What's the next most pressing BUZification?

[Golliwog]

Somebody, what exactly do you mean, "double back from Brookside"?

[somebody]

Somebody, what exactly do you mean, "double back from Brookside"?

What I mean is that if the 390 runs from Samford Rd up to Brookside shops, to continue on as a 398 it would need to go back to Samford Rd.  That's not a nice routing.

[Golliwog]

Oh, ok. What I was actually suggesting was the the 390 be extended to cover the 396's current route, then the route 396 could be taken and changed to run from Brookside down Samford Rd to Upper Kedron, and as the 398 has a section of its rotue running on Samford Rd, instead of duplication that part the 398 could probably run through the side streets back to Brookside.

[stephenk]

The problem with midibuses in the off peak, is that what do they do in the peak?

The answer to that question would be no different to larger buses, you either run them more frequently, use more buses in the peak.


Completely taking this off topic - I'm suggesting midibuses as station feeder services, as they are extremely popular in the UK due to their ability to provide an economical high(ish) frequency service to areas that generate too little traffic to justify larger buses. Most small to medium towns have midibuses connecting the town centres and housing estates. They are also common in rural areas.

In some cases, I've seen new routes created in London (such as the C3) using midibuses, which have after a few years attracted sufficient users to the route to require an upgrade to double deckers. I think they have massive potential in a low population density city such as Brisbane.

A few photos of what I'm on about
http://www.evworld.com/press/optare_soloEV_bus.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/First_Chester_Optare_Solo_2.jpg
http://s0.geograph.org.uk/geophotos/01/09/90/1099015_15b1bf33.jpg
http://image14.webshots.com/14/1/66/64/172516664jAavTu_fs.jpg
The latter photo is in Blackpool, where I lived for 3 years, 10 years ago. The midibuses allowed for an off-peak 5min frequency bus service (using 2 routes) between the hospital and the CBD in a town 1/10th the population of Brisbane. There was a bus (or tram) to pretty much everywhere in the town at least every 30mins.

[#Metro]

^^^ I like this idea  

Brisbane mini-BUZ
Good to hear that even low density areas can get a service.
I think they have massive potential too.

[Jon Bryant]

I wonder if we need a more radical shake up than just BUZing existing routes one by one.  The key concept is;

• walk to any major road and know that a bus is going to go past in both direction very 5-15 mins
• routes do not wonder off the major road - see below
• if I know the where the road goes then I know I can make my way along it
• routes criss-cross the city and thus it is easy to jump off at an major intersection and swap routes or at a train stations/busway stations
• buses run in bus lanes
• bus stops are 400 metres apart (maybe even 800 apart - i.e. 10 min walk) have go card scanners, located adjacent to commercial centeres and are all weather
• surrounding suburb is serviced by local mini buses mainly for the elderly and those with health/mobility restictions

The concept is based on my perception that the myriad of bus numbers and strange routes/paths that put me off me from catching a bus because I am just unsure where it will go...and I am pre-PT.  If I find it confusing then the average punter who we want to get out of their car is going to be even harder to convert.

Controversal maybe even just stupid but it is based on my perception of buses routes today.

[somebody]

Jonno, I don't have too much argument with what you are suggesting in principle there, although I would suggest that there is nothing wrong with wandering off the main road at the end of long routes like the 330 and 444.

Off bus ticketting is hard with the Cubic system and would require relying on the honour system.

Mini buses would only be good for the elderly if you could have low floor versions, I'd think.

That's about all.

[somebody]

I've started a different thread for 39x and 367, here: http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=3929.0

[somebody]

Should there be a release about the need for more BUZification and a BUZ 100 specifically?

Not quite how it should be worded so that anyone would care, but the Alan Warren PDF should be linked.

[somebody]

I wonder if we need a more radical shake up than just BUZing existing routes one by one.  

There should be upgrades to the 100, 412 and 109 ASAP.  The wild success of this program makes you wonder why they are stopping?

But, to critique the existing BUZ routes:
444 - Should use either Milton Rd or the Go Between Bridge
385 - Should serve Settlement Rd like the 380 (which would be abolished)
345 - Should continue to Beckett Rd & Albany Creek Rd
333 - About right
330 - About right (Ok, this one isn't a BUZ, but I wanted to include it anyway)
200 - About right
199 - Needs full time Ivory St routing
150 - Busy enough that it could be split into 2 BUZes - 151 & 156.  The 151 should be extended to serve "Waterstone"
140 - Needs Captain Cook Bridge routing
130 - Needs Captain Cook Bridge routing, as well as a Hellawell Rd routing.  Above 151 would mean it could be a little shorter.
111 - Needs to be increased in frequency by canabilising the 160
100 - Not really sure, but needs to use the new O'Keefe St portal from the Boggo Rd busway IMO. (Another non-BUZ, I know)

I think though, some of the wierdest stuff is in the Holland Park area.  Especially wierd is the way the 174 & 184 travel the opposite way on Creek Rd heading inbound (or outbound).  Why not have the 184 serve Newnham Rd, and the 174 serve the bit of the 184 from Broadwater Rd, and then re-route the 180 to Logan Rd, Creek Rd before Wecker Rd.  Or something like that.  Anyway there is no point to spending any more time on it, because no one is listenning.

[#Metro]

There should be upgrades to the 100, 412 and 109 ASAP.  The wild success of this program makes you wonder why they are stopping?

I don't know either. Why are they stopping?
Tunnel funneling?

There are too many bus routes with too many variations and low frequency. They should be combined and consolidated.
This would probably save money too.

Route 412 even late at night is very well loaded. It should be BUZzed, but BUZz route 100 first.
At points where the Great Circle Line crosses a BUZ route, a shared stop or stops close by to allow easy transfer.

[Golliwog]

If you're going to route the 385 via Settlement Rd, I'd suggest killing 2 birds with one stone, keep the 380, perhaps make it run the old part of the 385 route before it comes back via its current route in reverse to Settlement Rd, and run the 385 all the way to Ferny Grove train station. They built a few bus stops on Samford Rd when they widened it to 4 lanes which don't have any buses using them full time (buses waiting to do school runs and the off-peak 367)

As for why they stopped the BUZ program, its a BCC thing, so the reason there aren't any more BUZs IMO is because the BCC would rather spend its cash on tunnels. Can Translink itself say it's going to BUZ a route? It coming up with a new term HFP or whatever in their network plan makes me think BCC wants to keep it as their own special thing.

[somebody]

Not completely sure what the old 385 route was, but it seems a pretty wild idea.  I assume your route would be: Waterworks Rd, (R) Petmar St, (L) Hilder Rd, (R) Kaloma Rd, (L) Settlement Rd and continue on to Ferny Grove.  I don't know that it needs to go that far, it's a much slower way of getting to Ferny Grove than via Enoggera.

Can Translink itself say it's going to BUZ a route? It coming up with a new term HFP or whatever in their network plan makes me think BCC wants to keep it as their own special thing.

I'd hope the Council wouldn't stop them from using the term.  Anyway, the council certainly aren't stopping them from bringing in the frequency.

[Golliwog]

No, I meant just have the 385 turn right from Waterworks road into Settlement and continue straight through. The 380 would go along Waterworks until Petmar and do its bit in reverse there.

[somebody]

walk to any major road and know that a bus is going to go past in both direction very 5-15 mins

Thinking a bit about this, I think that some of our major roads have an acceptable service, and in that list I would put:
Coronation Drive (except for the city stop locations limitation)
Gympie Rd
Moggill Rd
Old Cleveland Rd (again, except for city stop locations)
Logan Rd - although this has room for improvement
Mains Rd/Pinelands Rd/Calam Rd
Warrigal Rd
Beaudesert Rd beyond Compton Rd
Waterworks Rd/Musgrave Rd
Caxton St

Some need minor improvements:
Gowan Rd
Ipswich Rd
Kelvin Grove Rd/Enoggera Rd/South Pine Rd - this wouldn't be too bad with acceptable city stop locations
Wynnum Rd
Kingsford Smith Drive
Sandgate Rd
Cavendish Rd

Some need major improvements
Inner part of Beaudesert Rd
Milton Rd
Grange Rd/Webster Rd

[Stinktown]

Although it doesnt really need Buzification, the 310/315 frequency certainly needs tweaking. Hourly and only until 6pm on weekends, and huge gaps in early peak.

Look at the afternoon 310/315 frequency departing the city:
2:55, 3:25, 4:05, 4:30
I sit outside Toombul stn for that 40 minute gap somedays, as 8000 car zombies travel by me on Sandgate rd. Something is really wrong here.
I admit that half the problems with the route are the city-toombul part where it is stuck in heavy traffic. In a perfect world, the 310/315 would start its run at Toombul station and run minibuses every 15 mins alternating between routes.

[somebody]

For those who aren't logged in, results are:
100: 11 votes
109: 4 votes
180: 4 votes
196: 1 vote
204: 3 votes
330: 3 votes
375: 2 votes
412: 4 votes (ok, a bit irrelevant now)
555: 2 votes
300: 3 votes
parts of the 375: 0 votes
"Something I didn't list": 5 votes

19 voters, with 3 votes/user permitted.