On the Buses

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Idea of a fair society taken for a ride

[techblitz]

Queen st bus station currently being shut down.....all buses being rerouted

[longboi]

http://jp.translink.com.au/travel-information/service-updates/details/1362034179


In true Translink fashion though, there's now an A-Frame sign near the currently in use bus interchange that states all Brisbane Bus Lines service will begin using the new interchange from Thursday 21st (No Translink branding though). Which is fine seeing as they've turned on traffic lights for the bus exit over the weekend, so as far as I can see, there was nothing stopping buses using the new interchange today.

I was wrong, now it's true Translink fashion. The A-Frames I mentioned are still in place giving the Thursday date (I assume BBL themselves put those up?), but now there's Translink branded one at the bus stop as well giving the Monday date.

In terms of what actually happens, I know it's a bit of a "Who cares?" scenario but from a clarity of communications POV, it's pretty poor.

BBL were in the wrong for putting up their own A-frames. Simple as that.

[Golliwog]

BBL were in the wrong for putting up their own A-frames. Simple as that.

I thought that was most likely the case. BBL buses were using the new interchange on the Thursday though.

[longboi]

BBL were in the wrong for putting up their own A-frames. Simple as that.

I thought that was most likely the case. BBL buses were using the new interchange on the Thursday though.

Interesting. Anyway, the 399 pax. are a regular bunch and the bus is usually there a good 10-15mins before departure so I can't imagine there was too much chaos.

[Golliwog]

BBL were in the wrong for putting up their own A-frames. Simple as that.

I thought that was most likely the case. BBL buses were using the new interchange on the Thursday though.

Interesting. Anyway, the 399 pax. are a regular bunch and the bus is usually there a good 10-15mins before departure so I can't imagine there was too much chaos.

I didn't notice any. Both interchanges are close and you can also easily see what bus is at one interchange from the other so no real way to miss it.

[ozbob]

Easter Sunday - Darra, rail replacement buses, track closure Darra <-> Rosewood over Easter ..





Photographs R Dow 31st March 2013

[HappyTrainGuy]

Thompsons...  They sure do rack up the kms

[ozbob]

Thompsons...  They sure do rack up the kms

I thought you would like those pics HTG ...   

[HappyTrainGuy]

I love a good Thompsons bus out of its natural surroundings providing more frequent services haha

[ozbob]

Couriermail --> Bus on Mount Lindesay Highway overpass edge above Logan Motorway

[techblitz]

Just caught the maroon glider from cc-rs
14 people on the way out from roma st.

Give it time people this will grow in popularity. Once the planners get a better feel for its levels then perhaps they will have a better footing to start modifying or deleting routes around it. Bt has already started the ball rolling with adjustments to the 385.

[ozbob]

The Maroon Glider as first proposed was a stunt.  TransLink managed to work away and get route changes and this in turn has allowed some further service rationalisation, hopefully freeing up resources for deployment elsewhere.

The implementation of the Maroon Glider was a long and painful process internally between BCC and TransLink.

Now that it is there, I hope it is used and is another HF service.

[somebody]

Just caught the maroon glider from cc-rs
14 people on the way out from roma st.

Give it time people this will grow in popularity. Once the planners get a better feel for its levels then perhaps they will have a better footing to start modifying or deleting routes around it. Bt has already started the ball rolling with adjustments to the 385.

No way would that service survive in Sydney.

[techblitz]

Just hopped off a mitchy bound 369 @ eagle junction which was on time, only to see 2city bound trains leaving at the same bloody time.....next train 23 mins into city.
1 of the trains was early and left early....if the p.i.ds were anything to go by.

Yeah feeding rail works a frickin treat doesnt it.No wonder people turn away from transferring.
Luckily the 320 turned up

[ozbob]

Maybe one day there might be a reasonable attempt at coordination, till then it will continue to be hit and miss for many.

Trains run late, early, as do buses.  Unless there is reasonable frequency there will always be failed connections.  Fact of life really.

That gap should disappear when they finally do sector 2 timetables hopefully ...

Up trains are bunched a bit at present.

[Otto]

Beats me why , when doing the Wynnum loops 224/223, we are due to leave Manly Station just as a train comes in.. And we have no way of knowing if any Pax intend on catching the bus . Also, due to the gardens beside the stop, we can't even see if anyone is trying to catch a bus.
Just Stupid..

[HappyTrainGuy]

Helps alot when the bus network supports it which seems to be an unknown thing with buses in Brisbane. Case in point the 327 at Geebung arriving at the same time both the inbound and outbound trains arrive (the station has the 325/326/327/336/337 and yet a decent support network doesn't exist), prior to the 340 going to a buz it was the absolute WORST when it came to interchanging as it would always depart as the train was going over the level crossing/both trains on the platform or just before the doors of the train opened. Peak hour is worse than it used to be (one of the reasons prior it was faster to train City to Carseldine and then catch the inbound 340 instead of staying on a peak hour 340/341 from the city to Carseldine) as the buses used to leave a few minutes after the trains but now they wait 5-10 minutes and depart a minute or two just before the next train arrives. The 338 drivers on the last couple runs sometimes/usually wait a couple minutes longer at Westfield so the bus is a minute or two late to the Strathpine station bus stop (that time is easily gained back through Brendale industrial area and in some sections of Eatons Hill). The 335 is schedulled to arrive at Carseldine with time to interchange but reality is its usually 10 mins late (I assume this has to do with the Valley running section as its usually running late before the PCH moreso than what the 325 is).

08:05 PM    'Beams - Balcara' Balcara Avenue (7.56pm schedulled)
08:06 PM    Carseldine (8.06 Schedulled)
08:11 PM    Strathpine (8.12 schedulled)

Thompsons are pretty good. Drivers at Lawnton and Bray Park despite the poor visual (IIRC you can't see the trains from the interchange but you can spot the pantos/platform ramps) will wait for passengers. Strathpine is the worst of the Strathpine-Petrie interchanges due to the lack of proper bus/rail interchanges so drivers don't tend to slow for passengers.

Prior to Translink forming QR used to work very closely with private bus operators - especially Sunbus on the Gold Coast where delays between both services were communicated. IIRC there was also a short dwell time for trains at Helensvale aswell to help out with any late running services from the bus network or the train network.

[Arnz]

Prior to Translink forming QR used to work very closely with private bus operators - especially Sunbus on the Gold Coast where delays between both services were communicated. IIRC there was also a short dwell time for trains at Helensvale aswell to help out with any late running services from the bus network or the train network.

Gold Coast was Surfside, and that was prior to to "reverse takeover" & merger with TAG (Sunbus).   TAG was originally owned by a consortium in the UK before the Surfside owners bought TAG and merged their assets (Surfside and Bustech) under the TAG umbrella.

On a related note QR's Landsborough Station staff still has direct radio communications with the Sunbus vehicles on the Sunshine Coast for late running services to and from Landsborough station, they had this arrangement in the pre-TransLink days when it was called the 1A and 5X TrainLink services (now 605 and 615).

[HappyTrainGuy]

Ah yes, indeed. It's been a long day haha.

[SurfRail]

I find the issue with Surfside's "main" rail feeders like the 745 is that there is now too much of a transfer penalty.  You can now wait up to 10-15 minutes for the bus to actually leave the station after a southbound train drops off passengers.

Before, the connections were much, much closer and there was radio contract, but the rostering and the pressure on drivers was horrendous.  The scheduling fixes the connectivity issue for the large part but it gets a bit disjointed because of the gap where you stand around at places like Nerang twiddling your thumbs.

I think they need to aim for the middle ground of having 5-7 minutes max scheduled connections.  There are still a lot of routes where the timetabled wait is even less and where drivers generally do not wait for passengers to actually alight from the train and head upstairs/downstairs to the buses.

[ozbob]

109 and 412 City Adelaide St



Clem 7 Ad Bus



Photographs R Dow 10th May 2013

[ozbob]

Clem 7 Ad Bus



Photographs R Dow 10th May 2013

Classic double think ....

[techblitz]

Currently on a 598 ex sherwood rail to salisbury
18 pax on board.
Who says this section doesnt get used?...
Oh thats right...translink...who wanted to delete it   

[longboi]

Currently on a 598 ex sherwood rail to salisbury
18 pax on board.
Who says this section doesnt get used?...
Oh thats right...translink...who wanted to delete it   

Is that every day?

Did all 18 board at Sherwood and alight at Salisbury?

[ozbob]

465 at Richlands rail



Photograph R Dow 1st June 2013

[techblitz]

Curently on the 4pmish 120 inbound where 8 pax have connected from the 113 onto the 120 at ekibin 

113 is a handy service for some it seems

[HappyTrainGuy]

connected from

You saw wrong.


Meanwhile at the Cultural Centre.

[somebody]

Curently on the 4pmish 120 inbound where 8 pax have connected from the 113 onto the 120 at ekibin 

113 is a handy service for some it seems

You have to wonder what moron thought that the 117 was a better candidate for termination at W'Gabba than the 113.  117 makes a 4/hr service weekday daytimes along much of Ipswich Rd and Beaudesert Rd.

[techblitz]

Curently on the 4pmish 120 inbound where 8 pax have connected from the 113 onto the 120 at ekibin 

113 is a handy service for some it seems

You have to wonder what moron thought that the 117 was a better candidate for termination at W'Gabba than the 113.  117 makes a 4/hr service weekday daytimes along much of Ipswich Rd and Beaudesert Rd.

Perhaps its a depot thing who knows.....give it time.....when they finally realise that things at the cc are beyond a joke...they will have no choice but to do more gabba terminators or ccb buz routes.
If they choose the latter they really need to look at the 130 as they are at too high a frequency in between 3-5.....quite a few near empties leave mater on the o/b.

[SurfRail]

The irony is that TransLink's proposal involved no near-CBD terminating routes.  (And yes, I'm perfectly aware they cocked up the Acacia Ridge services.  Better that and tone down the change than not daring anything at all.)

[somebody]

The irony is that TransLink's proposal involved no near-CBD terminating routes.  (And yes, I'm perfectly aware they cocked up the Acacia Ridge services.  Better that and tone down the change than not daring anything at all.)

Disagree with you there.  The deterred patronage would have far too great.  It would have taken the best part of a decade to recover, in which time we probably would have been overtaken by Auckland on a per capita all mode patronage basis.

[techblitz]

Just saw a 3/4 full 232 leaving the valley o/b

[James]

Just saw a 3/4 full 232 leaving the valley o/b

A lot of those passengers could be bound for the inner section of Wynnum Road - there are decent time savings going via the Story Bridge, either that or a lot of people missed the 230. But given the way the 232 winds I think I'd rather wait for the 230.

[Set in train]

Beats me why , when doing the Wynnum loops 224/223, we are due to leave Manly Station just as a train comes in.. And we have no way of knowing if any Pax intend on catching the bus . Also, due to the gardens beside the stop, we can't even see if anyone is trying to catch a bus.
Just Stupid..

You could always wait for pax to arrive at your stop from the train? What's the harm in being late on your run? Most BT drivers are, join their huge club.

[Set in train]

Thompsons are pretty good. Drivers at Lawnton and Bray Park despite the poor visual (IIRC you can't see the trains from the interchange but you can spot the pantos/platform ramps) will wait for passengers. Strathpine is the worst of the Strathpine-Petrie interchanges due to the lack of proper bus/rail interchanges so drivers don't tend to slow for passengers.

Prior to Translink forming QR used to work very closely with private bus operators - especially Sunbus on the Gold Coast where delays between both services were communicated. IIRC there was also a short dwell time for trains at Helensvale aswell to help out with any late running services from the bus network or the train network.

YES!!!!! Yes HTG, this is what I want from QR and Surfside. They used to coordinate services, hold trains if bus within sight, proper connections they were - both directions.

Now with TL, no party could give a stuff and the QR station staff at Nerang and Helensvale, well!!! They leave a lot to be desired.

This is what I wrote into each round of the bus review. My comments were not acted upon. Typical. The good, previous service was clearly a mistake.

[Set in train]

I find the issue with Surfside's "main" rail feeders like the 745 is that there is now too much of a transfer penalty.  You can now wait up to 10-15 minutes for the bus to actually leave the station after a southbound train drops off passengers.

Before, the connections were much, much closer and there was radio contract, but the rostering and the pressure on drivers was horrendous.  The scheduling fixes the connectivity issue for the large part but it gets a bit disjointed because of the gap where you stand around at places like Nerang twiddling your thumbs.

I think they need to aim for the middle ground of having 5-7 minutes max scheduled connections.  There are still a lot of routes where the timetabled wait is even less and where drivers generally do not wait for passengers to actually alight from the train and head upstairs/downstairs to the buses.

Yes, far too much of a transfer penalty, this is the reason why BT commuters supposedly don't like transferring because of the bad QR/Surfside experiences.

The wait for 745, 740 or 715 is awful either going to or coming from a station.

I disagree about the rostering and pressure, that is life, resource and training to assist is what is needed to lessen that problem but QR/SS need to get used to it again and realise that is what customers want.

If a train is late by Beenleigh or Coomera, I am on the phone to Surfside to ask to be put through to their radio room to ask for the bus to wait.

Leaving a train and then getting on the bus, it should be no more than 4 mins. I think any wheelchair/walking stick patron would be able to make their way down from the train to the bus in that time.

[ozbob]

Charting Transport --> How multi-modal are public transport journeys to work in Australian cities?

[HappyTrainGuy]

AFAIK, that's a result of Translink taking over and both operators having restrictions in place as a result. Other bus operators weren't feeding the Gold Coast line at Loganlea as the train ran express Beenleigh-South Brisbane. Translink applied their own solution by extending the interchange wait times to cover off any late running. 340 had something similar applied. It was faster to train to carseldine and catch an inbound 340 to Carseldine than it was to be on a 340 all the way from the city. It was also common to see it departing as the train was going over the level crossing or even stopping at the platform. Once it was buzed they pushed the interchange times out so they departed a short time before the train arrives. That's very noticeable during peak hour as you'll be going over the level crossing and it will be stuck at the set of lights directly outside of the interchange.

Yes, far too much of a transfer penalty, this is the reason why BT commuters supposedly don't like transferring because of the bad QR/Surfside experiences.

Geebung Railway Station and Bus Interchange
Caboolture Train Arrival/Depart: 12.01
City Train Arrival/Depart: 12.01
BT 327 Arrival/Depart: 12.00

[cartoonbirdhaus]

^^^ You get the same thing in Coorparoo all the time, with the outbound 184/185, due to it being 8-10 minutes late much of the time. So it gets held up by both the inbound and outbound trains. (And that's after watching all the blank-running buses zoom past.)