POLL: Northern Busway services after Windsor-Kedron opening

[somebody]

I swear it was announced here or somewhere that there was going to be a BUZ from Aspley Hyperhole -> Chermside -> City. I guess it got canned?  :conf

340 seems to meet those criteria to me.

[Mr X]

Yes you're right

[HappyTrainGuy]

I swear it was announced here or somewhere that there was going to be a BUZ from Aspley Hyperhole -> Chermside -> City. I guess it got canned?  :conf

340 seems to meet those criteria to me.

With a 400m walk to boot. Gotta love those interchange times

[david]

Are we going to see a community open day like with all the other busways? With BBQ by the local rotary club/whatever and TransLink on hand to explain the changes and tour it. This cost millions to build, and we the public paid for it! Or Don't they want to showcase it because it is a LABOR piece of infrastructure?

I believe there is a community open day on the 16th of June.

That's correct. Although it's not being advertised by TransLink particularly well.
Found this page purely by chance:
http://translink.com.au/travel-information/network-information/event-transport/details/693

Kedron Brook and Lutwyche busway station open day

    Dates:Saturday, 16 June
    Start:10:00am
    Finish:2:00pm

Walk the tunnel between our two newest busway stations!

[Mr X]

Probably because a certain government wants to save money on advertising??

Is strange that it's not being promoted on social media or even on the front page of the TL website.

[achiruel]

http://brizcommuter.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/translink-mislead-commuters-again.html
Is BrizCommuter being pedantic, or are TransLink misleading commuters yet again?

TransLink is being misleading on this one IMO.

Not least because the first ex 'Gabba service on a weekday morning is at 6:48am!

I thought this was a BUZ?

Also: no common city stops for 340/341 

(note to Ozbob; we need a bashing head against brick wall emoticon!  Something like )

[SurfRail]

TransLink is being misleading on this one IMO.

Not least because the first ex 'Gabba service on a weekday morning is at 6:48am!

I thought this was a BUZ?

Have a look at when the first BUZ services on other routes leave their CBD point of origin – ranked in order of earliness:

111 – 5:21am (Roma St)
CityGlider – 5:30am(ish) in both directions (City Hall)
196 – 5:35am(ish) in both directions (City Hall)
222 – 5:37am (Roma St)
333 – 5:42am (Cultural Centre)
199 – 5:45am(ish) in both directions (City Hall)
180 – 6:05am (QSBS)
100 – 6:20am (QSBS)
412 – 6:24am (Brisbane Square)
330 – 6:32am (Cultural Centre)
385 – 6:32am (Cultural Centre)
345 – 6:37am (Cultural Centre)
120 – 6:40am (QSBS)
200 – 6:45am (QSBS)
444 – 6:45am (GOMA)
340 – 6:48am (Gabba) – KGS at 6:55am
130 – 6:49am (QSBS)
140 – 7:02am (QSBS)
150 – 7:20am (QSBS)

Not the best one, but by no means the worst.

[somebody]

Wow, I had no idea that the 111 kicked off that early!  Far earlier than any train line except Nambour.

[HappyTrainGuy]

Wow, I had no idea that the 111 kicked off that early!  Far earlier than any train line except Nambour.

Ummm.... I suggest you have a look again. Most lines that start at Bowen Hills-Roma Street start around 4-5am which is way before the 111. The first inbound service from Caboolture arrives at Central at 4.55 with it departing Caboolture at 3.52am.

At Roma Street:
4.11 Roma Street-Ferny Grove
4.33 Roma Street-Caboolture
4.40 Roma Street-Ferny Grove
4.43 Bowen Hills-Cleveland
4.59 Bowen Hills-Varsity Lakes
5.00 Roma Street-Airport
5.00 Caboolture-Rosewood
5.03 Roma Street-Caboolture
5.04 Bowen Hills-Beenleigh
5.12 Roma Street-Doomben
5.14 Bowen Hills-Cleveland
5.15 Bowen Hills-Richlands
5.19 Bowen Hills-Varsity Lakes
5.21 Roma Street-Nambour
5.21 Roma Street-Airport
5.25 Roma Street-Shorncliffe
5.30 Caboolture-Ipswich
5.31 Bowen Hills-Cleveland

edit: added starting locations

[somebody]

Arriving from Ipswich/Rosewood at Central at 5:35am is still far later than the first 111 which arrives at King George Square at 5:09am, which is more what I was thinking of.  Fair point on Caboolture.

[achiruel]

100 – 6:20am (QSBS)
412 – 6:24am (Brisbane Square)
330 – 6:32am (Cultural Centre)
385 – 6:32am (Cultural Centre)
345 – 6:37am (Cultural Centre)
120 – 6:40am (QSBS)
200 – 6:45am (QSBS)
444 – 6:45am (GOMA)
340 – 6:48am (Gabba) – KGS at 6:55am
130 – 6:49am (QSBS)
140 – 7:02am (QSBS)
150 – 7:20am (QSBS)

Not the best one, but by no means the worst.

Then those aren't fulfilling the BUZ promise, because it's supposed to be every 15 minutes 6am-11:30pm.  Anything leaving later than 6:15am clearly doesn't have a 15-minute frequency after 6am.  The 150 is especially bad, although there is a short-working departing Garden City Depot at 7:00am.  Kind of a pain if you want to transfer from the busway, though - don't know why they couldn't have had it start at Garden City Interchange instead.

[SurfRail]

Then those aren't fulfilling the BUZ promise, because it's supposed to be every 15 minutes 6am-11:30pm.  Anything leaving later than 6:15am clearly doesn't have a 15-minute frequency after 6am.  The 150 is especially bad, although there is a short-working departing Garden City Depot at 7:00am.  Kind of a pain if you want to transfer from the busway, though - don't know why they couldn't have had it start at Garden City Interchange instead.

I think this is picking nits TBH.  The inbound services start before the outbound ones, and without checking I would wager every single route starts operating before 6am.  Likewise, the last service on most of these routes (inbound or outbound) will have already left the terminus by 11pm.

[achiruel]

OK I'm guessing the reason for the 340 is they are trying to reduce dead running (which is a good idea IMO) as the first I/B bus reaches the Gabba at 6:36am, time for the driver to use the facilites or whatever then turns around to come back at 6:48.  Although I'm only guessing here, but it sounds sensible.

However where are all the I/B 150s going?  They arrive in the city every 10 minutes (or thereabouts) from 5:54-7:18am, surely a couple more of these could be put into revenue service when returning to Browns Plains (if this is indeed what they're doing).

[somebody]

Probably back across the Capt Cook Bridge, busway, gateway to Browns Plains to form another 150.  Either that or returning to Garden City depot.

[HappyTrainGuy]

Arriving from Ipswich/Rosewood at Central at 5:35am is still far later than the first 111 which arrives at King George Square at 5:09am, which is more what I was thinking of.  Fair point on Caboolture.

Ah right. I just assumed that you meant the first outbound services from the City as that's what the bus timetables were based on. All good.

[achiruel]

Probably back across the Capt Cook Bridge, busway, gateway to Browns Plains to form another 150.  Either that or returning to Garden City depot.

So a shedload of dead running IOW, when at least a couple of them could be put into revenue service.

[somebody]

Probably back across the Capt Cook Bridge, busway, gateway to Browns Plains to form another 150.  Either that or returning to Garden City depot.

So a shedload of dead running IOW, when at least a couple of them could be put into revenue service.

You don't see how running along the Gateway would save a lot of time compared to running the 150 route?

[achiruel]

Yeah, I do, and I'm not saying every bus, but surely we could have a couple more early morning O/B 150s

OR...counter-peak P142s 

[SurfRail]

^ I think most of the services could do with some more early outbound runs, but obviously these are not the priority at the moment - not with Bulimba/Albany Creek/Centenary etc to worry about.  (Mind you, it was 5 BUZ routes last year, already 2 this year - hopefully the trend will continue...)

You can see their rationale in that the 111/222/333 busway services all run earlier.

[Golliwog]

I'd also add that buses for routes like the 109 and 29 have to come from somewhere... Though that said I have no idea what they do.

[somebody]

I'd also add that buses for routes like the 109 and 29 have to come from somewhere... Though that said I have no idea what they do.

Most likely run dead from Sherwood.

[somebody]

http://brizcommuter.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/translink-mislead-commuters-again.html
Is BrizCommuter being pedantic, or are TransLink misleading commuters yet again?

TransLink is being misleading on this one IMO.

Not least because the first ex 'Gabba service on a weekday morning is at 6:48am!

I thought this was a BUZ?

Also: no common city stops for 340/341 

(note to Ozbob; we need a bashing head against brick wall emoticon!  Something like )

This entire argument supports my case for removing the 10 minute peak frequency from the BUZ formula.  Should just be 15 minute frequency.  There IS disadvantage to encouraging users to run around the indirect path via South Bank, and there is also confusion about what is meant.

[triplethree]

OK, I've been very busy with getting all my uni stuff finished for the semester, so I haven't had the time or energy to read the RBOT forums let alone contribute, and it's only now that I've been able to examine the new northern timetables in detail. I'm very impressed with most of the changes. Except for ... the 308! Apologies if this has been mentioned before, but the new 308 totally sucks.

Take a look at the route map on this timetable, but don't be surprised if you turn into stone as if you had just seen Medusa:
http://translink.com.au/resources/travel-information/network-information/timetables/120618-308.pdf

My eyes! My beautiful, beautiful eyes!

Can you see what's wrong? Say you live near the intersection of Rode & Pfingst. It's easy to get home from Chermside, after doing your shopping, grabbing a bite to eat in the food court with all the ambience of a battery hen farm or paying an extortionate rate to see a film. But how does one get to Chermside in the first place? Why, you have to catch the 308 all the way to Toombul and back again on the one-way (EDIT)anti-clockwise loop!

(Yes, I know there's the 320 and 322 which also serve Wavell Heights - but they're not advertised on this timetable.)

What the hell was the person who designed this giant one-way loop thinking? Loops have their place - as CBD circulators, serving geographically constrained locations such as peninsulas or islands, or short shuttles connecting transport interchanges to major facilities like hospitals or TAFEs. But this isn't one of those places.

Hamilton Road between Chermside and Toombul is already served by the Great Circle Line (2 buses per hour). Why not just turn the 308 into a standard half-hourly route via Rode Road both ways? That way you'll have 4 buses per hour between Chermside and Toombul but equally spread among the two main roads (5 an hour if you count the 322 milk run). Better still, through-route the 308 with the 338, to create a major cross-town service that meets the railway at both ends (Toombul - Rode Road - Chermside - Aspley - Albany Creek - Eatons Hill - Strathpine).

[somebody]

Concur.  I think this was mentioned a little while ago.

Pretty good suggestion about combining the 308 and 338 too.  The 338 needs an increase anyway.

[HappyTrainGuy]

My eyes! My beautiful, beautiful eyes!

WELCOME TO TRANSLINK'S PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION NETWORK!

Hamilton Road between Chermside and Toombul is already served by the Great Circle Line (2 buses per hour). Why not just turn the 308 into a standard half-hourly route via Rode Road both ways? That way you'll have 4 buses per hour between Chermside and Toombul but equally spread among the two main roads (5 an hour if you count the 322 milk run). Better still, through-route the 308 with the 338, to create a major cross-town service that meets the railway at both ends (Toombul - Rode Road - Chermside - Aspley - Albany Creek - Eatons Hill - Strathpine).

Yep, I've mentioned that before re 338. The 326/327 can then also be removed from the area as that carries more air than the so called 88 due to its poor set up. Rework them to better feed the Zillmere area. The whole northside needs a network overhaul. I find it dissapointing what they have done just for the busway. The new services are just a smoke screen to hide the real problems that face the whole northside.

[achiruel]

336/337 could do with a route review/frequency boost also.
Could be useful for feeding people who don't live near the interchange onto BUZ routes to/from Chermside.

[somebody]

Then those aren't fulfilling the BUZ promise, because it's supposed to be every 15 minutes 6am-11:30pm.  Anything leaving later than 6:15am clearly doesn't have a 15-minute frequency after 6am.  The 150 is especially bad, although there is a short-working departing Garden City Depot at 7:00am.  Kind of a pain if you want to transfer from the busway, though - don't know why they couldn't have had it start at Garden City Interchange instead.

I think this is picking nits TBH.  The inbound services start before the outbound ones, and without checking I would wager every single route starts operating before 6am.  Likewise, the last service on most of these routes (inbound or outbound) will have already left the terminus by 11pm.

I think they should word it more carefully.  Something like "BUZ services operate at least every 15 minutes from 6am to midnight, with last services leaving the city after 11:15pm".  Then it's apparent what is meant.