SEQ bus network review

[08 XDi]

Might just be a mistake.

[jonwil]

Reading the new times, it looks like they have done absolutely nothing in response to the complaints about the hours of operation from people living in areas on the northern gold coast (along routes like the 721 etc).
Despite the complaints, they still cut the 721 (and others) off too early for it to be usable by commuters. And its not like people are asking for much, just 1 or 2 extra services in the evening would probably fix the problem.

[742_VST]

Reading the new times, it looks like they have done absolutely nothing in response to the complaints about the hours of operation from people living in areas on the northern gold coast (along routes like the 721 etc).
Despite the complaints, they still cut the 721 (and others) off too early for it to be usable by commuters. And its not like people are asking for much, just 1 or 2 extra services in the evening would probably fix the problem.

Translink have definitely been lazy when it came to trying to improve suburban services with the new timetables. Same thing has happened with the 746 and 749. Virtually nothing has been done to fix the pathetically short span of hours. I mean come on now, 2-3pm finish and NO WEEKEND SERVICES! I personally don't live in Nerang, but I do feel for them. But the sad thing is is that there really is no improvement at all with the timetables of the hourly services / half hourly services that had been reduced span of hours wise with the January changes. Not happy

[08 XDi]

The 753 timetable is the only measurable improvement for a local route that I can see so far.

[jonwil]

I suspect that Translink are caught between a rock and a hard place here.
On the one hand, the government have forced them to run super-frequent connections (even late into the evening) between various stops on the G: and destinations elsewhere on the coast (without the super frequent connections to all these places, the G: wont get the patronage it needs to get so it can be painted as a success politically by the government) but on the other hand, the huge amount of inefficiency that still exists in the Brisbane Transport area (mostly caused by BCC being unwilling to give up any of its resources) means that all the other operators (Surfside included) don't have the resources to deliver all the services people want.

Personally, if it was up to me, I would say "screw the high frequency connections to the G:" and reduce the frequency of some of the services (during the middle of the day and late at night, keep the frequency at the peak times) and use the freed up resources to improve services on the local routes into the suburbs that people who actually LIVE on the gold coast rely on.

[superbossgc]

don't forget it's today staff will be at site at Gold Coast University hospital 9am to 12pm and Griffith University near the library entrance.

[742_VST]

I suspect that Translink are caught between a rock and a hard place here.
On the one hand, the government have forced them to run super-frequent connections (even late into the evening) between various stops on the G: and destinations elsewhere on the coast (without the super frequent connections to all these places, the G: wont get the patronage it needs to get so it can be painted as a success politically by the government) but on the other hand, the huge amount of inefficiency that still exists in the Brisbane Transport area (mostly caused by BCC being unwilling to give up any of its resources) means that all the other operators (Surfside included) don't have the resources to deliver all the services people want.

Personally, if it was up to me, I would say "screw the high frequency connections to the G:" and reduce the frequency of some of the services (during the middle of the day and late at night, keep the frequency at the peak times) and use the freed up resources to improve services on the local routes into the suburbs that people who actually LIVE on the gold coast rely on.

I absolutely agree with you. Translink, now I really stress this, NEED to reduce the frequency of some of the high frequency bus services operating between morning peak and afternoon peak in order to free up resources and fix the practically broken span of hours of services out in the suburbs. This is just one example on why the 705 does not need a 15 min frequency in off-peak. The 705 in off-peak times could be reduced in frequency to about every 20-30 mins since the G: will be covering generally some of the distance between Broadbeach South and the Main Beach Light Rail Station. If people want to get from Broadbeach South to Main Beach/Seaworld or vice versa, they could easily catch the G: up to the Main Beach station and transfer to the 704 in order to get to Seaworld/Main Beach, or they could even go further to the Southport South Station instead since i believe that would be a safer option than crossing the GC Highway in order to access the 704. The 704 however does not need to be reduced in frequency as it needs to be there in order to cope with the load from Main Beach to Harbour Town because of the departure of the 703. That I believe is one reason why the 705 really does not need a 15 min frequency in off peak times. Sorry for the long paragraph. If anyone has any suggestions please feel free to add.

[jonwil]

Does the 705 even need to exist anymore? Cancel it and tell people to use the G: instead or if they are going down the spit to sea world etc, go to Southport on the G: and switch to the 704 from there.
Also, I think the 700 runs FAR too frequently, does it really need to run any more often than every 20-30 minutes or so in the middle of the day or in the evenings?

[08 XDi]

I question the wisdom of having the 705 run more than 15 minutes at any time but I don't agree with axing it.

The 700 is not an issue, the idea should be that it meets every single tram (or approximately).

I do agree the next round of funding needs to be spread around the feeder routes - ideally to get a basic 12-13 buses per day from 6-7 to 6-7 on most routes on weekdays, building some of the potentially more significant ones up to half-hourly and longer into the evening (eg 714, 725, 741) and extending run times on services like the 710, 719, 760 and 765 to be a bit more consistent each day.

[742_VST]

Getting rid of the 705 certainly is not a good idea, keeping in mind that the 777 is now terminating short at Broadbeach south. My thought is that the 705 should stay at 20 min frequency to access those areas between the GC Highway and the beach line along the southern part of the route.

[742_VST]

Also noticed that there's orange flags been up at some bus stops I've been past today for notification of the changes starting with the G:

[gc taxi 121]

Yes someone was working very hard since yesterday morning affixing the light brown flags to the bus stops a la the green flags we saw at Christmas time - this time the wording is "Coming soon - services changing at this stop".
The timetable displays have also been changing from yellow to a bright orange - appear to be much larger and now have 2 per stop allowing 4 windows for info....some even having info about the upcoming changes a la the sandwich boards which have also appeared this week at the major stops .
The buses leaving Pacific Fair will turn onto Hooker Boulevard then enter the new Broadbeach South interchange at a new bus lane at the traffic lights at the Casino which gives access to their stops on the western side of the G: stops - the buses can leave via the bus lane continuing up to Pacific Fair Drive turning left down to the highway to go south or loop across the G: tracks to get onto the highway where the rest of the bus stops are for the trips back to Pacific Fair.
(As for the mention of the 753 route getting additional services....they aren't as those "missing" services appeared in a revised timetable which appeared late January and they have been operating as such....SO apart from an extra service for 725 in the morning peak, 727 in the evening and 726 in morning and evening peak.....nothing this time around....)

[08 XDi]

Which is what I expected. The last new bus was 370 which has been on the road for months and months now. Any resources could only have come from decommissioning and amending highway routes, which is why the upgrades are limited to the 709 and 740.

If the LRT route to Helensvale happens and goes via Parkwood, that probably wouldn't free up any buses at all - even doing the Harbour Town leg wouldn't free up that much other than the 709.

What this points to is that it's time for another 50-100 buses in the fleet before we bother doing anything else.

[jonwil]

My question is, where does the 705 take you that the G: doesn't? (and for those needing Sea World, the 704)
If you want to go to somewhere along GC Highway, get off the G and walk a little bit.

As for the 700, my question is, does it get the patronage to justify the high frequency. If not, having it run so it meets every second or third or forth tram instead of every tram would provide a sufficient level of service for people who need to go to/from the locations between Broadbeach and Tweed Heads. If it does however get the patronage (i.e. most buses on that run in the middle of the day are actually reasonably full) then sure, keep the high frequency.

To be fair though, the question then becomes "if people have to wait 15-20 minutes for their 700/tram combined service service instead of 5-10, will they continue to use public transit?" (especially applied to tourists staying in all that accommodation south of Broadbeach)

[08 XDi]

Without the 705 there is no PT access to the casino, most of Main Beach and a good deal of the walkup catchment around northern Broadbeach due to the lack of the tram stations.

Interchanging with the 704 is going go be ineffective due to the stop placement at Tedder Ave and the need to get people to cross the highway.

The 700 and 701 run with full standing loads quite often.

There is no reason to cannibalise these routes since they perform well - heavily loaded and cost effective. A more significant investment in buses is needed to fix the feeder routes.

[08 XDi]

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensl ... 0fqak.html

Awesome work!

[burrumbus]

The entire conversation above highlights the fundamental weakness of the 'G".
Simply it does not cover as a single service the entire tourist strip from Tweed Heads to Southport,forcing interchanging into what were single seat bus journeys.It will be interesting to see if there has been a patronage loss from the entire public transport market on the Coast.

[simonl]

The entire conversation above highlights the fundamental weakness of the 'G".
Simply it does not cover as a single service the entire tourist strip from Tweed Heads to Southport,forcing interchanging into what were single seat bus journeys.It will be interesting to see if there has been a patronage loss from the entire public transport market on the Coast.

Doesn't seem to have countered the positives: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensl ... gviij.html

You'd think that tram would be included in the modal reporting but it doesn't seem to be.

[jonwil]

I don't know about other uses but I heard from a reliable source that the G: has really increased the use of public transport to get to Griffith Uni.

[moreton]

The saddest part of all this is the Uni Students which are all only paying concession fares are getting all the service and other areas are being neglected.

[ABS]

You do realise there is a such a thing as part time students? No concession.

[Skindog the Hawk]

The saddest part of all this is the Uni Students which are all only paying concession fares are getting all the service and other areas are being neglected.

Why is this sad? Considering that university students don't have a "peak", they provide patronage when realistically most public transport is simply refrigerated air. Now swing it back to "other areas being neglected"...good public transport is about allocating scarce resources to where they can be used best. If you've got better suggestions, this is probably the forum for it.

[simonl]

There are also shift workers, unemployed and retired people travelling at these times.

[moreton]

Getting ready for big changes 12th December in southeast for all bus services in and around Brisbane City. Closing of William and Queens Wharf roads for next 6 years. Good luck for all those concerned. Moreton.