On the Buses

[achiruel]

There should be twice as many depots with half the buses allocated.  BCC's dead running costs are phenomenal in part because all the depots are towards the periphery of town or in the middle of nowhere instead of where many services actually terminate.  Closing Bowen Hills was insane.

Lots of routes originate/terminate at Garden City or nearby at Eight Mile Plains bus station which is only a couple of km away. Yet they are running routes that terminate here out of Sherwood. This says to me that GC depot should be larger, not smaller.

Regarding closing Bowen Hills, I thought closing Light St was insane, considering how many routes originate/terminate near the Valley, but I guess the land was far too valuable for storing buses. I guess the same applied to Bowen Hills?

Having a depot with more than 200 vehicles is not practical.

Why's that? Leichardt depot in Sydney currently has around 240 buses and space for 280. What the issue with having a larger depot?

[SurfRail]

There should be twice as many depots with half the buses allocated.  BCC's dead running costs are phenomenal in part because all the depots are towards the periphery of town or in the middle of nowhere instead of where many services actually terminate.  Closing Bowen Hills was insane.

Lots of routes originate/terminate at Garden City or nearby at Eight Mile Plains bus station which is only a couple of km away. Yet they are running routes that terminate here out of Sherwood. This says to me that GC depot should be larger, not smaller.

Regarding closing Bowen Hills, I thought closing Light St was insane, considering how many routes originate/terminate near the Valley, but I guess the land was far too valuable for storing buses. I guess the same applied to Bowen Hills?

Garden City is probably the only one in the right spot to actually minimise wastage, and they absolutely should expand it. 

The Bowen Hills yard is flood prone and only has industrial uses, so it was silliness in the extreme to flog it off.  Their reasoning was presumably that Eagle Farm will do, but it is further out, so more dead running again.

The closest depot to the city is Toowong now, and many of the routes out of there terminate much further west where there isn't a depot.

[achiruel]

Garden City is probably the only one in the right spot to actually minimise wastage, and they absolutely should expand it. 

I think Carina depot is reasonably well-located, only about 2km from Carindale Interchange where quite a lot of buses terminate, and a about the same distance  from Cannon Hill, which also has a number of terminating services.

Willawong is fairly close (4.6 km by Google Maps) to the Inala/Forest Lake routes (100, 101/2/3, 110, 460 etc) although a lot further (11.6 km) than I expected from the 130 terminus, so I'd probably put that in the category of "somewhat acceptable".

[ozbob]

Focus Transport --> Van Hool Provides Shuttle Service to Busworld Europe Exhibition

Bus and coach builder Van Hool and Flemish Operator De Lijn will operate free shuttle between Brussels Airport and Brussels Expo where Busworld Europe is being held from 17th till 23rd October 2019.

From 19 till 23 October 2019 the Busworld Europe Shuttle will be accommodated by the Van Hool diesel hybrid Exqui.City 24 trambuses. A premier for Belgium, as it will be the first time that these trambuses are in operation on the public roads. These trambuses will be put into daily operation later on the BRT line 820.

The Busworld Europe Shuttle leaves every hour at the bus parking lot (level 0) in Brussels Airport and will bring passengers non stop to Busworld Europe in only 45 minutes.The shuttle will drop off at the main entrance in front of Hall 2.

[Otto]

Having a depot with more than 200 vehicles is not practical.

I disagree as far as Carina depot is concerned.

Carina is at maximum capacity with no room to expand, ideally would need approximately another 45 buses which results in us needing to have buses from Garden City and Eagle Farm to fill the gaps in our work on 228, 232, 210, 211, 214, 200, 201, 222, 205, 209, 217 and 177 which all terminate within 5 minutes of Carina Depot. ( 200, 201 is 10 minutes )

Garden City depot is unable to expand any further as it has already been expanded in the past and now occupies all land that is available. They are now storing buses in the drivers car park at night due to lack of room.

Sherwood and Eagle Farm have room to expand their allocated fleet.

[#Metro]

^ really? Isn't there an empty lot across the road where the ATO was?

[Otto]

^ really? Isn't there an empty lot across the road where the ATO was?

Do you really think it's that simple ? I'm not going to waste my time explaining why it can't be used. I just state the facts of current practices.

[verbatim9]

Focus Transport --> Van Hool Provides Shuttle Service to Busworld Europe Exhibition

Bus and coach builder Van Hool and Flemish Operator De Lijn will operate free shuttle between Brussels Airport and Brussels Expo where Busworld Europe is being held from 17th till 23rd October 2019.

From 19 till 23 October 2019 the Busworld Europe Shuttle will be accommodated by the Van Hool diesel hybrid Exqui.City 24 trambuses. A premier for Belgium, as it will be the first time that these trambuses are in operation on the public roads. These trambuses will be put into daily operation later on the BRT line 820.

The Busworld Europe Shuttle leaves every hour at the bus parking lot (level 0) in Brussels Airport and will bring passengers non stop to Busworld Europe in only 45 minutes.The shuttle will drop off at the main entrance in front of Hall 2.

^^Looks very similar to the Brisbane Metro design

[SurfRail]

Having a depot with more than 200 vehicles is not practical.

I disagree as far as Carina depot is concerned.

Carina is at maximum capacity with no room to expand, ideally would need approximately another 45 buses which results in us needing to have buses from Garden City and Eagle Farm to fill the gaps in our work on 228, 232, 210, 211, 214, 200, 201, 222, 205, 209, 217 and 177 which all terminate within 5 minutes of Carina Depot. ( 200, 201 is 10 minutes )

Garden City depot is unable to expand any further as it has already been expanded in the past and now occupies all land that is available. They are now storing buses in the drivers car park at night due to lack of room.

Sherwood and Eagle Farm have room to expand their allocated fleet.

What they actually need is a depot somewhere in the direction of Wynnum, but BCC doesn't believe in small depots logically sited to minimise dead running, so...

[Otto]

Having a depot with more than 200 vehicles is not practical.

I disagree as far as Carina depot is concerned.

Carina is at maximum capacity with no room to expand, ideally would need approximately another 45 buses which results in us needing to have buses from Garden City and Eagle Farm to fill the gaps in our work on 228, 232, 210, 211, 214, 200, 201, 222, 205, 209, 217 and 177 which all terminate within 5 minutes of Carina Depot. ( 200, 201 is 10 minutes )

Garden City depot is unable to expand any further as it has already been expanded in the past and now occupies all land that is available. They are now storing buses in the drivers car park at night due to lack of room.

Sherwood and Eagle Farm have room to expand their allocated fleet.

What they actually need is a depot somewhere in the direction of Wynnum, but BCC doesn't believe in small depots logically sited to minimise dead running, so...

That would be ideal, but it is BCC .

In my local area, Transdev do a lot of dead running. They should have a depot at Redland Bay for the Pt Talburpin, Redland Bay and Victoria point termini.

[Arnz]

Having a depot with more than 200 vehicles is not practical.

I disagree as far as Carina depot is concerned.

Carina is at maximum capacity with no room to expand, ideally would need approximately another 45 buses which results in us needing to have buses from Garden City and Eagle Farm to fill the gaps in our work on 228, 232, 210, 211, 214, 200, 201, 222, 205, 209, 217 and 177 which all terminate within 5 minutes of Carina Depot. ( 200, 201 is 10 minutes )

Garden City depot is unable to expand any further as it has already been expanded in the past and now occupies all land that is available. They are now storing buses in the drivers car park at night due to lack of room.

Sherwood and Eagle Farm have room to expand their allocated fleet.

What they actually need is a depot somewhere in the direction of Wynnum, but BCC doesn't believe in small depots logically sited to minimise dead running, so...

That would be ideal, but it is BCC .

In my local area, Transdev do a lot of dead running. They should have a depot at Redland Bay for the Pt Talburpin, Redland Bay and Victoria point termini.

Ditto with Sunbus for Noosa local services.  A lot of dead running from Marcoola depot involved, despite some local Noosa services are operated by buses out of Caloundra depot (usually slotted inbetween 620 runs).

[Paul B]

anyone find the Translink "system" of complaints a little odd? this facebook post for example.
https://www.facebook.com/TransLinkQLD/posts/3767042009988503
For some strange reason, the people on the phone thought it'd be a good idea to contact the depot manager? and the usual response of "feedback" or "network planning team" which is what I see on the TL posts also seem to be a dead end. Are there other state systems that work better or is this as good as it can be done?
I get that "most" people want a bus from suburbia to the city and/or a low frequency shoppers bus, but why does it take multiple complaints to get the actual point across?

[ozbob]

^  feedback is rarely responded to seriously I have found.

I think there is a need for a Public Transport Ombudsman, along the lines of Victoria ( https://www.ptovic.com.au/ ).

If that was in place there would be more of an onus for TransLink to take matters a bit more seriously than they seem to do at present.

[achiruel]

I don't believe TransLink actually has a "Network Planning Team" and if they do, I'd love to know what the heck they do all day, because there's clearly very little effort being in to planning. It seems like it's just a response to fob people off. Over several times lodged feedback, got a reference #, then when I've followed it up get b.s. answers like *network planning are still considering the issue" "we don't have a response yet" and similar garbage.

[techblitz]

2.45pm outbound 100 this afternoon....easily the worst offending for leaving school children behind.....multiple high school children told to wait for the next bus at multiple stops at and after chardons corner including a primary school student @ blunder rd bunnings stop.
I would say about 11yo from Oxley state school....no doubt transferred off a 101 to connect to the 100.

Yeronga state high school and the girls college at annerley are the core catalyst of the overcrowding.....not fair on other school children at the following stops...

[HappyTrainGuy]

I don't believe TransLink actually has a "Network Planning Team" and if they do, I'd love to know what the heck they do all day, because there's clearly very little effort being in to planning. It seems like it's just a response to fob people off. Over several times lodged feedback, got a reference #, then when I've followed it up get b.s. answers like *network planning are still considering the issue" "we don't have a response yet" and similar garbage.

That was cut under Newman.

[nathandavid88]

Focus Transport --> Van Hool Provides Shuttle Service to Busworld Europe Exhibition

Bus and coach builder Van Hool and Flemish Operator De Lijn will operate free shuttle between Brussels Airport and Brussels Expo where Busworld Europe is being held from 17th till 23rd October 2019.

From 19 till 23 October 2019 the Busworld Europe Shuttle will be accommodated by the Van Hool diesel hybrid Exqui.City 24 trambuses. A premier for Belgium, as it will be the first time that these trambuses are in operation on the public roads. These trambuses will be put into daily operation later on the BRT line 820.

The Busworld Europe Shuttle leaves every hour at the bus parking lot (level 0) in Brussels Airport and will bring passengers non stop to Busworld Europe in only 45 minutes.The shuttle will drop off at the main entrance in front of Hall 2.

^^Looks very similar to the Brisbane Metro design

The Van Hool Exqui.City is one of the vehicles on the Brisbane Metro shortlist, and if I had to bet on a winner my money would be on it due to the "metro" look, and because they're partnering with Bustech (possibility of local construction/content).

A random observation from last night/this morning - the bus on-ramp to the highway at Eight Mile Plains was closed last night and remained blocked off this morning, so I think it is now permanently closed. My bus last night took the new route via the Busway Extension > School Road > New Bus on-ramp that runs beneath the Underwood Road Overpass (to become the location of the Rochedale Busway Station in the next M1/Busway works stage). Unfortunately, I worked overtime and ended up on a fairly late bus and was half dozing through that part, so I didn't pay too much attention to the new route. Tonight however, I will pay closer attention.

[City Designer]

So the buswey extension has finally reopened?

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Bus drivers complain of sauna-like conditions as council turns off gauges

Protective barriers have left Brisbane bus drivers enduring working conditions akin to a "sauna", they have claimed as they call for dashboard temperature gauges to be reinstated.

Brisbane City Council had switched the gauges off over concerns drivers were seeing inaccurate temperature readings in hot weather.

Drivers have the right to stop work and call for another bus to be sent over to their route if the temperature reaches more than 35 degrees inside their cabin.

The council's bus fleet all have two sensors, one under the driver's dashboard and one behind the driver's seat.

Deputy mayor Krista Adams told the council chamber on Tuesday that the heat sensor in the driver's dashboard was giving inaccurate readings about the overall bus temperature.

It meant drivers using the temperature gauge in their dashboard were being misled about how hot it was inside their cabin, Cr Adams said, leading to their stopping work and requesting a new bus when the internal temperature was actually not above 35 degrees.

"So this is one of the key reasons why the wrong temperature gauge is being removed, because there are incidents where drivers are reporting the bus to be 35 degrees or more and that is not actually the case," she said.

However, Rail Tram and Bus Union general secretary Tom Brown said the sensor gave drivers an accurate reading of how hot it was within their own workspace, particularly given drivers are surrounded by safety glass and heat-emitting electrics.

Mr Brown said the test showed the bus was "cooling nicely, however the driver was sitting in a sauna".

"We would like to see them back-pedal on it and leave those sensors," he said.

"Those sensors were put there by the manufacturers and they should be left there; they do give an accurate reading of the driver's cabin."

Mr Brown said a test conducted by the union in a parked bus at a depot on Wednesday showed the temperature gauge reported 44 degrees in the cabin when the temperature was 37 degrees elsewhere inside the bus.

A separate temperature gauge used by the union showed the temperature inside the cabin was 37 degrees and climbing, while the rest of the bus was a comfortable 27 degrees.

The RTBU expects to challenge the council's decision at a meeting on Thursday, calling for evidence that the dashboard gauge is inaccurate.

The council is working to gather data on how many bus trips have been interrupted because of the temperature gauge readings, but more than 500 complaints have been made over the past six months on air conditioning.

However, Cr Adams told Brisbane Times those complaints could be about any issue, from passenger comfort to drivers overheating.

She said she did not believe many bus routes had been interrupted due to the issue, but the council wanted to make sure drivers had accurate information for their working conditions.

Cr Adams told the chamber it was the right of every bus driver if the temperature went above acceptable limits to stop and request a new bus be delivered to them, with passengers then transferred over.

"However, you have to realise when this happens there are services missed and delayed, and passengers are put out until the new bus arrives," she said.

Cr Adams said the bus fleet's air-conditioning system was set at 22 degrees, but could only keep temperatures at 10 degrees below the outside temperature.

This meant if the outside temperature was 35 degrees, it would be about 25 degrees within the bus, she said.

Opposition leader Jared Cassidy said bus driver comfort was "not an issue that's going away".

"Nobody should be forced to work under those conditions," he said.

"It's time for the council to show that being a zero harm workplace means more than just sticking up up few posters in the tea room."

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Revenue from Brisbane's bus stop ads nearly doubles in a year

Brisbane City Council has nearly doubled its advertising revenue from bus stop advertisements in just one year.

Figures released by the LNP administration in response to a question on notice from the Labor opposition show council raked in $14.7 million in revenue in 2018-19 – up $6.6 million on the $8 million or so it received in 2017-18.

Council revenue from advertisements placed on buses themselves rose only slightly, from $4.9 million in 2017-18 to $5 million in 2018-19.

Public and active transport committee chairwoman Krista Adams said council approved a new contract for bus stop advertising last year that included changed conditions.

"The new agreement replaced the 20-year-term contract approved by Labor in 1999, and while the advertising footprint remains the same, it is a much better outcome for Brisbane ratepayers," Cr Adams said.

"All advertising sales, including length of advertisement and pricing, are between the advertising company and the advertiser."

In November 2018, council signed a new 10-year contract for bus stop advertising with Adshel Street Furniture, which held the previous 20-year contract.

Under the new arrangement, more than 800 "premium" bus stops with illuminated advertising panels were given to Adshel for advertising. The company was responsible for maintenance, cleaning and installation of the bus stops.

Council documents at the time noted advertising space on the premium bus shelters managed by Adshel were usually sought by national advertisers, such as the federal government, while advertising space at council-owned shelters and seats was more often used by local businesses.

The large jump in revenue provoked questions from Labor lord mayoral candidate Pat Condren, who said revenue from the bus stop advertisements should be put back into bus driver safety and comfort.

"There's almost $20 million a year from bus ads. Instead of wasting it on his own political advertising, why can't this money go straight into providing a safe and comfortable workplace for our bus drivers?" Mr Condren said.

"Adrian Schrinner sits in his airconditioned office surrounded by security while bus drivers are being assaulted and forced to work in mobile saunas.

"There's clearly a big bucket of money there that could help them, if it wasn't being wasted."

[Otto]

The driverless bus service has now commenced on Karragarra Island.
Might have to go over to the island to try it out.

November 26 2019

Redland City Council, RACQ launch driverless bus trial on Karragarra Island

https://www.redlandcitybulletin.com.au/story/6512167/driverless-bus-hits-the-road-on-karragarra-video/?cs=2678

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1199510126232653825

[brissypete]

https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1199510126232653825

Never even heard of that island until now!

Sent from my G8141 using Tapatalk

[verbatim9]

Translink.com.au---> New shuttle bus for Mt Coot-tha

New shuttle bus for Mt Coot-tha

DECEMBER 04, 2019

From Friday 6 December 2019, a new free shuttle bus route 480 will operate in Mount Coot-tha, connecting residents with key destinations in the area as well as routes 471 and 599.

What times will it operate?

Route 480 will have different operating hours depending on the time of year:

Summer (1 October to 30 April)Every 20 minutes, 7 days a week8.40am - 7pmWinter (1 May to 30 September)Every 20 minutes, 7 days a week9.40am - 4.40pm

Where will it stop?

Stops will include:

Brisbane Botanic Gardens Mount Coot-tha

Sir Samuel Griffith Drive - J.C. Slaughter Falls Picnic Area

Sir Samuel Griffith Drive - Mahogany Trail

Sir Samuel Griffith Drive - Mount Coot-tha Car Park

Mount Coot-tha Summit Lookout

Where can I transfer to route 471 and 599?

Route 471

Route 599

How can I plan my journey?

Use our journey planner or download the route 480 timetable.

Affected services

[#Metro]

I don't understand this route.

Why doesn't it connect to Toowong station?

The way it is designed has BCC's fingerprints all over it.

[achiruel]

I don't understand this route.

Why doesn't it connect to Toowong station?

The way it is designed has BCC's fingerprints all over it.

Well, clearly it does. Having this route not connect with the rail network is just absurd. Why did TL/DTMR even allow it to exist? They should've told BCC to get stuffed.

[#Metro]

This looks like a classic case of bad BCC bus route design.

It has connection to other BCC buses but not to trains!

How did this get past Translink? Or did they just stamp it "approved" when it landed on their desk?

Maybe it's time for competitive contracting. It would help Translink do their job as the agency would

finally be able to say NO to bad planning.

[achiruel]

The more I think about this route, the stupider it sounds. By not going to Toowong, it not only fails to connect with the train, but also numerous 4xx bus routes such as 411, 412, 415, 425, 430, 433, 444, 445, 453, 454, 460 (off-peak).

Also, with this route going up the mountain every 20 minutes, why does the 471 still need to go there? Cut it back to Botanic Gardens, or redirect it to Toowong to improve rail accessibility for people in Bardon.

However, I suspect the real reasons for not going to Toowong, is because they want to operate the route with 1 bus, on a 14-minute loop up and back, and 6 minute recover time at the top, and they are trying to get people to use the car park at the gardens as a Park'n'Ride to relieve parking pressures on the mountain.

Just dumb. 1/10 for route design. I gave it 1 point because at least it connected to something.

[#Metro]

We need an official gong award for stuff like this.

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

5th December 2019

Route 480 Mount Coot-tha Shuttle Avoids Rail

RAIL Back on Track welcomes the announcement of bus route 480, a shuttle bus service from Mt Coot-tha botanical gardens to Mt Coot-tha.

However, members are somewhat shocked at the anti-rail design of the bus service. The route map clearly shows absolutely no connection to the Queensland Rail Citytrain network at Toowong Station.

How is this even possible?

TransLink's purpose as a public agency is to ensure that the entire SEQ public transport network is integrated, regardless of bus, train, tram or ferry. So how did this service get TransLink approval?

We note that there are connections to bus routes 599 and 471, however, these are insufficient given their low frequency and do not compensate for the fact that there is no direct connection to rail.

Toowong is a transit hub with trains every 15 minutes or better on the Ipswich and Springfield lines, and connects to BUZ routes 412 and 444.

RAIL Back on Track calls on Transport Minister Mark Bailey to request TransLink to connect this route to Toowong station.
Routes 599 and 471 should be considered by TransLink for route and network optimisation following these changes.

Once again, RAIL Back on Track calls on all routes that are proposed to be placed on the TransLink website one calendar month before implementation for mandatory public comment. There have been a number of cases where suboptimal routes have suddenly appeared (e.g. P88, P332 Zillmere-UQ rockets); we want to see this practice change.

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

References:

New shuttle bus for Mt Coot-tha
https://translink.com.au/service-updates/259841

Route 480 Route Map

https://translink.com.au/sites/default/files/assets/timetables/061219-480.pdf

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/railbotforum/status/1202322726502846464

[Gazza]

Another big one as well is that it doesn't connect with CityCat

[red dragin]

This is clearly to get the oldies/tourists from the Gardens up to the lookout and back, as mentioned previously there is limited parking up there.

Aren't there bigger fish to fry with regards to PT in SEQ?

[aldonius]

Agree with Red. It's a shuttle from the bottom of the mountain to the top of the mountain and back.

The ultimate example of a short-route decent-frequency feeder!

[ozbob]

If it connected to Toowong rail and bus, masses would not have to drive.

Wins all round. 

But of course, it is a sop to the limited parking on the mountain.  Parking is very short supply at the bottom too.

We support proper integration, not stop gap car dependency driven bus routes.

[ozbob]

This is clearly to get the oldies/tourists from the Gardens up to the lookout and back, as mentioned previously there is limited parking up there.

Aren't there bigger fish to fry with regards to PT in SEQ?

Sure is, but this is exactly what is wrong with the delivery, and structure of how PT in SEQ is organised.  Integration is just a notion of convenience when it suits.

[ozbob]

Agree with Red. It's a shuttle from the bottom of the mountain to the top of the mountain and back.

The ultimate example of a short-route decent-frequency feeder!

You don't say.  Seriously ...

[red dragin]

How much demand is there for a bus from Toowong Railway Station to the top of Mt Cootha? Very little to justify the additional mileage I would suspect. Take the 471, cut off the top of the 'mountain' section and direct that to Toowong.

Yes, it is a good example of the poor planning, but when you only get so much media exposure, amongst all the other interest groups out there trying to be heard, my vote would be that there are many other issues in SEQ that need attention before this route. This one certainly aint going to make the front page of the Courier Mail (or any local paper I would suspect).

My 2 cents anyway.

[achiruel]

I believe this route entrenches car dependence, by forcing passengers from routes other than 471 or 598/599 to make an (IMO unnecessary) extra change, or Park & Ride at the Gardens or nearby such as Ada St carpark.

This is what the route should be.



But once again, we have a council that couldn't planning department that couldn't organise the proverbial with a fist full of $50s, and a TransLink overseer that just signs off on anything BCC gives them. Pathetic!

[ozbob]

How much demand is there for a bus from Toowong Railway Station to the top of Mt Cootha? Very little to justify the additional mileage I would suspect. Take the 471, cut off the top of the 'mountain' section and direct that to Toowong.

Yes, it is a good example of the poor planning, but when you only get so much media exposure, amongst all the other interest groups out there trying to be heard, my vote would be that there are many other issues in SEQ that need attention before this route. This one certainly aint going to make the front page of the Courier Mail (or any local paper I would suspect).

My 2 cents anyway.

There are very major problems with the bus network overall, doesn't mean it is not worthwhile to highlight specific examples.

Personally I don't give a toss if it doesn't get in the media.  There is a lot more that goes on that is not necessarily in the media.

Good points Achiruel.  Thanks for the map.