Discussion on improving feeder bus networks to stations (bus & rail)

[ozbob]

#Target400 : How to do feeder bus and park 'n' ride ...https://t.co/mNDln3xHCV#qldpol pic.twitter.com/5QZkNPVRSb

— RAIL_BoT_Forum (@railbotforum) August 27, 2019

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

28th August 2019

How to do feeder bus and park 'n' ride ...

Good Morning,

Here is a simple case study to show how TransLink and Government needs to go about improving public transport in SEQ.

Rockingham WA is about 43 kilometres from Perth on the Transperth Mandurah line ( https://www.transperth.wa.gov.au/timetablePDFs/BusStationMaps/Rockingham%20Station.pdf ).  Trains run every 15 minutes out of peak and better at peak of course.  There are 14 feeder bus routes into the bus interchange at Rockingham railway station.  There are 1950 parking spaces for park 'n' ride. Parking is at a nominal cost during the week, $2 for 24 hours or part there of.

Map of feeder bus routes
(from http://www.transperth.wa.gov.au/Portals/0/Asset/Documents/Journey%20Planner/Network%20Maps/Map7.pdf )



Compare this to the dismal arrangements at Springfield Central for example?  Four low frequency bus routes connecting to 30 minute trains out of peak.

We have a long way to go in SEQ to provide the services that will turn around the decade long public transport patronage collapse.  This brief look at Rockingham WA shows what we need to do from here.  Better feeder bus networks supporting improved frequency on rail. Paid park 'n' ride is part of the mix, providing there are adequate feeder buses. There are no 'free lunches' in the end.

Food for thought hey?

Best wishes,
Robert

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

Attached: https://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=13648.msg226346#msg226346

[AnonymouslyBad]

My nomination for Logan area is upgrading the 560 in terms of span and frequency.

I agree. Links a number of destinations, and Loganlea station's as close to a winner as you'll get in this area.
There are feeders which probably 'need' an upgrade more (the 550 is an obvious pair to the 560) but if I have to pick just one, an improved 560 is what's going to provide the most increased connectivity.

As far as overall route design goes, I think Logan's fine, mostly because little's changed since ~2005 when TL created the current network. (Flagstone/Yarrabilba excluded.) Like all of suburbia, it's span and frequency that's the problem, and it's a biiiig problem.

[AnonymouslyBad]

Rockingham WA is about 43 kilometres from Perth on the Transperth Mandurah line ( https://www.transperth.wa.gov.au/timetablePDFs/BusStationMaps/Rockingham%20Station.pdf ).  Trains run every 15 minutes out of peak and better at peak of course.  There are 14 feeder bus routes into the bus interchange at Rockingham railway station.  There are 1950 parking spaces for park 'n' ride. Parking is at a nominal cost during the week, $2 for 24 hours or part there of.

Anyone got handy how often those buses run?

Perth definitely has their feeders together so much better than Brisbane. But I refuse to believe they're actually running that many routes around Rockingham at a decent frequency

I admit I haven't spent much time in Perth, but my impression of their suburban buses was similar to the (non-BCC) situation in outer Brisbane: the map itself is ok: the buses would be "good" if there were actually more of them.

[ozbob]

Bus timetables > https://www.transperth.wa.gov.au/timetables/results?bus=

548 for example runs every 15/20 minutes ..

This group of feeders, 550, 551, 552, 553 https://www.transperth.wa.gov.au/timetablepdfs/Bus%20Timetable%20128%2020190721.pdf
Peak very good, drops off a bit off peak but they are there.  We simply don't have adequate bus routes feeding stations in the same way.
Lovely little map on this timetable ...  imagine if this was done around Springfield ...

One of the reasons Transperth carries more passengers on 26% of the rail route kms cf. to Citytrain is that they do have good feeder bus.  You only have to travel around on Transperth to note the various stations with good bus interchanges. They do it way way better than SEQ ...

[ozbob]

Letter to the Editor Queensland Times 30th August 2019 page 13

WA provides successful model for transport woes