On the Buses

[techblitz]

6.20pm broadbeach station..2 min window...noted arriving 777(2 pax) and 700(15pax)
Decent load for the 700

[James]

Was on board the last 433 of the day tonight. Pax on and off on Coro, 8 pax on board leaving Indro. By comparison, 16 pax were on board the 454 behind it. Remember, this is an hourly service, but carrying pax better than the 444 would on a given trip.

Also saw an empty 411 inbound leave Toowong at 9:50pm. I'm sure the fare cuts would have really helped the struggling families and Uni students aboard that service.

[James]

James has had quite a week on the buses, a few observations:

Wednesday:
- Aboard a 130 BUZ, and a woman with a disability (not sure if mental, physical or both) boarded the bus. She seemed very disoriented and confused as to how to get to Kessels Rd. Thought to myself that there are some people who are better off probably not using PT - thankfully the bus driver was kind enough to drop her at the intersection. Concerned though that given it is such a busy road that she may have had a LOT of difficulty finding her destination...
- Caught the 11:25am inbound 155 service - about 12 pax at Sunnybank Plaza, with about 5 pax on/5 pax off here. Progressively picked up people as we approached Griffith Uni, especially once we got close to the 120 BUZ route. 20 pax going up the hill to Griffith, with about 12 pax off there and 15 pax on. Only one more passenger on at GUBS, then express into the city. Given this is a bus which runs hourly and dies on weekends, definitely not bad patronage.

Saturday:
- Caught the midnight outbound 412 BUZ - about 15 pax leaving the City and 25 pax leaving Toowong! One of Brisbane's best performing services.

Another general observation is pax loads on Sunday 411 services often exceed those that I observed on weekday off-peak 411 services - often sometimes I'll only observe <7 pax on the 1:25pm 411 service on weekdays, the 1:40pm service today though left Toowong with 15 pax...

[James]

James went for a trip on Route 77 on Monday - Buranda to Windsor.

First and foremost, amazingly fast trip. Boarded 169 at UQ Lakes at 3:15pm, got off 77 at Windsor station stop at 3:36pm (was the 3:15pm service departing 8MP). At that hour, about as fast as driving, which is quite impressive, and 15 minutes off the 66+333/340 option. Once I was on the 77 it was a very fast and stress-free trip. No screwing around in the city, no dealing with sardine can 66s.

Unfortunately only 7 pax on board this service through the Clem7 - most of which were travelling from further down the SEB. The previous service probably absorbs most of the Griffith + UQ pax anyway, leaving this one to pick up the pax leaving Uni later like myself. It is school holidays though - which has meant that every single service I've been catching so far this week is running 2-4 minutes early. Not that I mind.

[pandmaster]

James went for a trip on Route 77 on Monday - Buranda to Windsor.

First and foremost, amazingly fast trip. Boarded 169 at UQ Lakes at 3:15pm, got off 77 at Windsor station stop at 3:36pm (was the 3:15pm service departing 8MP). At that hour, about as fast as driving, which is quite impressive, and 15 minutes off the 66+333/340 option. Once I was on the 77 it was a very fast and stress-free trip. No screwing around in the city, no dealing with sardine can 66s.

Unfortunately only 7 pax on board this service through the Clem7 - most of which were travelling from further down the SEB. The previous service probably absorbs most of the Griffith + UQ pax anyway, leaving this one to pick up the pax leaving Uni later like myself. It is school holidays though - which has meant that every single service I've been catching so far this week is running 2-4 minutes early. Not that I mind.

I used to get the 77 to UQ every day. It is a fantastic service. It used to have much better off-peak frequency before the bus review (though the State Government wanted to axe it). I think that more people would use it if, off peak, it arrived at Griffith/Buranda or PA Hospital (for UQ) at a time so that students could get to both before classes start on the hour. I suggested this in my feedback to Translink/BCC when they were reviewing routes. Needless to say it was not implemented.

It needed to be better advertised when it had the higher frequency. It is a fast connection between the Ferny Grove and Cleveland lines and could have been on route maps, more as a promotion of the service than recommending it to the small number people going from the FG Line to the Cleveland Line. Some people probably just transfer at the CC, RBWH, Roma Street, etc... because they do not know about the 77 or the frequency is too low compared with the buses on the SEB and INB. Every person on the 77 is a person not going through the city. The 77 is a great cross town route with great potential.

[Otto]

I personally think the 77 should run UQ lakes to Chermside. 
Forget about going to 8 Mile Plains..

[#Metro]

Route 77 is fast but not useful. There are no demand generators within the tunnel and when one includes waiting time, going via the CBD may be more competitive. It would be good as a peak service but that would be about it. People may want to avoid 66, but the fact that 66 is so full suggests that it is extremely useful service connecting lots of people to lots of different places.

I would suggest a different route, taken from one of the northside routes, to connect RBWH-Valley-Kangaroo Point-W'Gabba-UQ to replace or complement the 29.

[pandmaster]

I agree it should be UQ - Chermside. It would really open up the inner north for UQ students.

The 77 is way quicker than the busway. If I just missed it when there was a 15 minute frequency it was still quicker to wait than go via CC.

[James]

Route 77 is fast but not useful. There are no demand generators within the tunnel and when one includes waiting time, going via the CBD may be more competitive. It would be good as a peak service but that would be about it. People may want to avoid 66, but the fact that 66 is so full suggests that it is extremely useful service connecting lots of people to lots of different places.

I would suggest a different route, taken from one of the northside routes, to connect RBWH-Valley-Kangaroo Point-W'Gabba-UQ to replace or complement the 29.

Not useful? I would argue it is quite useful for some commuters. The one problem I see with sending to UQ Lakes is lack of adequate Buranda connection. Aside from that, a 79 would probably do very well, even if it ran hourly.

The 414 runs hourly, has a limited span of hours and goes on an urban safari tour to boot, but thanks to it running straight to UQ and lining up well with class start/finish times, it actually carries some very decent passenger loads in the peak direction (counter-peak and in terms of loads from Indro, it is an air parcel service). Its success is because it lines up with class times, and I think a 77 running to UQ (route 79) could experience similar success.

Remember, the direct services network also further erodes the 77's success because in terms of transfer penalties, 375+66 requires less changes than 375+77+UQ service. If you moved to a connected network (a la bus review), 369+333+66 would be slower than 369+77+UQ service, and a lot slower than 369+79 (again, if the 77/79 was timed such that it was appropriate for class start times).

[Otto]

Not useful? I would argue it is quite useful for some commuters. The one problem I see with sending to UQ Lakes is lack of adequate Buranda connection.

The 77 service can still service Buranda by using the O'keefe st portal from the southern busway.

[aldonius]

That's a pretty major detour - 1250 metres and 3-5 minutes. If 79 stopped at 'OKeefe near Wolseley' one could walk from there up to the PA platforms in time to get back on it.

[SurfRail]

I think the 77 is obscene in an environment where we have bus services like the 152, which are the only walkable route to entire suburbs, and which barely even exist.

It is a vanity project and I would be very happy to see it scrapped.

[HappyTrainGuy]

James went for a trip on Route 77 on Monday - Buranda to Windsor.

First and foremost, amazingly fast trip. Boarded 169 at UQ Lakes at 3:15pm, got off 77 at Windsor station stop at 3:36pm (was the 3:15pm service departing 8MP). At that hour, about as fast as driving, which is quite impressive, and 15 minutes off the 66+333/340 option. Once I was on the 77 it was a very fast and stress-free trip. No screwing around in the city, no dealing with sardine can 66s.

Unfortunately only 7 pax on board this service through the Clem7 - most of which were travelling from further down the SEB. The previous service probably absorbs most of the Griffith + UQ pax anyway, leaving this one to pick up the pax leaving Uni later like myself. It is school holidays though - which has meant that every single service I've been catching so far this week is running 2-4 minutes early. Not that I mind.

I myself am a big fan of the 77 especially during peak hour. Chermside to Griffith in under 30 minutes?

07:00 AM    'Chermside (Hamilton Road)' Hamilton Road    07:26 AM    Griffith University Station
04:53 PM    Griffith University Station Platform 1    05:28 PM    'Chermside (Hamilton Road)' Hamilton Road

04:58 PM    Griffith University Station    05:12 PM    Cultural Centre station platform 1   
05:13 PM    Cultural Centre station platform 1    05:46 PM    Chermside Shopping Centre - Platform A

This is where the network can have its advantages. If anything I'd like to see the 77 extended further north (Taigum maybe) and the Kedron-Chermside route modified to make it run faster via Gympie Road instead of Backstreets.

[James]

Think there's something in the water tonight - 9:15pm 412 left Toowong with standees, and 9:10pm 411 left Toowong with 25 pax on board. Very heavily patronised...

[techblitz]

Not useful? I would argue it is quite useful for some commuters.

grannies perhaps?

i honestly dont see the logic in you supporting this route..... tell me how supporting it doesnt conflict with your little "why do these people deserve this" or why should granny deserve this route when there is this alternative" statments...

translink wanted this route deleted in thier review....but in this specific route 77 case your actually supporting BT/BCC in keeping that route...you either support network optimisation or you dont...

it could be trialed for UQ-chermside but will probably still struggle.....and with UQ stepping up plans to build more accommodation around the campus...further erodes bus demand especially from the northside..
MY stance has changed on the route over the last 12 months....although i do find it handy for connecting to the 680 @ chermside or windsor rail coming from the south...if it were deleted....my other options of southbank to windsor or a quick 330 to chermside wouldnt send me into a headspinning rage

[ozbob]

LB 34 route 552 at Ikea Logan. 
Train arrived at Woodridge as preceding service was departing.  Another near miss hey? 















Real time tracking stuff is neat!

Photographs R Dow 30th September 2014

[James]

grannies perhaps?

i honestly dont see the logic in you supporting this route..... tell me how supporting it doesnt conflict with your little "why do these people deserve this" or why should granny deserve this route when there is this alternative" statments...

translink wanted this route deleted in thier review....but in this specific route 77 case your actually supporting BT/BCC in keeping that route...you either support network optimisation or you dont...

it could be trialed for UQ-chermside but will probably still struggle.....and with UQ stepping up plans to build more accommodation around the campus...further erodes bus demand especially from the northside..
MY stance has changed on the route over the last 12 months....although i do find it handy for connecting to the 680 @ chermside or windsor rail coming from the south...if it were deleted....my other options of southbank to windsor or a quick 330 to chermside wouldnt send me into a headspinning rage

In the network's current shape, the 77 route is pretty useless. This is because we have direct services going everywhere, hence there is no benefit in many circumstances to changing services outside the CBD. I've already provided an example (using the 375) on why the 77's patronage is being eaten in to by the direct services network. Support the 77 with proper Chermside/Gympie Rd feeders like the 369 and so forth (which don't compete with direct services on better frequency), and I think we'd really start to see the route flourish.

In terms of the western suburbs network, I can draw parallels between the 77 and the situation with the 4xx network and the GCL. At it stands right now, thanks to the GCL's low frequency and all services running to the CBD, one is better off simply going 4xx + 375/385/MGLD to get to somewhere like Bardon, rather than going 4xx + GCL (which is the way a car would take). Now if you truncated all the western suburbs routes at Indro/Toowong, thanks to making the City trip more inconvenient (4xx + 444 + 375/385/MGLD), you now force people on to the faster, more direct option (4xx + GCL).

Currently, the GCL carries air between Bardon and Sherwood, if you made those changes, it'd probably become a far more competitive route and haul a lot more pax than it does currently.

Also, re: additional accommodation at UQ, it will be a drop in the ocean. Uni students will eventually be priced out of the St Lucia area and replaced by families and inner-city trendies looking for an inner-city lifestyle. Places which have city views and are merely 10-15 minutes from the CBD will never be places where "affordable housing" can be found. Long-term, transit planners need to accept that more and more students will be instead living along key transit lines in the suburbs.

[HappyTrainGuy]

Not useful? I would argue it is quite useful for some commuters.

grannies perhaps?

i honestly dont see the logic in you supporting this route..... tell me how supporting it doesnt conflict with your little "why do these people deserve this" or why should granny deserve this route when there is this alternative" statments...

translink wanted this route deleted in thier review....but in this specific route 77 case your actually supporting BT/BCC in keeping that route...you either support network optimisation or you dont...

it could be trialed for UQ-chermside but will probably still struggle.....and with UQ stepping up plans to build more accommodation around the campus...further erodes bus demand especially from the northside..
MY stance has changed on the route over the last 12 months....although i do find it handy for connecting to the 680 @ chermside or windsor rail coming from the south...if it were deleted....my other options of southbank to windsor or a quick 330 to chermside wouldnt send me into a headspinning rage

In the current network its a bit of a waste with all the overkill going on but with an improved and connected network it would be a pretty useful and key route. It does need to extend further north though ie Taigum Interchange/Geebung Station for the added connection (Should be Geebung station as it would be a quick and easy transfer along with improving the service for locals in between - I'd send it Kittyhawke Road/Murphy Road/Ellison Road/Newman road as not to be in direct competition with other services/allow residents along Ellison Road their first proper bus service and throw a bus stop in to the north eastern side of Westfield on Kittyhawke Road to have a quick connection there as more units are being built there IIRC).

[ozbob]

Couriermail Quest --> Residents rally to improve children's safety after busway extension opens

[kazzac]

Only about 5 pax aboard including myself  on outbound 117 service at 5.45am this morning from Gabba .thumbs up for the now earlier start to this service,I was able to arrive at work in plenty of time,have a 10-15 minute walk from corner of Beaudesert and Evans Rd. I'm surprised this service doesn't carry more pax ,there's lots of factories,warehouses along Beaudesert Rd Moorooka,Salisbury,workers at these places usually have early starts between 6.30 and 7am.I'll catch this service again (after catching an inbound 230 service) if ever I'm without car for the day again


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[James]

Spotted a (lost) 412 driver (in service + pax on board) passing through Roma Street bus station this afternoon around 3:30pm, and around 4:45pm a 100 BUZ driver waiting at KGSBS stop 1C, much to the frustration of my inbound 345 driver and her passengers.

Very funny day on the buses...

[Otto]

I've lost count of how many times I've seen 222s going through the Gabba..

[techblitz]

I've lost count of how many times I've seen 222s going through the Gabba..

Intersting..ive never seen a 222 thru gabba yet...but i guess you see the gabba a lot more than i
Spoke to a regular route 150 user who has to travel to morningside occasionally to look after her friend....she highlighted appalling the bus services in that suburb...specifically highlighting the 232 frequency...

Used an 8am 599 between salisbury/sherwood this morning
11 onboard....pickups at most of the stops....1 off @ rocklea markets...2 off @ sherwood state school,3 off@ sherwood rail.....1 of the passengers was watching her springfield bound train leaving as she was walking off the bus....nice 28 minute wait for her next train....this really is no surprise however..its a regular occurence for that crosstown connection...

[James]

Used an 8am 599 between salisbury/sherwood this morning
11 onboard....pickups at most of the stops....1 off @ rocklea markets...2 off @ sherwood state school,3 off@ sherwood rail.....1 of the passengers was watching her springfield bound train leaving as she was walking off the bus....nice 28 minute wait for her next train....this really is no surprise however..its a regular occurence for that crosstown connection...

The missed connections exist all over the network - BCC just fires buses everywhere without a care for how they co-ordinate with rail services. SOP for BCC is to pretend rail does not exist.

Was travelling from Sherwood to home, thought that I could just hop on to the 428 leaving Indro around 8:45pm. Wrong! The bus leaves 3 minutes before the train arrives, so James got a lovely view of the 428 turning down Central Av as his train arrived. So I went to Toowong, thinking I could nab a 412. Wrong again! Saw the 412 depart for UQ just as the Toowong train arrived.

Walked the rest of the way home instead of waiting 15 mins for a 412 or just under half an hour for a 411.

[techblitz]

Some crosstown bus-rail conns are good....had to get from sunnybank hills (cnr compton,gowan rds) to archerfield last night......150 arrives frutgrove rail 2 minute wait....train to salisbury...walk to stop...3 min wait...arriving outbound 110...
Some of its bad timetabling but in the majority of cases..the issue is having the buses arrive ontime into the station...fixed with a proper bus review.....with school hols and long weekend.....not hard to see the marked improvement of bus ontime running in brisvegas recently....gold coast cops the opposite

@kazzac

117 gets cannibilised by the 110/115/125...its inner city patronage is random..depending on how late some of the other buses arrive @ annerley/pa hospital etc......when and if translink do a repeat analysis of each bus route(same as last time)... Will be interesting to see how many have (if any) have switched over to the express routes around acacia ridge..which means walking further to said stops...but getting much better frequency than the 117...

[kazzac]

They should keep the early 117 service leaving Gabba at 5.45am,it's a more suitable time for anyone whom has to start work early between 6.30 and 7am.previously the earliest outbound 117 service departed Gabba at 6.08am,the next outbound service mornings out to Moorooka/Salisbury is an outbound 125 service departing about 6.25am  from Gabba,too late for me to be at work on time

[techblitz]

Hows this....get to richlands on o/b train & the departing o/b 460 pulls up @ pedestrian crossing and waits for all pax to cross...some passengers wanted to board the bus....you can guess what happened...
Do my work stuff.then get back to the station 30 mins later to catch the 460... And wait for it....this 460 does a repeat...waits for crossing passengers....some wanted to board...driver said bus was running 10 mins late so cant let them on....
Bad connections/timetabling like this adds more weight to translinks crosstown feeder...which i think we would all agree will be much more reliable than the current 460"s..

[ozbob]

The failed 460 connections have been reported previously to TL by a number of passengers I know. 

No one seems to care within TransLink or elsewhere.   Another excellent example of failed connections.

[dancingmongoose]

DID YOU KNOW when the only two buses from Roma St to the Gabba don't turn up, when one finally does people get left behind because they don't all fit.

[minbrisbane]

Yep, and because the frequency is so high the platform becomes packed.  Welcome to my world!

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[SurfRail]

Wasn't there supposed to be some "D-Day" type announcement for tendering today?

[dancingmongoose]

Right royal cockup between Queen St and KGS, stranded between them for 20 minutes without moving. As usual, nothing posted by Translink

I dont think the 8:38 340 at Roma St has turned up all week. And today was the first day the MaroonGlider 1 minute later actually turned up, but it was five minutes late. So again we left people behind, I was lucky to even get on, and then we sat doing stuff all for 20 minutes.

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Double-decker buses bound for Brisbane

Brisbane's hop-on, hop-off tourist bus service has a brand new operator and its bringing two London-style, open-top double-decker buses to ferry visitors around the River City from the beginning of November.

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk announced on Tuesday morning that tourism specialist City Sightseeing was soon to take the reins of the City Sights tourist bus service from Brisbane Transport, which runs the city's commuter bus network.

The company runs similar hop-on, hop-off services for tourists in Sydney, Bondi Beach, the Blue Mountains, Mornington Peninsula, Canberra, Darwin, Cairns, Perth, and Hobart.

"City Sightseeing has a world-class globally-recognised service, that offers multilingual commentary in eight languages, and specialised open top, double-decker buses, that will be a boost for Brisbane tourism," Cr Quirk said ...

Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/doubledecker-buses-bound-for-brisbane-20141021-119b1s.html

[#Metro]

OMG that's PRIVATISATION 

[kazzac]

I had a ride on one like that when I was down in Hobart earlier this year

[ozbob]

^


Sydney, 3rd Sep 2014 on a recent visit

[HappyTrainGuy]

Meanwhile at Roma Street.

[techblitz]

7.15pm eastbound mglider @roma st
15pax onboard

[techblitz]

4.40pm
Just noted 10-15 pax boarding a 340 buz at the gabba.....would be intersting to know if one was cancelled/late...also if any pax were connecting from other inbound services...

[HappyTrainGuy]

Around 6.30 I noted a 34X around Aspley with minus 10 people to your earlier observation at the Gabba. I'm still amazed at how the 340 became a buz in the first place.