Melbourne & Urban Bus - articles, discussion etc.

[ozbob]

Melbourne Age --> Get on board, get on the bus

[ozbob]

PTV --> New Chadstone Bus Interchange

​As part of the redevelopment of Chadstone Shopping Centre, a new bus interchange and taxi rank has had the ribbon cut and is set to open. The new interchange will no longer open on Wednesday 5 August, but instead open on Monday 10 August.

At least one million passengers will use the bus interchange every year once it opens to the public on Monday 10 August, providing shoppers with a central point to access Chadstone Shopping Centre from an extensive network of 14 bus lines connecting to the suburban train network and Melbourne's east and south.

The interchange will provide shoppers with a central point to access Chadstone Shopping Centre, with a network of 14 bus routes connecting to the suburban train network and Melbourne's east and south.

The interchange is weather-protected with ample seating, CCTV, canopy heating and real-time electronic signage for commuters (where available), and will accompany new bus priority lanes and signals installed along Dandenong Road. It was designed based on world's best practice and will capture rainwater off the roof canopy for reuse via a rainwater tank for toilet flushing, gardens and landscaping irrigation.

The interchange will be the central point to board the following buses:

612 - Box Hill - Chadstone
623 - Glen Waverley - St Kilda
624 - Kew - Oakliegh
625 - Elsternwick - Chadstone
626 - Middle Brighton - Chadstone
742 - Eastland - Chadstone
767 - Southland - Box Hill
800 - Dandenong - Chadstone via Princes Highway
802 - Dandenong - Chadstone via Mulgrave
804 - Dandenong - Chadstone via Wheelers Hill
822 - Chadstone - Sandringham
862 - Dandenong - Chadstone
900 - Rowville - Caulfield
903 - Altona - Mordialloc

[ozbob]

Melbourne Age --> Victoria prepares for trial of bike racks on buses

[ozbob]

PTV --> Network changes for the new year

[ozbob]

http://www.premier.vic.gov.au/cheaper-bus-fares-for-thousands-of-victorian-families/

Statement --> Cheaper Bus Fares For Thousands Of Victorian Families

Thousands of Victorian families accessing the School Bus Program are set to save hundreds of dollars a year in student bus fares.

While on a visit to McGuire College yesterday, Minister for Education James Merlino announced that the complicated system of bus fares affecting thousands of families in Victoria will be replaced with a single fare for travel.

Currently, students not attending their closest government or non-government denominational school pay annual bus fares ranging from $480 to $1240, depending on distance travelled.

From 2016, these students will be able to travel at a reduced rate of $480 per annum.

For example 223 students using the Diamond Valley network will save between $80 and $760. While more than 150 students in Monbulk are also expected to also save between $80 and $760.

This is the result of the Andrews Labor Government listening to feedback from families and schools regarding the old complicated ticketing system.

This reduction in fares will enable greater choice in selecting schools and transport options for families and lighten the workload on school administrators.

The improvements announced today do not affect families eligible for free bus travel.

Quotes attributable to Minister for Education, James Merlino

"This reduction in bus fares will mean thousands of families across Victoria won't have to face the old complicated system and will be left with more money in their pockets."

"Not only will it save many of them money, it will allow more kids to access the School Bus Program to get to and from school."

"We're investing almost $4 billion to make Victoria the Education State, so every community has access to great local schools and every child gets the chance to succeed."

[verbatim9]

Articulated busses best practice in BRT (Bus rapid transit) design and operation

http://www.smartergrowth.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/2015-BRT-best-practices-guide.pdf

[verbatim9]

Gold Coast Double Deckers 777? Best practice?

[verbatim9]

Was on the 333 last night outbound and noticed they are testing Next Stop info. Originally I thought that Translink/BCC were to utilise the built in area and use LED next stop info? 

[ezekial]

Unfortunately that looks like the same device that I got excited about 1 yr ago (see: http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=10885.msg150595#msg150595)

It turns out it is a defunct screen from a former service:

Just an ordinary bus (T 20xx it was) doing the 412

Ah - all the T20xx buses are ex-CitySights buses, so the screen up the top is a relic from their preious use, not to do with real-time info.

It really is something that should be introduced!

[techblitz]

Melbourne Age --> Bus growth stuck in the slow lane as patronage takes a dive


Well well well....

Points of note:

In all, 118.7 million bus trips were taken in Melbourne last year, a decline of 7 million journeys.

Patronage fell despite initiatives to encourage bus travel, including straightening out many slow and indirect suburban bus routes, rewriting timetables and switching on a long-delayed citywide bus tracking system for smartphones. 

Cost to the state of running all those near-empty buses hit a new high of $1.03 billion in 2014-15.

Transdev won a competitive tender to operate these routes in 2013, under a unique, performance-based contract with PTV.
Under its seven-year contract, the company must increase bus patronage by 5 per cent a year and meet a punctuality target of 90 per cent. More than two years later, those contractual targets have not been triggered.

So where do they point the finger? Considering they made a decent effort to try and GROW bus patronage.....

[ozbob]

I think the relative fall in fuel price has slumped PT growth/use (particularly bus in Melbourne and outer suburbs) for a while.  Where it matters (car use difficult) trams/trains dominate.

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/bus-growth-stuck-in-the-slow-lane-as-patronage-takes-a-dive-20160327-gnrtdh.html

...Why are Melbourne's buses so unloved?

It's a question the industry is asking with a heavier heart than usual after a year in which bus patronage took a dive, even as the city absorbed another 95,000 residents and trip numbers on trains and trams grew by tens of millions.

New data from Public Transport Victoria shows Melbourne bus patronage declined 5.5 per cent in 2015, sinking to its lowest level in four years.

In all, 118.7 million bus trips were taken in Melbourne last year, a decline of 7 million journeys.

Meanwhile, the cost to the state of running all those near-empty buses hit a new high of $1.03 billion in 2014-15.

Patronage fell despite initiatives to encourage bus travel, including straightening out many slow and indirect suburban bus routes, rewriting timetables and switching on a long-delayed citywide bus tracking system for smartphones. 

At the same time, train patronage grew a healthy 3.5 per cent and tram patronage soared 11.1 per cent, following the introduction of the free tram zone and the abolition of zone one and two fares.

Bus experts blamed lower petrol prices, increased congestion and a shortage of dedicated bus lanes for the decline ...

^ Not rocket science

[#Metro]

It would be too easy to dress this up as public vs private and conclude that public = good, private = evil greed.

The reality is much more nuanced. (of course).

Melbournes buses have always been private, with minor exception.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buses_in_Melbourne

So it couldn't have been the fact that is was 'private'.

Generally, I do not favour franchise arrangments (where the gov't issues a monopoly over an area, and the operator keeps whatever farebox they get). The TransLink model here where buses are paid per km driven is sound I think.

Patronage, and even a large part of punctuality are outside of operator control.

Patronage depends on: ticketing, land use and density, service quality characteristics like frequency, reliability, quality of ROW (Priority A,B,C), service speed, directness, span of hours, connectivity. Almost all of these things are under the control of the gov't.

There is actually very little an operator can do to increase its own patronage, other than make sure its buses and staff are presentable and courteous, it has modern fleet and does its best to run services on time, and advertising. Signing a contract that says you will increase patronage by 5% year on year is just plain stupid and undeliverable. It is like the weather service signing a contract with the gov't saying that there will be 5% less rainy days next year...

Outside the SmartBus network, Melbourne's bus services are pretty horrible. Almost all Australian cities (except Hobart, Canberra, perhaps Perth also) need major bus reforms. Very little has changed since the 1980s there.

Trains frequencies have also been improved massively, as have trams.

[#Metro]

It is also worth noting that the Andrews Govt blocked bus reforms there because of 'cuts cuts cuts' hysteria.

Hundreds of bus services in Melbourne's west and north face being cut to service city's east
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/hundreds-of-bus-services-in-melbournes-west-and-north-face-being-cut-to-service-citys-east-20150413-1mk1no.html

Of course, if the govt sets the patronage/coverage dial to 'high coverage' then you will only have community service obligations levels of patronage...

[#Metro]

The authority's chief executive, Ian Dobbs, said Transdev had been awarded the contract because it put in the best-value bid for Victorian taxpayers. Its performance will be monitored using a GPS tracking system, with penalties for late or cancelled services. Bonuses and penalties would also be tied to patronage growth, Mr Dobbs said.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/anger-as-french-company-lands-bus-contract-20130426-2ijd1.html

And that's where the problem is.

[ozbob]

This doesn't help of course ..

PTUA -->  Meandering bus routes driving Melbourne around the bend, says new study  (2012)

... The PTUA study compared the actual route distances travelled by Melbourne's buses to the shortest, most direct routes possible. On average, bus routes were 70% longer than the direct alternative, while best practice guidelines recommend routes should deviate by no more than about 30% from the most direct route.

Some 20% of Melbourne bus routes were so indirect that the route length was more than double the shortest distance by road. ...

[ozbob]

3AW --> Melbourne's bus usage down, while trains and trams are on the rise

Melbourne's bus patronage is down 5.5% in 2015, despite population growth.

According to an article in 'The Age' train usage is up 3.5% and trams are up 11.1%.

Tony Morton, President of the Public Transport Users Association (PTUA) explained why the bus network isn't as popular as it used to be.

"The trams work well because they are frequent, because everyone knows where they go, they run in straight lines and it's a useful service."

"Unfortunately what we see with buses is that's not consistent."

"I think a lot of the friendliness of our public transport actually comes down to how frequent the service is."

"How reliable it (buses) is about turning up and actually how directly it gets you from A to B without doing a cook's tour via the known universe."

Buses are not as reliable as they once were, and Kate was not happy!

The PTV bus tracking app is rarely up to date and has many scathing reviews.

Interview > http://www.3aw.com.au/news/melbournes-bus-usage-down-while-trains-and-trams-are-on-the-rise-20160327-gns2ao.html

[SurfRail]

It really shouldn't be that much of a mystery.  Bus patronage growth in nearly every city has slowed or reversed at the same time high frequency services stopped being rolled out.  There hasn't been a new Smartbus / BUZ / Go-zone etc route anywhere in ages.

The one exception is Perth, where they are still rolling out 900-series high frequency routes to consolidate the services on existing corridors, and by all accounts that is working well.

[ozbob]

Melbourne Age --> Passengers driven round the bend by bad experiences on buses

[ozbob]

Bus punctuality changed from manual sample reporting to all GPS, and immediately dropped by 10%. WHO'DA THUNK IT?! https://t.co/XIAdxI4JAk pic.twitter.com/UHSEA4YPcz

— Daniel Bowen (@danielbowen) September 28, 2016

[ozbob]

http://www.premier.vic.gov.au/more-services-more-often-for-casey-residents/

More Services, More Often For Casey Residents

Parliamentary Secretary for Transport 29 September 2016

Casey residents are set to benefit from a major bus network upgrade, with new and improved routes, more frequent services, and shorter waits.

Parliamentary Secretary for Infrastructure Shaun Leane joined Member for Cranbourne Jude Perera and representatives from the City of Casey and City of Greater Dandenong today at the Cranbourne station bus interchange, to announce that the new Cranbourne bus network will be launched from Sunday 13 November.

The new and improved network will better connect residents to shopping centres and schools, and make it easier for passengers to catch the train from Cranbourne, Berwick, Lynbrook, Hallam and Dandenong stations.

It's part of the Andrews Labor Government's Better Bus Networks program, which includes four new routes and 13 realignments, providing residents in previously unserviced areas with transport options for the first time.

Developed in consultation with the local community, the network includes new Route 863 which connects Endeavour Hills residents to Hallam Station, providing better access to Endeavour Hills Shopping Centre. Route 843 has also been rerouted to go via Endeavour Hills Shopping Centre.

Residents in Cranbourne North will have access to three services for the first time: the extended 799 connecting them to Merinda Park Station and Cranbourne, the extended 847 to Casey Central and Berwick Station, and the new 899 which directly links residents in The Avenue Estates to Berwick Station.

Residents in new estates around Botanic Ridge and Cranbourne West, and those along Pearcedale Road, can take advantage of new route 792, connecting them to Cranbourne Station. Route 897 has also been extended to up and coming estates in Clyde, Cranbourne East, and through Lyndhurst to Lynbrook station.

Other benefits of the upgrade include:

    More weekend trips across the entire network
    More trips between Frankston and Cranbourne station, and between Langwarrin and Frankston
    More direct and frequent services between Cranbourne and Dandenong station
    Better services to Cranbourne East and Cranbourne West
    Additional weekday and weekend services between Cranbourne and Clyde
    A new service to the Dandenong South employment precinct

Work will also begin this week to improve the bus interchange at Cranbourne station. Timetables for the new network, including a breakdown of all bus service changes will be available on ptv.vic.gov.au from 17 October.

Quote attributable to Parliamentary Secretary for Infrastructure Shaun Leane

"We're providing services where they are needed most – boosting access for residents in new estates and making it easier for people to get where they need to go safer and sooner."

Quote attributable to Member for Cranbourne Jude Perera

"We're transforming our entire bus network with new routes and improved services for locals. This is what the community has been calling for and the Andrews Labor Government is delivering."



New routes introduced:

    Route 792 – Cranbourne Station – Botanic Ridge – Pearcedale
    Route 863 – Hampton Park Shopping Centre – Endeavour Hills Shopping Centre
    Route 890 – Lynbrook Station – Dandenong Station
    Route 899 – The Avenue Village Shopping Centre – Berwick Station

Existing routes being realigned:

    Route 798 – Selandra Rise – Cranbourne Shopping Centre
    Route 799 – Merinda Park Station – The Avenue Village Shopping Centre
    Route 843 – Dandenong – Mossgiel Park via Shetland Road
    Route 847 – Berwick Station – The Avenue Village Shopping Centre via Casey Shopping Centre
    Route 892 – Casey Central Shopping Centre – Dandenong via Hampton Park
    Route 898 – Archers Field – Cranbourne Station

Existing routes being realigned with frequency upgrades:

    Route 789 – Frankston Station – Langwarrin via Langwarrin North
    Route 790 – Frankston Station – Langwarrin via Langwarrin South
    Route 791 – Frankston Station – Cranbourne Station
    Route 891 – Lynbrook Station – Fountain Gate Shopping Centre
    Route 893 – Cranbourne – Dandenong Station
    Route 897 – Clyde – Lynbrook Station

Existing routes with improved timetables:

    Route 796 – Cranbourne – Clyde

Existing routes being removed as part of new network:

    Route 797 – Cranbourne Town service via Cranbourne Station
    Route 896 – Cranbourne Station – Cranbourne East (Trainlink)

[ozbob]

Melbourne Age --> The key to Melbourne's transport woes isn't sexy: it's the humble bus

[ozbob]

New SmartBus routes could fix Melbourne bus network. @andrew_lund with the details. https://t.co/DResMdundw #9News

— Nine News Melbourne (@9NewsMelb) October 10, 2016

[ozbob]

ABC News --> Where do train replacement buses come from?

[ozbob]

The Age --> Security screens to be fitted on every Victoria bus to protect drivers from assault

Every passenger bus in Victoria will be fitted with a security screen to protect drivers from the risk of violent assault, following breakthrough talks between the drivers' union, their employers and Public Transport Victoria.

It is expected the full rollout of new security screens on about 2000 existing buses will take about three years and cost an estimated $10 million. ...

[ozbob]

1271 - Victoria's first Euro 6 Artic Starts today on Route 788
Departs Portsea 634 1028 1416 1758 2138
Departs Frankston 835 1222 1605 2004 pic.twitter.com/bSui9LTjrd

— Ventura Bus (@VenturaBus) January 22, 2017

[ozbob]

Melbourne Age --> Government's $600 million fix to lure commuters back to buses

Decades-old, family-owned bus contracts could be cast aside as the Victorian government tries to turn around the least popular form of public transport.

Twelve of the 13 contracts for Melbourne's bus network will be opened to competition for the first time in generations, in a bid to get more people using the city's lagging bus services.

Bus passenger numbers have been falling since 2014, despite rapid population growth across the city, particularly in the outer suburbs where buses are often the only available public transport.

In an effort to reverse the declining use of buses, which cost taxpayers $600 million a year, the Andrews government is preparing to kill off the old system of exclusive, heavily subsidised contracts that have existed since the mid-1970s.

It hopes overhauling the contracts will usher in a better and more popular bus network, with fewer near-empty buses operating on slow, zig-zagging routes across the suburbs.

The old contracts are due to expire next year and, when they do, the government will break with the convention of rolling the contracts over to the 12 incumbent operators, many of whom have worked Melbourne's streets as family-run businesses for almost a century.

Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan said the current contracts made it difficult to change bus routes and timetables to better meet the needs of passengers.

"There are some challenges in the current arrangements, particularly around the exclusivity that sits in the contracts that really restricts the ability to plan and deliver new bus services now and into the future," Ms Allan said.

Buses travel is the only mode of public transport in Melbourne that is becoming less popular, she said.

"We have to recognise the current arrangements are clearly not attracting people to use bus services."

But the incumbents, including Ventura, Dysons, CDC and Kastoria, will have time to adapt to the new regime.

The contractual changes will be brought in over the next 10 years, and the 12 affected bus operators will be given a choice of entering into a shorter-term contract that maintains exclusivity for five years, or a 10-year agreement with tougher performance targets.

The bus industry has long opposed any change to the existing arrangement of exclusive contracts.

Chris Lowe, chief executive of industry group the Bus Association, said it accepted buses had to be more responsive to demand in the age of Uber, but did not support putting existing contracts out to competitive tender.

"The industry supports the government's position to negotiate over the renewal of contracts as opposed to putting them out to competitive tender," Mr Lowe said.

Transdev, which operates 30 per cent of Melbourne's bus routes, will not be affected because it already has a franchise agreement with the state that was awarded through a competitive tender in 2013.

Victoria's Auditor-General analysed the state's bus contracts in 2015 and found they offered "minimal incentives for improving services".

"Many of Melbourne's bus routes currently have long wait times, indirect routes, and do not operate on schedules designed to harmonise well with the rail network or other bus routes," the Auditor-General's report found.

"These issues are longstanding and reduce the usefulness of bus services for commuters and impede patronage growth."

The contracts' pending expiry in 2018 was a "critical" opportunity to improve things, it found.

[ozbob]

ABC News --> Melbourne buses: How do other cities compare?

[#Metro]

^^ Really interesting in that piece is the transport mode split graph.

Perth and Brisbane are two cities that are more or less comparable. The rail mode share in Perth is MUCH higher than for Brisbane.

Brisbane is essentially a bus city. Some may argue that rail has a regional function, but most stations and lines are within the BCC area.


http://www.abc.net.au/news/image/8276688-3x2-940x627.jpg

[ozbob]

Bus is really at capacity in Brisbane now.  Rail is where the capacity gains will be from here. This data confirms it.

Brisbane is very atypical because of BCC and its transport history.  No other city is the basket case that is Brisbane .. our rail network is grossly underutilised and tasked (poor mode integration, poor frequency etc. ) .  We all know that, does Queensland Rail?  Government??

[ozbob]

The government has confirmed they will negotiate the renewal of operators' service contracts. Via @ABCmag https://t.co/ijku5LduKv

— BusVic (@BusVicTweets) February 21, 2017

[#Metro]

^^ Don't agree with private monopolies. Haven't been contracted out for decades, is that right?

More power to plan routes? PTV should be doing that. And blaming Myki - smoke screen really.

Melbourne's buses are terrible because the services are very bad in terms of frequency, directness etc.

[ozbob]

Leader --> Manningham park-and-ride commuters battle overcrowding, lack of car parking

The State Government has no plans to create a second park-and-ride service in Manningham despite angry commuters complaining it is jam-packed well before 8am.

And due to carpark overcrowding, the Manningham council is now encouraging commuters who live near bus stops and the park-and-ride not to park at the facility due to frantic demand for one of its 400 parking spaces.

Adding to the commuter woes are long queues to get on to packed buses, exacerbated by Manningham being the only municipality in Melbourne with no train or tram options.

Donvale's Georgina Sack says parking spaces at the park-and-ride on the corner of Doncaster Rd and the Eastern Fwy are all gone by 8am.

And the 61-year-old said there were now queues 70 people long to get onto crammed buses to the city during peak times, leaving people lucky to even get standing room.

"I've started taking the bus for the last year and it's been getting progressively worse," she said.

"The buses are way too full, they push you on, they tell us to move to the back, it's terrible."

Ms Sack said she had emailed the Manningham council and State Government with her concerns in November.

Manningham chief executive Warwick Winn said the council was appealing to both sides of State Parliament for a big upgrade for the Manningham bus network given their lack of support for a Doncaster Rail link.

He said the council wanted significant improvements in the capacity and frequency of the 907 and 908 DART services, but in the meantime was working with bus operator Transdev to "encourage people who park at Doncaster park-and-ride to consider catching the bus closer to home, if possible".

Mr Winn understands the reason why VicRoads wasn't actively looking for a second park-and-ride site was because an alternative site had not yet been determined.

The only money the State Government has allocated is for a review to look into the problem.

Public transport minister Jacinta Allan said the State Government had given $100,000 in last year's state budget "to look at the infrastructure upgrades needed to support more DART services and move more passengers".

[#Metro]

^ Buy superbuses!

[Cazza]

^ Buy superbuses!

The bi-artics are getting to our head!!! 

[ozbob]

Melbourne Age --> One in five Transdev buses run late as passenger numbers plunge

If you think Melbourne's trams and trains are unreliable, spare a thought for bus passengers.

About one in five Transdev buses ran more than five minutes late last year. The bus operator is responsible for a third of Melbourne's bus network.

ransdev has never met its contractual monthly punctuality target and has overseen an annual decline in ridership of tens of thousands of passengers on key routes.

Its overall on-time performance of 80.7 per cent is lower than Metro Trains, Yarra Trams or V/Line.

Transdev's results have not been released publicly. The Age had to use freedom-of-information laws to obtain them.

The data showed that last year, just 14 of Transdev's 46 routes hit the 85 per cent punctuality target signed up to by the company.

Routes that missed the mark included the three outer-suburban orbital smart buses – which were used by a combined 12.7 million passengers in 2016 – and most of the Doncaster area buses that serve Manningham in Melbourne's north-east, which has no trains or trams.

The worst performer of all was bus route 220, a busy cross-city route between Sunshine and Gardenvale, which ran just 67 per cent of buses on-time.

Transdev is at the halfway mark of a seven-year contract that Public Transport Victoria said would usher in a "generational transformation" of Melbourne's under-utilised buses, with better and more reliable services and increased passenger satisfaction.

Instead, it has mostly failed to meet the performance benchmarks in its contract, while its key proposal for improving performance – a new bus network with redrawn routes and timetables – has been blocked by the Andrews government.

Transdev was supposed to increase passenger numbers 5 per cent a year, but they have fallen significantly on many of its routes. For example, Melbourne's most used bus route, the 903 between Altona and Mordialloc, carried 5.18 million people in 2016, down from 6.03 million in 2014-15.

Melbourne's buses are the only public transport mode that has experienced a recent fall in passenger numbers.

One Melburnian who catches Transdev buses to and from work is architect Elise Houghton, who commutes each day via route 905 between the city and Templestowe.

Ms Houghton became so frustrated by late or cancelled buses that she complained to the Public Transport Ombudsman in November.

"I'd just returned to work as a new mum in my dream job and I was pretty keen to impress my employers," she said. "Working part-time hours, there was only so many times I could use the excuse that my bus didn't turn up, and it got to the point where it was embarrassing for me."

The government and Transdev negotiated a series of minor timetable adjustments in June, which triggered the 85 per cent performance target.

In 2013, the company won a competitive tender to operate many Melbourne routes in 2013, and signed a contract that included fines and bonuses based on punctuality, reliability and patronage targets, a unique arrangement among Melbourne bus companies.

Transdev admitted through the Ombudsman that it had struggled to run a reliable service late last year because it had a shortage of buses and bus drivers.

Ms Houghton said reliability had improved slightly since then, though she was still heavily delayed about once a week on average.

Public Transport Users Association president Tony Morton said Melbourne's buses struggled to run on time because they were not given priority on the roads, and struggled to attract passengers because they were infrequent and indirect.

"If we designed bus routes to grow patronage ... to make it work for everyone getting from A to B, just as trams work in the inner-city, more people would use them," he said.

Transdev said traffic congestion was the main cause of its buses running late.

"We continue to look at ways to improve our operations that will lead to more punctual and reliable services, and we were able to make some small timetable changes last year that took current traffic conditions into account," spokeswoman Kate Rasmussen said.

[ozbob]

Just not on Sunday because the service on most routes is rubbish pic.twitter.com/za5IykoIiN

— Andrew Lund (@andrew_lund) April 30, 2017

[ozbob]

EXCLUSIVE: Melbourne's newest buses have been unveiled, designed to negotiate the narrow streets of suburban housing developments. #9News pic.twitter.com/V19d4YOeFm

— Nine News Melbourne (@9NewsMelb) June 3, 2017

^

These new buses may help in some areas, as will upgrading frequency of services. https://t.co/mHg1KNdR9X 🚌🚌🚌

— PTUA (@ptua) June 3, 2017

[ozbob]

Melbourne Age --> Doncaster to CBD: Special busway may run down middle of Hoddle Street

Melbourne's first ever designated busway may run down the middle of Hoddle Street with bumper-sized bendy buses running every three minutes between East Doncaster and Southern Cross Station.

Global transport giant Transdev has pitched to the Andrews government a proposal to build and operate the "Doncaster bus rapid transit" system for 30 years and reinvent public transport in Melbourne's eastern suburbs.

The French-based company, which has a contract to operate a third of Melbourne's bus network, wants to build and run the premium bus service as a public-private partnership.

The rapid transit busway would be a first for Melbourne, but would mirror international examples Transdev operates in cities such as Nantes in France and Bogota in Colombia.

Senior ministers have been briefed on the proposal, including Treasurer Tim Pallas and Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan.

Transdev and infrastructure developer John Laing submitted the idea late last month, using the Department of Treasury's market-led proposal guidelines – the same process Transurban used to gain approval for its West Gate Tunnel project.

It is estimated the Doncaster-CBD busway would cost more than $500 million to build, which is 10 to 16 per cent of the estimated $3 billion - $5 billion cost of building Doncaster rail, a project Infrastructure Victoria assessed last year would return just 10 cents for every dollar spent.

Transdev wants to pave over the Eastern Freeway median – which has been reserved for almost 50 years for a future Doncaster railway line – for express buses instead of trains.

The buses would be double-articulated, with doors on both sides like trains and trams, and big enough to fit up to 150 passengers. They would run every three minutes in the peak and every five to six minutes off-peak.

Platform bus stops would have myki readers so buses would not be delayed while passengers touch on and off.

New bus "stations" would potentially be built at intersections above the Eastern Freeway, at Chandler Highway, Burke Road and Bulleen Road. This would involve building platforms over the freeway, with escalators and lifts down to road level.

From the Eastern Freeway the busway would join Hoddle Street via a dedicated ramp, then potentially follow Victoria Parade and Lonsdale Street to a new underground bus terminus at the northern end of Southern Cross Station.

If the busway followed Lonsdale Street, the trees and on-street car parks in the median would be replaced by bus lanes and platform stops.

Express bus lanes would also be built in the centre of Doncaster Road, running from the current park and ride bus terminus, which would be expanded with a new underground car park, to a new bus terminus at Donvale Hospital.

Other vehicles such as cars and trucks would be strictly banned from the busway.   

Modelling by engineering consultancy AECOM found the bus rapid transit system would provide a reliable 30-minute journey between Doncaster and Southern Cross station.

Currently that journey takes 47 minutes or more in the peak due to inner-city traffic jams. 

AECOM forecast the service would be used by 24,000 people in the combined morning and afternoon peaks, roughly eight times more than use the current Doncaster bus routes to the city.

Transdev argues its busway would be more like a railway, with superior travel speeds and service consistency, than a conventional bus route.

The busway would not preclude future construction of Doncaster rail in the freeway median.

The concept has already won the support of the Eastern Transport Coalition, a group of seven eastern suburbs councils pushing for better transport in Melbourne's east.

The Coalition said traffic congestion on Hoddle Street, Lonsdale Street and at the end of the Eastern Freeway "compromises travel time" for Doncaster buses, which are the only public transport between Manningham and the city. 

It endorsed a bus rapid transit system in its Commuters Count campaign, launched this week. 

Monash University's Professor Graham Currie helped to design Melbourne's current SmartBus network and said many cities had chosen bus rapid transit systems as an effective and less expensive alternative to rail.

"It's a rubber-tyred railway, the new technology dominating public transport thinking on planet Earth," he said of the concept.

He said Victoria had only made half-hearted attempts at bus priority and it was time to get serious.

"People have a negative view of buses because they are in mixed traffic, because they are infrequent, unreliable – you don't have to run buses that way at all," he said.

But he questioned the need to use the Eastern Freeway median, arguing the biggest issue for the current Doncaster bus services was congestion in the inner city.

Daniel Bowen, spokesman for the Public Transport Users Association, said the busway would be "a quantum leap over the current bus service" in terms of capacity and reliability, but would never match the capacity of heavy rail.

"Many people would still want Doncaster rail to be built," Mr Bowen said.

With a proposed capacity of 150 passengers, the buses would fit three-quarters as many passengers as an E-Class tram, the largest tram type in Melbourne.

Transdev spokeswoman Kathy Lazanas said the proposal put to Treasury last month would evolve through consultation with the community, should the Andrews government support it.

"We will work with the Victorian government through its well established market-led proposal process," Ms Lazanas said.

The guidelines state all private sector proposals put to the government must be unique.

[ozbob]

Bi-artics for this would a good fit.  I don't think Doncaster rail will happen for a long long time to be honest.

[#Metro]

Why not use trams down the median? Don't need passing lanes then at stations. Can plug into the existing tram network.

Hope they do a comparative study.

Don't agree with Bowen's comments. Buses have rubber tyres and that affects the braking distance.

You can run buses much closer together - sub 60 seconds if you want to.