Roma Street Rail/Bus interchange - new uses?

[Emmie]

The new Roma Street interchange is the most efficient way of transiting between a bus and a train in Brisbane, and because all trains pass through Roma Street, it is ideal for all train users.  However I'm struck by how few buses pass through.

The station is used mainly for buses heading north, which is fine, but there are few buses on the South-east busway that go past the Queen St bus station to Roma St.  Waiting at a SE busway station, I'm struck by how many buses go by before a City/Roma St bus turns up - and then when you see how many people get this bus, you realise why: demand of many passengers, slowing these few buses down.

I'd like to see more buses use the Roma St interchange.  In particular, I'd like to see the 109 bus to University of Queensland go to Roma St., instead of terminating in George St.  The 109 is very efficient between the Green Bridge at UQ and the Cultural Centre, but the last stage into the City is slow, and it terminates a LONG way from the nearest rail station.

So most train users go through to Toowong (which involves a change at Central for most) and then another transfer from Toowong station to the bus stop.  Translink manages this interchange pretty efficiently, but it is still pretty clunky, involving a longish walk and a pedestrian crossing in one direction.  It also puts more buses on the route along Sir Fred Schonell Drive, which is permanently clogged during peak hours, when a 10 minute drive stretches to 30 minutes or more.

I'm sure there are other such clunky train/rail interchanges that could be better served by using Roma Street more effectively - any suggestions?

[Fridge]

There should be more for the SE Busway, currently it is only the 111 & 66. I live north and travel to Griffith at Nathan and I will either change at Roma St and catch the 111 and then change at the Griffith Busway Station or get off at Central and walk to the Queen St Mall and catch an Uni direct bus. 

I don't mind changing at the Griffith station because I travel away from the city during the peak and the buses are only 1/4-1/2 full, whereas the Griffith uni buses are packed like sardines.

[david]

I agree with Emmie that the 109 should terminate at Roma St, and possibly stop at KGS as well. However, most uni students would catch the 109 from South Bank, and soon, will catch it from Park Road, once the Boggo Rd busway opens. Still, it would be more convenient for students living in the city to catch the bus from Roma St or KGS, than the current stop.

Personally, I would like to see all 400-series express buses (425, 430, 435, 450, 453, 454, 460) stopping at Roma St and using the Inner Northern Busway. These buses could be made to stop at Queen St on either the C or A platforms and relocating affected buses back to the B platform, to allow for them to use the busway effectively. There are also a couple of spare/rarely used stops at KGS that some BUZ routes could relocate to i.e. 130, 140, 150 and 200.

This would be made much easier if they planned for a western busway, branching off from the current Countess St exit. The busway would follow down Milton Road with a "Suncorp Stadium" stop, turn into Jephson/Sylvan towards Moggill Road for the "Toowong" stop, before following Moggill Road to Indooroopilly Shopping Centre. The bus station would have to be relocated near the BP petrol station for this to work. Then the busway would follow down to the Western Freeway and follow that with stations at "Fig Tree Pocket" (at the current stop), "DFO Jindalee", "Mt Ommaney" (the bus stop would be relocated once again so that it is sitting right next to the highway). A branch of the busway could be made to continue down Moggill Road with a "Kenmore" stop at Kenmore Village. I realise that most of this is impossible without massive land resumptions, but it's always good to dream.

(According to the member for Mt Ommaney's last newsletter, plans for a Western busway could be drawn up by the end of the year)

As for Toowong, I really believe that 412 services should be cut down and replaced by the more efficient 402 service, as most passengers are only going to and from Toowong station. This would probably allow 402 services to run at 5 minute intervals during the peak hours and 10 minutes off-peak. 412 services could be cut down to 15/20 minute intervals to free up buses for this working.

[pangwen]

I'd like to see more buses use the Roma St interchange.  In particular, I'd like to see the 109 bus to University of Queensland go to Roma St., instead of terminating in George St.  The 109 is very efficient between the Green Bridge at UQ and the Cultural Centre, but the last stage into the City is slow, and it terminates a LONG way from the nearest rail station.

So most train users go through to Toowong (which involves a change at Central for most) and then another transfer from Toowong station to the bus stop.  Translink manages this interchange pretty efficiently, but it is still pretty clunky, involving a longish walk and a pedestrian crossing in one direction.  It also puts more buses on the route along Sir Fred Schonell Drive, which is permanently clogged during peak hours, when a 10 minute drive stretches to 30 minutes or more.

I'm sure there are other such clunky train/rail interchanges that could be better served by using Roma Street more effectively - any suggestions?

While I'd support extending the 109 to Roma Street, I don't think the Rail/Bus interchange is the most important factor (passengers, myself included, regularly transfer at South Bank station already). I'd say it's more to cater for people who want to get to that side of town. Perhaps now that the 140 is a BUZ as well, either the 130 or the 140 can be redirected down to Roma Street instead? (just like the 160/111 arrangement)

Also, it'd be good to see the other westbound buses using KGS and Roma Street as well; this would solve the situation at Cultural Centre currently, where most outbound buses heading west leave from Platform 2, while outbound 444s leave from Platform 1.


EDIT: woah.. what david said! 

[david]

lol...i did rant a bit, but the current situation with the buses in the western suburbs really gets on my nerves...

[ButFli]

Anything to get University passengers off the 411 is a good thing. For whatever reason the 411 is always packed with students between the University an Toowong. Even though the 412 is a more frequent and more direct service the buses are only ever half full. It really sucks for us tax paying residents of St Lucia who can't get a ride because moronic students take the wrong bus.

[dwb]

I agree these services could really be improved!!  The recent changes to how Adelaide St operates (implemented when the KGS busway station opened) were generally good however a few of the changes are just clumbsy.  One particular issue is the 412/109 shared stop on Adelaide between George St & North Quay.  There are normally so many buses trying to access the stop, and so many passengers that it just stuffs up the whole operation of Adelaide St with buses coming off North Quay and the Victoria St bridge getting jammed.

The idea of the two services utilising the same stop is great and it would be rather annoying if the 412 and 109 left from different stops. It seems to me this is the major sticking point with making the 109 a purely busway service (once the Boggo Road/Eastern Busway opens this year) as it would be extremely difficult to get the 412 using those same stations from the same platform.  It would probably require the 412 to come inbound on Coro, take the left slip up Skew St to access the INB then stop (inbound & outbound) at Roma St busway, KGS, Cultural Centre before turning right on to Grey St Bridge, Upper Roma, left on to Milton, left on to Cribb, right on to Coro (and get stuck in this mess from Hale St Link).  It would be rather difficult to get on at Roma St (full of passengers coming from UQ) and there would be a lot of passengers changing (both off and on from KGS).

To complicate matters, the INB & KGS busway station will (presumably) be getting a LOT busier in September when the Northern Busway from Lutwyche Rd and Bowen Bridge Rd, past the Royal Brisbane opens. (http://www.transinfo.qld.gov.au/qt/translin.nsf/ReferenceLookup/090101_nb_newsletter.pdf/$file/090101_nb_newsletter.pdf

[dwb]

oh, and I meant to say as well, that many of the passengers travelling to St Lucia around Macquarie St would be much better served if the buses could continue THROUGH UQ after travelling over the green bridge.

Alternatively another pedestrian bridge near Boundary St West end (or Montague St) would allow these travellers to either walk the whole distance in less time than it takes to get the bus via Coro, or to get the 199 & walk, or the new BRT Council is planning.

[ButFli]

There can be no through services utilising the Green Bridge because there is no connection to the road network on the UQ side. In agreeing to have the bridge built the University specifically stated that it would not allow through services onto University roads because of congestion and safety issues. Can't say I blame them.

[david]

The idea of the two services utilising the same stop is great and it would be rather annoying if the 412 and 109 left from different stops. It seems to me this is the major sticking point with making the 109 a purely busway service (once the Boggo Road/Eastern Busway opens this year) as it would be extremely difficult to get the 412 using those same stations from the same platform.  It would probably require the 412 to come inbound on Coro, take the left slip up Skew St to access the INB then stop (inbound & outbound) at Roma St busway, KGS, Cultural Centre before turning right on to Grey St Bridge, Upper Roma, left on to Milton, left on to Cribb, right on to Coro (and get stuck in this mess from Hale St Link).  It would be rather difficult to get on at Roma St (full of passengers coming from UQ) and there would be a lot of passengers changing (both off and on from KGS).

I can think of a better idea 

How about the 412 continue its normal route along North Quay until it gets to the Queen St bus tunnel access, turn in, and then follow along to KGS and terminate at Roma St. That way, it can stop at the same stops the 109 does. It might have to do that funny loop on its outbound run that the western rockets/expresses do in PM peak to get back to the Riverside Expressway. However, most uni students know that the 109 is the fastest to get from the city to UQ, so the 412 will be pretty empty anyway. Hence my comments previously regarding the 402/412.

(We should really change the topic to "extending uni buses along INB" or something...)

I don't believe that Roma Street and KGS will become massively congested, as there won't be too many new routes/services using the Northern Busway once it's built.

[dwb]

It would be rather difficult for services to do a left in to the Queen St busway (and I'm reasonably sure not many or none currently do this) as that section of North Quay is heavily congested at almost all times of the day. Most buses use the bus lane for Victoria bridge which is on the right, meaning the service would have to mix in the general traffic lane which is particularly messy at that location due to the cars in the top of Adelaide St blocking the intersection.

There may not be a whole lot of *new* routes but presumably lots that go currently go through the valley will reroute to go on to the busway, meaning a fair proportion of 321, 330, 331, 333, 334, 335, 338, 339, 340, 341, 346, 353, 370 and 376... which currently have ~315 one way services a day. 315/16hrs of service (6am-10pm) equates to a bus every 3mins each direction on these routes alone, spread over those hours. In reality the peaks will be much higher... that is a substantial number of buses.  When you look at the numbers the RBH stop is meant to be taking (particularly under expected growth scenario), KGS will be busy!!

Political commitments, like any other can change (just look at the divorce rate). The sky did not fall for Dutton Park residents with the bridge, its hardly going to fall for UQ if there are 'through' services.