( https://translink.com.au/about-translink/projects-and-initiatives/smartticketing ) soon to be trialed provides the opportunity to bring in some innovative ticketing products.

The State Government needs to go back and again review how public transport is organised in Queensland.  Our view is that unless there is organisational reform we will still be stuck in the past with the present day silos of blunder.  What is needed is a standalone public transport authority, with the staff, resources and authority to deliver reform and improvements. An excellent model is the Public Transport Authority of Western Australia ( https://www.pta.wa.gov.au ).

As they say ' It is not rocket science ... '.  Just do it please ...

Regards
Robert

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

Sent to all outlets:

27th September 2019

SEQ Annual Patronage FY 09/10 to 18/19 - all modes

Good Morning,

For your information. DTMR and Queensland Rail Annual and Financial Reports for 2018-19 have now been tabled. They can be found here - Queensland Parliament: Online Tabled Papers https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/work-of-assembly/tabled-papers/online-tabled-papers

We have updated our yearly patronage data from the annual reports.





Bus and heavy rail, are finally starting to recover patronage. Ferry patronage bounces around a bit, but slight positive trend over the decade.
Light rail shows a steady increase as to be expected.

Been a poor decade overall as evidenced in the fall in trips/capita. A way of looking at patronage with respect to population changes.

More detailed data analysis can be found here on our forum > https://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?board=91.0

It is important to focus on constant bus and rail network improvements to make the next decade a much better one in terms of SEQ public transport patronage.

Best wishes,

Robert

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

References:

1.   https://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?board=91.0

2.   https://www.facebook.com/RAILBackOnTrack/posts/2882007791813389

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/railbotforum/status/1184550556385210369

[ozbob]

Facebook ..

[#Metro]

What are the per capita PT uses for Australian and Canadian cities?

[ozbob]

What are the per capita PT uses for Australian and Canadian cities?

Vancouver is around 175 ...

In 2013  Melbourne was around 120, Sydney 130, Perth 75  https://www.bitre.gov.au/publications/2014/files/is_060.pdf

[ozbob]

Western Europe

https://www.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/760wnb/public_transport_trips_per_capita_in_western/

[ozbob]

SEQ needs to get trips/capita up to 100 or better.

Investment in service improvement and optimising what we have is the key.

[SurfRail]

For that matter most of the growth needs to occur outside the BCC boundaries.

[achiruel]

For that matter most of the growth needs to occur outside the BCC boundaries.

Agreed, the outer suburban areas (Logan, Redland, Moreton, Ipswich) along with the Sunshine Coast have absolutely woeful PT take-up. This could of course be something to do with the fact that bus services in many of those areas are woeful, and SC rail services are likewise woeful.

The GC fares somewhat better, because of an acceptable frequency rail service, GCLR, and numerous HF bus services. I think Logan has 1 HF bus, Ipswich 1, I don't think Moreton or Redland have any, and I think SC has maybe two?

[#Metro]

Local councils should cofund PT to say 10-20% of the cost.

They should also determine the proportion of patronage:ridership sill split for their area after consultation.

This should be the minimum standard case across QLD.

[techblitz]

optimising what we have is the key.

This.
Take a look at Nerang station and the 745/740 ozbob..
200k combined patronage drop in one year and yet more and more calls further up north for increased station park and rides by the rail commuting public..
The 740 carries 3 times less patronage than the 750 yet has 400 more services allocated to it each month.

Action needed NOW on these Nerang drops.....less time bignoting how successful the light rail is...more time focusing on how abysmal the nerang station bus patronage is.
Translink will just twiddle their thumbs on it and perhaps wait until stage 3 ligt rail......I for one certainly want action taken earlier than that...
Each day it will get progressively harder to fight off the park and ride crowd if there is no major improvement to bus services north of Helensvale...

[SurfRail]

^ I can't agree.  If you are deliberately telling people to use the tram to access the coastal strip, then it is absolutely natural that there will be a patronage drop on what were previously the 2 most used services to achieve the same end.  I expected it years ago.  If you drop the frequency they will crash even further.  Successes like the 713, 719 and 765 demonstrate that people respond to frequent service even down here.

The only thing I would agree with is deleting the 740 west of Nerang and converting the 735 to a high frequency route in lieu, and fixing the bloody 746 and 749 (which unlike every route in the north of the city don't run on weekends).

The area north of Helensvale should be supported by new investment.  It is ludicrous that such a growing area has only had peanuts chucked at it.

[techblitz]

I just cant see how Nerang warrants 90k services per year... still more services than say 2x route 704`s) into the station from the 3 routes combined....and we are now only getting 680k total return.......the 740 is running only 3000 less services per year than the 704 yet carrying 800k less passengers....surely that performance warrants at least a sizable reallocation of resources??
I wouldn't support an increase to the 735 without a review of the 740....

[ozbob]

What are the per capita PT uses for Australian and Canadian cities?

Vancouver is around 175 ...

In 2013  Melbourne was around 120, Sydney 130, Perth 75  https://www.bitre.gov.au/publications/2014/files/is_060.pdf

Coincidentally my Uncle is presently visiting Vancouver, just received a brief note from him:

" ... Our trip is going well. Raining in Vancouver- first rain in 4 weeks in the USA. Great railway system here - skyrail everywhere and driverless. Headway is around 1 - 2 min. Google it. Melbourne should take notice.  ... "

Brisbane should take notice too ... lol.  We are simply not in the hunt ...

[ozbob]

Letter to the Editor Queensland Times 18th October 2019 page 13

Cut hefty cash bonuses and get us back on track

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/railbotforum/status/1184907421740716032

[ozbob]

Interview on ABC Brisbane Radio Breakfast Hosts Loretta Ryan and Craig Zonca with Associate Professor Matthew Burke 15th October 2019.

Here --> https://backontrack.org/docs/abcbris/abcbris_mb15oct19.mp3 MP3 10.7 MB

" ... We under-invested in the public transport network ... "   

The article referred to in the interview is Brisbanetimes --> No congestion-busting benefit from Brisbane's $10 billion toll roads: expert



https://twitter.com/railbotforum/status/1184988970905522176

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

26th October 2019

Some good news ... SEQ Public transport patronage has turned around

Good Morning,

The TransLink Tracker Q4 FY 18/19 was finally published yesterday afternoon ( https://www.publications.qld.gov.au/dataset/translink-division-quarterly-reports/resource/31643189-648d-4d83-b10b-3356969859a9 ).

This has now allowed us to complete our three year quarterly patronage series from Q1 16/17 through to Q4 18/19 ( see https://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=13735.0 ).

Results are interesting.  Over the three years there has been a growth in passenger trips of around +9.4%, this is an average yearly increase of  around +3.13%.   The only mode to not show a positive trend was ferry (river and SMBI).  The river ferries have been impacted by speed restrictions due to construction activities and this has had an impact.  Good growth on bus, rail (heavy),  and light rail.

RAIL Back On Track has set a target of 400 million annual passenger trips on SEQ Public Transport by 2029 ( see https://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?board=96.0).  If the present positive trend was maintained to 2029 this would equate to ~ 252 million annual trips.  With projects such as Smart Ticketing, Cross River Rail, Brisbane Metro coming on stream we believe a target of 400 million is very achievable.



Our Citytrain network can carry a lot more passengers than it does presently.  It is important to improve frequency, particularly out of peak, and improve support for our rail network with much better feeder bus support.  These things, coupled with overall bus network reform and fare affordability improvements, together with the major projects coming on stream, we will see the target of 400 million annual passenger trips reached with ease by 2029.

Best wishes,
Robert

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

[achiruel]

Local councils should cofund PT to say 10-20% of the cost.

They should also determine the proportion of patronage:ridership sill split for their area after consultation.

This should be the minimum standard case across QLD.

Funding 20% by local councils could be an issue as Ipswich/Logan/Moreton/Redland don't have the big cash cow rates areas that Brisbane (CBD and inner suburb high-rises), Gold Coast (Surfers-Broadbeach) and Sunshine Coast (Maroochydore-Mooloolaba) have. The State has created this issue due to their land planning scheme so they should be paying for the fix.

[achiruel]

What are the per capita PT uses for Australian and Canadian cities?

Vancouver is around 175 ...

In 2013  Melbourne was around 120, Sydney 130, Perth 75  https://www.bitre.gov.au/publications/2014/files/is_060.pdf

Coincidentally my Uncle is presently visiting Vancouver, just received a brief note from him:

" ... Our trip is going well. Raining in Vancouver- first rain in 4 weeks in the USA. Great railway system here - skyrail everywhere and driverless. Headway is around 1 - 2 min. Google it. Melbourne should take notice.  ... "

Brisbane should take notice too ... lol.  We are simply not in the hunt ...

The continued comparison between Vancouver and SEQ is absurd. Brisbane metropolitan population density is 155/km². Greater Vancouver is 855. We can't realistically fix the transit issue in SEQ without first addressing they land use issue, and there seems to be zero political will from either team to do so. So we will sprawl, sprawl, sprawl and our transit, with a few exceptions, will continue to be a massive failure.

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/railbotforum/status/1201808920387260417

[ozbob]

RBoT will be reactivating our Target 400 campaign in 2023.

We will now aim for 400 million passenger trips on SEQ PT by 2032 (was 2029) !

[aldonius]

The continued comparison between Vancouver and SEQ is absurd. Brisbane metropolitan population density is 155/km². Greater Vancouver is 855. We can't realistically fix the transit issue in SEQ without first addressing they land use issue, and there seems to be zero political will from either team to do so. So we will sprawl, sprawl, sprawl and our transit, with a few exceptions, will continue to be a massive failure.

Is that population-weighted? Not like we have to run bus service on Moreton Island, or in the dams.

A decade ago using a square-kilometre-grid population-weighted basis, Vancouver was 2.5 times as dense as Brisbane, rather than 5.5 times.

https://chartingtransport.com/2015/11/26/comparing-the-densities-of-australian-and-european-cities/

[#Metro]

Population density is one factor affecting the travel generation. There are other factors as well, such as PT network quality.

Densities should be used with caution. Where you draw the line and how city is defined varies quite a lot. For example, Brisbane could mean 'Statistical Brisbane' which includes MBRC and Logan for example.
Personally, I like the traditional definition which is the BCC area itself.

Within that Brisbane's density also tends to come out low purely due to the high levels of bushland and floodplain. So, Brisbane Airport, Mt Gravatt/Nathan, and Rocklea floodplains all cause problems in that measurement.

[achiruel]

personally, I like the traditional definition which is the BCC area itself.
/quote]

Then you're deluding yourself. The metropolis extends far beyond the borders of the City of Brisbane.

The ABS definition OTOH is far too broad, including Somerset and parts of the Lockyer Valley.

[SurfRail]

It's interesting that the ABS definition for the Brisbane GCCSA includes most of the Scenic Rim, which means it notionally includes areas further south than Coolangatta, ie the Border Ranges.

The criteria aren't exclusively about geography or urban footprint but also involve, as I understand it, the degree of economic integration.  Beaudesert, Boonah etc are dependent on and more connected to Brisbane, whereas the Gold Coast is much more self-contained and so is excluded.

There is an ongoing debate about whether Mt Tamborine and Canungra should move over to become part of the GCCC - Mt Tamborine had a plebiscite about it recently that came out in favour.  Depending on what areas are being looked at specifically, that might amount to making the GCCC boundary 100% identical to the Gold Coast SA4, as currently the only bits in the SA4 but not part of GCCC are the bits of Scenic Rim just to the west.

[ozbob]

You cannot view this attachment.

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

Target 400 !
A campaign to get 400 million passenger trips on SEQ PT by 2032

28th December 2022




RAIL Back On Track is re-launching our Target 400 campaign for 2023.  We originally launched this campaign in 2019 and was put on hold in 2020.

Target 400 is aimed at getting the Governments and Transport Agencies to set a real patronage target and work towards it in a  meaningful manner.  With the 2032 Olympics it is essential that public transport is made much more fit for purpose - frequent, connected, proper route coverage, and accessible for all. More support for active transport.

We do have a number of  things in train that will support our target of 400 million passenger trips by 2032:

1. Smart ticketing - convenient to travel, and with new fare products to encourage frequent public transport use this will help.
https://translink.com.au/about-translink/projects-and-initiatives/smart-ticketing

2. Brisbane's New Bus Network  and the BERT ('Brisbane Metro').
More capacity, better connections, with better feeder bus frequency.
https://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/traffic-and-transport/public-transport/brisbanes-new-bus-network
High frequency services on the busways.
https://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/traffic-and-transport/public-transport/brisbane-metro

3. Cross River Rail (CRR)
Will unlock the bottleneck at the core of our transport network, and open up new destinations for all.
https://crossriverrail.qld.gov.au/

4.  SEQ Rail Connect
Better journeys with more frequent and faster services and greater comfort with more trains and more seats.  More longer distance express services, better suburban turn up and go services.
https://www.tmr.qld.gov.au/About-us/Corporate-information/Publications/SEQ-Rail-Connect

5.  Queensland Train Manufacturing Program (QTMP)
Sixty five new 6-car passenger trains at a purpose-built manufacturing facility at Torbanlea, in the Maryborough region. These trains will support the expansion in rail services and frequency.
https://www.tmr.qld.gov.au/projects/queensland-train-manufacturing-program-qtmp

Transport authorities need to focus on service betterment as much as infrastructure.  There has not been enough focus on service improvement and this must change from here.

RAIL Back On Track Members have commenced a review of all SEQ Bus Regions (other than Brisbane) to help identify particular local issues on the bus networks.
(See https://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?board=111.0 ). 

Once we have completed that we will then incorporate our suggestions into the wider SEQ Frequent Network plan ( https://www.tmr.qld.gov.au/-/media/aboutus/corpinfo/Publications/regionaltransportplans/RTP-SEQ-web.pdf  page 53 ).

We have invited the public to comment on our Facebook page with suggestions on how we can drive the necessary patronage uptake.  Also if they know of particular issues with  local SEQ regional bus networks to also please comment.  Public feedback will inform our ongoing efforts for improvements.

Thanks.
Best wishes for 2023!

Robert

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

Reference:

SEQ Annual Patronage FY 2009/10 to 2021/22 - all modes
https://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=14832.0