On the Buses

[Cazza]

You could even argue 345 isn't worthy of LRT because of the topography and corridor requirements to enable it.

This afternoons OB 5:16pm service from Cultural Centre had 34 on plus me leaving Normanby, yet just 6 mins behind the previous service! Just give us some bendies, consolidate the KG Road corridor routes (considering there are 7 different stopping patterns!) and put bus lanes down here and you'll find even more patronage. Median running BRT down Enoggera/KG Rds from Alderley to Normanby would just be a game changer, yet no need for expensive and disruptive LR infrastructure (including but not limited to reconstructing 2 bridges over Enoggera Creek, potential removal of fig trees near Guildford St, dealing with different directions having different grades/elevations past Newmarket Primary, Herston Rd area, Prospect Tce area etc). Don't even get me started with just how difficult building LRT from Enoggera to Albany Creek would be...

If the busway wasn't running through the CBD, then LR may possibly have my vote. But since the busway is there and I can't see light rail taking on any of the current or proposed CBD busway corners or grades, we need to be using our bus resources better.

[#Metro]

This is a known congested corridor. Just adding buses to congestion won't do.

LRT has higher ultimate capacity than BRT in Priority B corridors, and would greatly simplify the bus network as well as these would become feeders, just like Gold Coast Light Rail.

Light Rail on the Gold Coast and in Canberra works well.

The busway isn't used for the Northern LRT concept.

[SurfRail]

Worry about getting frequent service first.  GCLR replaced 14+ buses per hour out of around 20 in the middle of the day in places (and most of the busier stretches had full time bus lanes).  That definitely isn't the case for anywhere in the direction of Eatonvale.

Get car parking off main roads (whether State or BCC controlled), add bus lanes, and leave it at that.  If the capacity is not keeping up, then it's time to look at other options.

[#Metro]

I agree that the patronage should be looked at. And I think the best way to do that is to actually do an in-depth feasibility study to derive those values from the land use and projected speeds and frequencies of service.

Classic Light Rail projects have focused on inner-city dense areas, however there is another model, cities like Seattle where LRT is used the same way as commuter rail would be used to cover those longer distances and lower densities.

Perth manages to operate frequent Heavy Rail in a lower density environment, this model is aiming to do something similar with LRT.

Of course buses or BUZ services can be placed in the corridor now, and should be. That can be done while this project is being planned as an interim measure.

[timh]

This is a known congested corridor. Just adding buses to congestion won't do.

LRT has higher ultimate capacity than BRT in Priority B corridors, and would greatly simplify the bus network as well as these would become feeders, just like Gold Coast Light Rail.

Light Rail on the Gold Coast and in Canberra works well.

The busway isn't used for the Northern LRT concept.

You have once again completely ignored Cazza's advice about how the grades on the corridor you are talking about is inappropriate for the transport mode you are proposing

Sent from my SM-G780F using Tapatalk

[#Metro]

You have once again completely ignored Cazza's advice about how the grades on the corridor you are talking about is inappropriate for the transport mode you are proposing

What is inappropriate about the grades?

Specifically, what grade is the corridor? And is there no engineering mitigation or treatment for that?

I note that the Gold Coast Light Rail is planned to climb a hill at Tallebudgera and then cross a wide creek, so why would it be a fatal obstacle here?

[HappyTrainGuy]

You could even argue 345 isn't worthy of LRT because of the topography and corridor requirements to enable it.

This afternoons OB 5:16pm service from Cultural Centre had 34 on plus me leaving Normanby, yet just 6 mins behind the previous service! Just give us some bendies, consolidate the KG Road corridor routes (considering there are 7 different stopping patterns!) and put bus lanes down here and you'll find even more patronage. Median running BRT down Enoggera/KG Rds from Alderley to Normanby would just be a game changer, yet no need for expensive and disruptive LR infrastructure (including but not limited to reconstructing 2 bridges over Enoggera Creek, potential removal of fig trees near Guildford St, dealing with different directions having different grades/elevations past Newmarket Primary, Herston Rd area, Prospect Tce area etc). Don't even get me started with just how difficult building LRT from Enoggera to Albany Creek would be...

If the busway wasn't running through the CBD, then LR may possibly have my vote. But since the busway is there and I can't see light rail taking on any of the current or proposed CBD busway corners or grades, we need to be using our bus resources better.

That's the problem with a lot of the Northside bus network. It's duplicated. Too many different stopping patterns. Capacity issues. Buses shadowing other services. Not enough buses where people want to go. Lots can be done by purely adjusting the network to be more efficient but there is no traction to work on improving any of this other than once metro is built we can then look at those problems. When you can sort that out that's when you can start looking at priority modes in key areas such as bus lanes or transit lanes. But until you can address the network you can't address the infrastructure.

[Cazza]

You have once again completely ignored Cazza's advice about how the grades on the corridor you are talking about is inappropriate for the transport mode you are proposing

What is inappropriate about the grades?

Have you ever driven down the KG Road corridor? Or the Old Northern/South Pine Rd corridor between Hamilton Road and Enoggera Station?

Good luck putting a DDA compliant LR stop on this hill (which runs for about 600m up to Prospect Tce): https://www.google.com/maps/@-27.4462195,153.0088694,3a,16.1y,141.76h,89.82t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sjxCESvWiosB9SjQ-kho_Cg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

Good luck fitting Class C ROW LR through here: https://www.google.com/maps/@-27.4160975,152.9919944,3a,24.7y,11.44h,83.38t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s2ehrA4VuyWWXzTrsWZwwDg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

This isn't just your Tallebugera Hill: https://www.google.com/maps/@-27.3993968,152.9862299,3a,60y,7.35h,86.08t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s6VA5F9nc2UfinuP443DOKg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192
Or this: https://www.google.com/maps/@-27.3959497,152.9865014,3a,53.1y,162.12h,84.46t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sgOVLLeRcSHd4zzFeTt9Jdg!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DgOVLLeRcSHd4zzFeTt9Jdg%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D206.02052%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192
Or this hill: https://www.google.com/maps/@-27.3957732,152.9862472,3a,21.2y,343.12h,90.29t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1se0EbpRmDp9iRelSAsbRqzg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192
Or this one either: https://www.google.com/maps/@-27.3929433,152.9852004,3a,75y,178.89h,78.08t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sNTZOdMb63C9TC9vxOmfSUw!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DNTZOdMb63C9TC9vxOmfSUw%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D93.29812%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192
Or finally this last one: https://www.google.com/maps/@-27.3928118,152.9849826,3a,35.5y,5.37h,84.75t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1swHlSIWN8IX53X-pa1BmTWg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192
(All of which are within about 800m of one another. Once again, good luck putting a DDA compliant tram stop here, let alone having a tram change grades this quickly/dramatically without bottoming out)

Have fun completely demolishing and replacing this bridge: https://www.google.com/maps/@-27.419968,152.9917868,517m/data=!3m1!1e3
And this one: https://www.google.com/maps/@-27.412482,152.9922954,295m/data=!3m1!1e3
And this one too: https://www.google.com/maps/@-27.3860788,152.9839893,713m/data=!3m1!1e3

If it's not clear, what I'm getting at is that it's all well and good to go "oh wow, nice wide median, that would be good for a tram!" https://www.google.com/maps/@-27.3761852,152.980344,3a,75y,8.19h,71.15t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sHRsoYpupRX7VuBqwzaWAgg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

But aside from this few km section, you are going to be in a world of pain trying to build any sort of Class C ROW Light Rail infrastructure (and that's before even we take into account the land use patterns of the area you are wanting to spend Billions on sending it to). We don't need a business case to figure this out. My simple desktop review taking all of 15 mins has shown that LR is not viable for this corridor. This is especially considering the fact that the current bus services:
-don't run more than every hour outside of peak (338/359),
-don't randomly have 3 hour gaps between Albany Creek and Eatons Hill during the arvo (359)
-don't run later than 9:30pm (338 up finishes before 7pm) and the 350 (a completely unrelated route) has to provide some sort of service to Albany Creek at night, because that's what it used to do on weekends back in the day
-don't regularly (or at all in some cases) serve other key local destinations such as Brookside/Mitchelton, PCH/Chermside, Aspley, Strathpine and Warner
-don't have 45 min gaps straight after 10 min AM peak frequencies
-haven't actually had any meaningful increase in bus services since 2004 at the latest (https://web.archive.org/web/20050619064514/http://www.transinfo.com.au/qt/TransLin.nsf/ReferenceLookup/BTRoute-350-351-355-357-359.pdf/$file/BTRoute-350-351-355-357-359.pdf). There have been 2 additional AM peak 359s and ZERO extra AM 357s and just 1 extra PM peak 357 since 2004! Let alone the same old hourly off-peak frequency. At least the 359 has weekend services now (but at the direct expense of the 355- so has there really been any additional resources added here?)
In fact, the 350 corridor between Everton Hills and the City has a lower weekend and night frequency today than it did back in 2004! https://web.archive.org/web/20050620155222/http://www.transinfo.com.au/qt/TransLin.nsf/ReferenceLookup/BTRoute-350-351-352-355.pdf/$file/BTRoute-350-351-352-355.pdf

Plus with heavy rail soon to (hopefully) be running down the NWTC, Enoggera likely will become even more of a desolate interchange, with Alderley envisioned by most to be a key commercial, residential and transport hub for the north-west. A new bus interchange here along with increased densities would be great. More of an opportunity to demolish Enoggera interchange and revitalise the area with some decent affordable mixed use living.

I don't mind people having their own ideas and concepts, this is an opinion based forum after all. But there has to be a time where we draw the line and as a group, keep our messages simple, logical and prioritise where we put our (both individual and group) time and effort. I can't see us winning too much respect from those making decisions by pushing something like this (especially when there is a dedicated vacant transport corridor a stones throw away to the east).

This is a bus thread, and we should keep it as such. So, fix the Albany Creek network so we bring the service levels out of the 1990s/early 2000s, give them some bus priority where required and pocket the other $4+ billion.

Edit- for some reason, the Wayback archive URLs aren't working, I shall attempt to resolve.

[timh]

I don't mind people having their own ideas and concepts, this is an opinion based forum after all. But there has to be a time where we draw the line and as a group, keep our messages simple, logical and prioritise where we put our (both individual and group) time and effort. I can't see us winning too much respect from those making decisions by pushing something like this (especially when there is a dedicated vacant transport corridor a stones throw away to the east).

^THIS.



Sent from my SM-G780F using Tapatalk

[#Metro]

I don't mind people having their own ideas and concepts, this is an opinion based forum after all. But there has to be a time where we draw the line and as a group, keep our messages simple, logical and prioritise where we put our (both individual and group) time and effort. I can't see us winning too much respect from those making decisions by pushing something like this (especially when there is a dedicated vacant transport corridor a stones throw away to the east).

Thanks for the suggestion - I have made another thread.

Light Rail has come to many cities across Australia. Yes there are engineering challenges - every city has them, and no urban planner has the luxury of a flat city with wide empty corridors everywhere. There is always going to be some sort of challenge or obstacle - and people and their innate resistance to change or consideration of alternatives are one of the largest ones.

Good luck putting a DDA compliant LR stop on this hill (which runs for about 600m up to Prospect Tce):

According to maps, trams used to run the entire length of Kelvin Grove Road - including past that site on Prospect Tce you posted and to Wardell St. As for bridges, they had to build an entirely new one over the Broadwater at Southport to get the GC LRT from Surfers Paradise into Southport (Sundale Bridge). And they will build bridges where required in any new project as well.

The replacement of the plans for the Northern Busway with LRT has merit IMHO. In fact, trams previously ran that alignment up to Chermside too and in dedicated median track on Gympie Road. The tracks are probably still there under the asphalt.

We've had 20 years of buses... time to dial up the action and go for something stronger.

Returning Light Rail to Brisbane ---> https://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=14570.msg256216;topicseen#msg256216

[ozbob]

https://statements.qld.gov.au/statements/94666

New mandate for bus driver safety barriers
10th March 2022

Minister for Transport and Main Roads
The Honourable Mark Bailey

All new urban buses in Queensland will have driver safety barriers following the outcomes from Queensland's Bus Driver Safety Review and a subsequent independent review of bus driver barriers.

Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey said the barriers would help to protect drivers from unacceptable behaviour, including impolite behaviour, personal abuse, verbal aggression and physical violence.

"Safety of drivers is paramount, and mandatory driver barriers on new urban buses consolidates a best practice approach and supports improved safety standards across the fleet," Mr Bailey said.

This approach follows extensive engagement with bus industry stakeholders to understand different operating environments and perspectives on driver barriers.

"From this engagement we know there is no one-size-fits-all solution for barrier design. The recent Bus Driver Safety Barriers Roundtable was focussed on a discussion with industry on the best way to implement the new mandate," Mr Bailey said.

"It's important that introducing this mandate still provides individual bus operators with the flexibility to implement a solution that is best suited to their network."

In determining the most appropriate solution, bus operators will be required to undertake a comprehensive risk assessment, including consultation with their workforce.

Following a bus driver safety plan released in 2018, a bus driver safety scheme allocated grants to fund retrofitting driver barriers for eligible bus operators.

"With much of the Queensland urban fleet now fitted with a partial barrier, the recent review is an important step forward in the continuing efforts to ensure the safety of drivers, passengers and other frontline staff on the public transport network," he said.

"In addition to installation of driver barriers, the review recognised that complementary measures such as de-escalation training and incident reporting are also an important part of the solution.

"Education and increased safety awareness are a key component in driver safety, and an online training program for Queensland bus drivers aimed at reducing the incidence, intensity and of passenger hostility was developed and implemented in 2021.

"This course provides drivers with ways to help anticipate, handle and cope during and after incidents involving customers."

The bus driver de-escalation training program developed by Griffith University, in collaboration with TransLink and the Queensland Bus Industry Council (QBIC), is aimed at helping bus drivers feel safer and be safer in their work.

The Bus Safety Forum is an ongoing discussion between the bus industry, unions and government, working on a raft of measures to bolster safety on Queensland buses.

For more information on public transport, visit translink.com.au or phone the 24/7 contact centre on 13 12 30.

ENDS

[nathandavid88]

A random observation from last week, Clarks were using one of their little Hino Poncho buses, usually used to run the 567 loop service through Holmview, as a school bus service through Daisy Hill (spotted several times running up Chatswood Road past John Paul College & St Edwards). Guess the hourly 567 lets them squeeze a school service or two in as well.

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1510126846297665542

[ozbob]

[Cazza]

Route 130 - new stop at Stretton Gardens (https://translink.com.au/updates/99566)

From Monday 18 April, you can catch route 130 (Drewvale to City) from the bus stop directly outside Stretton Gardens on Illaweena Street.

Route 130 runs seven days a week, stopping at local destinations before travelling on to Brisbane City. The high-frequency service departs every 10-15 minutes on weekdays and every 15 minutes on weekends and public holidays.

The new stop is about 350 metres closer than the nearest alternative stop, making it easier for residents to access public transport.

We've made this improvement in response to community feedback. There'll be no other changes to the 130 timetable or stops in the area.

They appear to be gearing up for a potential extension to the soon to be upgraded terminus at The Parks. I still don't understand why the 130 doesn't go to Browns Plains. It's a key destination and employment hub for the area and will provide so much more potential demand than some turnaround already serviced by the 150. Just extend the 132 down Stretton College to cover any sort of off-peak loss.

[ozbob]

A few random photographs around the City











Photographs R Dow 20th April 2022

[STB]

Getting rather concerned with the constant large number of TransDev (Redlands) services being cancelled, happening nearly everyday due to apparent staff availability.  Route 275 has been cancelled for the 6:20am and 6:50am, the first 243 is cancelled and the first 279 has been cancelled this morning.

[ozbob]

Hearing you STB.  We have similar issues out West.  I did contact TransLink and they are monitoring.  It is a combination of staffing shortfalls due to difficulty in recruiting drivers, as well as covid impacts. 

Record of all reported bus cancellations here > https://railbot.info/forum/index.php?board=11.0

[ezekial]

Hi all

I was thinking about the time that then Brisbane Mayor, Campbell Newman wrote to the Transport Minister offering the sell either the Council's buses, or Brisbane Transport itself to the state ("so they could paint it in Translink colours") and I was trying to find a dollar value for Brisbane Transport/(now called Transport for Brisbane.

By looking at the council's budget papers, I am not able to find an actual value for the entity, only expenses and revenue. 

Is anybody able to help identify if there actually is a dollar value for Transport for Brisbane (formerly Brisbane Transport)??

https://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/about-council/council-information-and-rates/news-and-publications/council-annual-plan-and-budget/council-annual-plan-and-budget-2021-22

[#Metro]

Hi all

I was thinking about the time that then Brisbane Mayor, Campbell Newman wrote to the Transport Minister offering the sell either the Council's buses, or Brisbane Transport itself to the state ("so they could paint it in Translink colours") and I was trying to find a dollar value for Brisbane Transport/(now called Transport for Brisbane.

By looking at the council's budget papers, I am not able to find an actual value for the entity, only expenses and revenue.

Is anybody able to help identify if there actually is a dollar value for Transport for Brisbane (formerly Brisbane Transport)??

https://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/about-council/council-information-and-rates/news-and-publications/council-annual-plan-and-budget/council-annual-plan-and-budget-2021-22
QUOTE

Brisbane Transport (BT, TfB) is a division of Brisbane City Council. This means that it does not have a separate legal identity to that of BCC. It is BCC.

Valuing BT is a bit difficult because it does not generate a net revenue stream. So perhaps we would then go with the book value of it (the liquidation value of assets of the buses, depot land, etc if sold) on the balance sheet. This would be at least the minimum valuation.

There are pros and cons to BT being operated by BCC. There is no question that BCC has been innovative in drawing up CityExpress, BUZ services, busways, CityGlider, new bus designs and models, high-quality depots, bi-arctic buses etc. On the other hand, its closely-held nature has meant that TransLink has never been able to do its job which is to allow the overall bus network design to evolve.

BCC was a great tram operator, it built out a lot of tram infrastructure across the city. Thanks to former mayor Clem Jones, that all changed. You can't help but wonder if it is perhaps anti-rail/anti-LRT. And there has always been a big problem feeding QR rail stations (e.g. Indooroopilly station).

LRT capital costs are high, but so are busways; plus BCC is silent about the comparison of the present value of the future operational costs of a direct-bus network vs one which feeds rail (light & heavy) doing the the line haul function. And of course it is, TransLink is paying with most of the busway capital costs landing on the Queensland Government and Queensland Treasury. This is further compounded by the fact that TransLink will always sign up BCC because contracts are not open for public contest. It is guaranteed to get the TL contract, no matter what. The same is true for other SEQ bus operators that are private.

A compromise would be to separate out BT/TfB as a legally incorporated entity and a board. The board and its directors would then be compelled under the Corporations Act 2001 to act in the company's best interests not what was politically expedient at the time, while still keeping BT/TfB responsive to the community at large. I believe a similar model is already in use in Auckland, NZ with Auckland Transport. https://at.govt.nz/about-us/our-role-organisation/board-of-directors/

[#Metro]

Auckland Transport 

The Connected Network

[achiruel]

There are pros and cons to BT being operated by BCC. There is no question that BCC has been innovative in drawing up CityExpress, BUZ services, busways, CityGlider, new bus designs and models, high-quality depots, bi-arctic buses etc. On the other hand, its closely-held nature has meant that TransLink has never been able to do its job which is to allow the overall bus network design to evolve

Busways were an initiative of the State Government, not BCC. Do you really think if BCC owned it they would let Clarks, Transdev, etc, run buses along it?

[#Metro]

As the monopoly bus operator who also controls QSBS and KGS, BCC were instrumental in the busway development.

[RowBro]

https://twitter.com/TransLinkSEQ/status/1523170582199943170

Its not really acceptable cancelling a bus that already only runs once an hour. Someone could literally he waiting a whole hour at their stop. They need to get their crap together and worst case cancel one of the more frequent services.

[ozbob]

^ No it is not acceptable RowBro.  But all operators are having some problems with staffing at present, seems a combination of covid and economic impacts. I have been touch with TransLink about these cancellations and they are monitoring. It is worse in  some of the outer regions, my own bus region Western has had a lot of cancellations these past few months. Compared to Brisbane bus region, most routes out west are low frequency and gaps in service of 2 or 3 hours happens.  One case 4 hours!

They are even advertising on the bus destos for more drivers!



Outside the Springfield Central Park 'n' Ride
R Dow 6th May 2022

I have set a way of automatically recording reported bus service disruptions
here > https://railbot.info/forum/index.php?board=11.0

[RowBro]

^ No it is not acceptable RowBro.  But all operators are having some problems with staffing at present, seems a combination of covid and economic impacts. I have been touch with TransLink about these cancellations and they are monitoring. It is worse in  some of the outer regions, my own bus region Western has had a lot of cancellations these past few months. Compared to Brisbane bus region, most routes out west are low frequency and gaps in service of 2 or 3 hours happens.  One case 4 hours!

They are even advertising on the bus destos for more drivers!



Outside the Springfield Central Park 'n' Ride
R Dow 6th May 2022

I have set a way of automatically recording reported bus service disruptions
here > https://railbot.info/forum/index.php?board=11.0

Hopefully they can get on top of it quickly. If a bus is cancelled with such little frequency can passengers relying on it get a taxi paid for?

[ozbob]

Not sure what the official position is.  I will ask.

[HappyTrainGuy]

Some people in Brisbane are in awe of having a bus every 60 minutes such as those that live on the 336/337 and 338 on the weekends where its a 2hr+ frequency

[ozbob]

" Hello Darling "

"WHERE ARE YOU?"

"Goodna Razzle Dazzle, they cancelled the 524 bus again ... " 
"I don't think there will be one along for at least 3 hours ... I will keep an eye on the TransLink twitter updates ..."

[RowBro]

Some people in Brisbane are in awe of having a bus every 60 minutes such as those that live on the 336/337 and 338 on the weekends where its a 2hr+ frequency

The fact that this is the case just goes to show the issues with transport frequency in QLD. How can someone come to rely on public transport when one missed bus, or one cancelled bus, could mean waiting countless hours just to get to where you need to go.

Additionally, if you have an appointment or a shift that you need to get to at a particular time, these routes simply are not practical, as you may have to catch a bus that gets you there over an hour early. When you have routes with a frequency > 1hr, the practicality becomes very small and you end up with an underutilized route as a result.

This could even end up with routes that are 'underutilized' on paper due to horrendous frequency being cut completely when there could actually be a lot of patronage if the route were simply more frequent and thus more feasible to catch. Why wait an hour for a bus when you could just drive, hell even walk, in a fraction of the time?

I think the issue is clear however, that the reason some routes have so low frequency, is because countless busses are wasted doing dead runs along already crowded corridors which don't need nearly as much frequency as they get simply because so many corridors (especially closer to the city) end up having 5+ bus routes along it. Think Gympie Road which has the 333, 340, 370, and the 77 all running along it between Chermside and the city. Off peak and on the weekends you often see these busses zooming by minutes apart with only a handful of people on them, yet you have routes like the aforementioned 336, 337, and 338 which can't even manage a bus every hour. It's just a poor management of resources, and people are suffering (especially impoverished people who cannot afford a car) as a result.

[verbatim9]

^ No it is not acceptable RowBro.  But all operators are having some problems with staffing at present, seems a combination of covid and economic impacts. I have been touch with TransLink about these cancellations and they are monitoring. It is worse in  some of the outer regions, my own bus region Western has had a lot of cancellations these past few months. Compared to Brisbane bus region, most routes out west are low frequency and gaps in service of 2 or 3 hours happens.  One case 4 hours!

They are even advertising on the bus destos for more drivers!



Outside the Springfield Central Park 'n' Ride
R Dow 6th May 2022

I have set a way of automatically recording reported bus service disruptions
here > https://railbot.info/forum/index.php?board=11.0

Hopefully they can get on top of it quickly. If a bus is cancelled with such little frequency can passengers relying on it get a taxi paid for?

Labour cost and shortages will likely become worse as the economy transitions in the digital age. This is why we need a plan in place to automate as much as we can in the public transport sector. Proven tech is already here to automate trains. There needs to be a plan in place. Once trains are automated, the left over labour can transition into other parts of the public transport sector, hence trams and buses.

[HappyTrainGuy]

Some people in Brisbane are in awe of having a bus every 60 minutes such as those that live on the 336/337 and 338 on the weekends where its a 2hr+ frequency

The fact that this is the case just goes to show the issues with transport frequency in QLD. How can someone come to rely on public transport when one missed bus, or one cancelled bus, could mean waiting countless hours just to get to where you need to go.

Additionally, if you have an appointment or a shift that you need to get to at a particular time, these routes simply are not practical, as you may have to catch a bus that gets you there over an hour early. When you have routes with a frequency > 1hr, the practicality becomes very small and you end up with an underutilized route as a result.

This could even end up with routes that are 'underutilized' on paper due to horrendous frequency being cut completely when there could actually be a lot of patronage if the route were simply more frequent and thus more feasible to catch. Why wait an hour for a bus when you could just drive, hell even walk, in a fraction of the time?

I think the issue is clear however, that the reason some routes have so low frequency, is because countless busses are wasted doing dead runs along already crowded corridors which don't need nearly as much frequency as they get simply because so many corridors (especially closer to the city) end up having 5+ bus routes along it. Think Gympie Road which has the 333, 340, 370, and the 77 all running along it between Chermside and the city. Off peak and on the weekends you often see these busses zooming by minutes apart with only a handful of people on them, yet you have routes like the aforementioned 336, 337, and 338 which can't even manage a bus every hour. It's just a poor management of resources, and people are suffering (especially impoverished people who cannot afford a car) as a result.

I said this to Metro (the offer is still open by the way ) to name a bus service north of Chermside interchange that has a frequency of 31 minutes or better during off peak (or in peak if you live next to a thompsons run service in the strathpine/bray park/Lawnton/Warner area).

People keep banging on about the rail frequency being poor but that's the thing. The supporting network getting people there won't change. There's only so much walk up patronage and we already see the problem with Northgate being the go to station in the area (the bus network is Zone 2 while the train is zone 1. Park and ride is already at the limits quite early on and the current peak frequency (on the ncl) is already at 7 mins. Without fixing the bus network you can't address the frequency issues with the rail network. We already see this on the peak hour ncl services where scheduled feeder bus services/thru citybound services are just crowded before Northgate meanwhile the service 7 minutes later still has rows of free seats. And to think a few years ago the proposed Translink mods addressed this along with planning for a frequency boost on the ncl based on the ngr timeline (at the time). The fact they were willing to cut the 340 which is BCC's holy grail of services with the buz name shows how they were taking no prisoners when it came to having a proper feeder network forcing the user to change their mindset by changing onto a train at Carseldine or a bus at Chermside instead of the same single bus into the city (let's be honest. The 340 patronage is city-Chermside).  Oh well.

[RowBro]

(let's be honest. The 340 patronage is city-Chermside)

You're quite right. Normally you see half the bus getting off at Chermside interchange (this includes a lot of students from Kedron SHS catching it from Kedron Brook after school). The thing is, the 333 already runs the exact same route from Roma Street to Chermside. What's the point of having two near identical busses when you could terminate the 340 at Chermside and then just have the 333's and 370's running into the city. Then they could put artics (or even bi-artics) on the 333 route in the future when it gets too busy.

The only time you ever see a relatively full 340 bus after Chermside is during peak times, and the reality is a lot of the potential patronage at the end of the route catch the train if they want to go to the city.

The fact that there is literally a bus going from a train station to the city makes it blatantly clear how silly and poorly planned the transit network is in SEQ.

[#Metro]

The fact that there is literally a bus going from a train station to the city makes it blatantly clear how silly and poorly planned the transit network is in SEQ.

Brisbane City Council was wedded to Car Rapid Transport (CRT) as a transport policy, starting with Clem Jones in the 1960s when BCC started building mass car parks such as King George Square and the one behind Central Station. BCC also then shut down the tram system.

To give you an insight:

Graham Quirk unable to remember when he last caught bus https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/graham-quirk-unable-to-remember-when-he-last-caught-bus-20140402-35yb9.html

They don't have the lived experience of how these systems work, and yet are charged with managing them. This leads to 'motorist errors' such direct service insistence, aversion to transfer, undervaluing frequency and overvaluing speed, splitting markets across routes rather than combining them, and a focus on peak-hour only services such as rockets for everyone (e.g. Route 161).

When BUZ routes came along, the design was to 'give passengers the option but not the obligation to transfer' and hence TransLink is paying for buses to run all the way to the CBD in parallel to trains. This means more air carried on both modes than would otherwise be the case.

In addition, BUZ upgrades only increased the frequency and span of service hours. They did not form part of a comprehensive review of the bus network as a whole. This is why we have BUZ 444 run through cow paddocks. Pre-existing services around the BUZ routes were also left unchanged (probably due to the politics of loss aversion) and this inefficiency contributed to rising fares.

The fares rose to a level where it became expensive to do even short trips. Rather than fix the network through a review, BCC simply stopped adding new BUZ services to the network (exception- CityGliders were made though). This left areas such as Albany Creek, Yeronga, Centenary, and Bulimba without BUZ service even though they would be the logical next in line for such services.

The above poor design principles were seen in the Maroon CityGlider design which duplicated train and existing bus services, but as it was a BCC project, TransLink approved it anyway.

The above led to the initiation of the 2013 bus review.

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/NewsTalk4BC/status/1532459701921021953

[HappyTrainGuy]

The fact that there is literally a bus going from a train station to the city makes it blatantly clear how silly and poorly planned the transit network is in SEQ.

Brisbane City Council was wedded to Car Rapid Transport (CRT) as a transport policy, starting with Clem Jones in the 1960s when BCC started building mass car parks such as King George Square and the one behind Central Station. BCC also then shut down the tram system.

To give you an insight:

Graham Quirk unable to remember when he last caught bus https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/graham-quirk-unable-to-remember-when-he-last-caught-bus-20140402-35yb9.html

They don't have the lived experience of how these systems work, and yet are charged with managing them. This leads to 'motorist errors' such direct service insistence, aversion to transfer, undervaluing frequency and overvaluing speed, splitting markets across routes rather than combining them, and a focus on peak-hour only services such as rockets for everyone (e.g. Route 161).

When BUZ routes came along, the design was to 'give passengers the option but not the obligation to transfer' and hence TransLink is paying for buses to run all the way to the CBD in parallel to trains. This means more air carried on both modes than would otherwise be the case.

In addition, BUZ upgrades only increased the frequency and span of service hours. They did not form part of a comprehensive review of the bus network as a whole. This is why we have BUZ 444 run through cow paddocks. Pre-existing services around the BUZ routes were also left unchanged (probably due to the politics of loss aversion) and this inefficiency contributed to rising fares.

The fares rose to a level where it became expensive to do even short trips. Rather than fix the network through a review, BCC simply stopped adding new BUZ services to the network (exception- CityGliders were made though). This left areas such as Albany Creek, Yeronga, Centenary, and Bulimba without BUZ service even though they would be the logical next in line for such services.

The above poor design principles were seen in the Maroon CityGlider design which duplicated train and existing bus services, but as it was a BCC project, TransLink approved it anyway.

The above led to the initiation of the 2013 bus review.

In terms of the 340 buz it was a knee jerk reaction to the busway opening with only 6 buses using it. It did open with the 330 using it as an express but you knew a problem was there when drivers were using surface roads as it was faster before the tunnel opened. They also made the interchange transfer time worse when it was converted to a buz route. Previously you could catch a train + bus and get to Aspley at the same time as the outbound service arriving.

[AJ Transport]

I'm in Aspley and the 345 buz to the city/cultural centre is frequent all the time. Buses to Chermside are less frequent and there are no useful buses to local train stations which sucks. All government transport plans talk about shifting the bus network to a feeder model with high frequency train services but there's no clear signs of action.

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1534370761326137347

[ozbob]

Adelaide Street Brisbane





Photographs R Dow 8th June 2022

[ozbob]

All door boarding/exiting returns to Brisbane Buses from Friday 24th June 2022.

Cashless fares remain place.