New Trial Service - Route 529

[Leyland B21]

New route 529 (Armadale - Cockburn Central): Community Information Display

Transperth is pleased to announce new trial service, Route 529.

Route 529 will provide direct access between Armadale Station and Cockburn Central Station, extending to Gateways Shopping Centre outside peak periods.

The proposed service will operate Monday to Friday on a 30-minute frequency during peak and on an hourly frequency outside peak periods.

Representatives from Transperth will be available to discuss this new route at the following location and time:
Armadale Shopping City

Date: Thursday 2 September 2010
Time: 2:00pm – 7:00pm
Location: Jull Street, Armadale
(Outside Liquorland)

All interested parties are invited to attend.

Please click here to access a map of new route 529.

The new route will appear on the South Eastern 8 timetable from Tuesday 12 October 2010.

The service will operate on a three month trial basis, in which the route’s patronage will be reviewed. The continuation of this route will depend on consistent and well-supported patronage.

For more information regarding service changes, please call the Transperth InfoLine on 13 62 13 (TTY: 9428 1999, TIS: 13 14 50).

Posted on Friday, 20 August 2010

[Mr OC Benz]

This could mean that there might be a service reduction or deletion of route 254 since route 529 will cover almost all of the existing 254 route.

[Q4004]

Be interesting who will do this service and what buses will be used?

[Leyland B21]

i like the fact that it is using the entire stretch of Armadale Road between Cockburn and Church Avenue. Giving this service a better catchment than former route 224. Personally i dont feel it will affect route 254, at least not while its a trial service anyway.

Route 529 was originally planned for the SSR opening but was scrapped at that point in time. On a personal note i think it would have been better servicing between Armadale & Kwinana giving the southern end of Nicholson Road and Thomas Road a service for a first time. There is enough catchment compared to between Nicholson Road and Cockburn

[BusSpotter97]

Also will we see shifts mixing 529 and 527 runs.
eg, Southern River Run
529T,527F,527T,529F

[Mr OC Benz]

Not neccessarily. The majority of the 529 route is in the Southern River contract and most likely will be a Southern River run by what I have heard, although it is possible that it may mean Southern River may do some 527's but I think this will be a bare minimum.

[Q4004]

Be interesting if it is a Mixed Canningvale/Southern River Run then NH's can go back to Armadale and OC's to Cockburn

[Leyland B21]

although im not in the west these days, im under the understanding that Southern Rivers allocation are all CNG Gassies. In this regard i suppose it would be good to see some NH's out and about in Armadale, but who knows until the trial starts!!!

[bJase][/b]

[runawaybus]

I don't see this bus anywhere on the TP website

[Fleet Lists]

It is only in the planning stages at this stage - that is why.

And if you read the first post "The new route will appear on the South Eastern 8 timetable from Tuesday 12 October 2010."

[Mr OC Benz]

Yes... If you scroll through the updates on the homepage you'll see the page with the info about the proposed route. There should be a timetable coming soon...

[tbc1983]

Shades of the old 224

The 224...yeah, that was the route when the driver would say "Where's that fkn turn-off? "


Cheers!

[Leyland B21]

Funny old route the 224 was, winding its way through Hammy Hill, Looping through Bibra Lake, Little visit to Yangebup and then pretty ordinary to Armadale. Miss it though, Nice being able to go to Freo at that time without having to catch 2 trains!!!

[Leyland B21]

Ok the new timetable has been released and i was incorrect my suspicions of route 254 being deleted whilst 529 is a trial service. Noticed the upgrade in route 244 frequency which is only of minimal improvement.

Jase

[Mr OC Benz]

And by the looks of it because its not a fully accessible route it could quite mean that high floors from Canning Vale will do some. But then again I've heard whispers about Southern River getting some high floors meaning that they could be used on the route??? We'll see what happens I guess...

[BusSpotter97]

How'sthe patronage going.
Are Pax in Forrestfield now travelling to Cockburn Central.

[Leyland B21]

How'sthe patronage going.
Are Pax in Forrestfield now travelling to Cockburn Central.

One Would assume u mean Forrestdale? its easier for ppl in Forestfield to get to Perth than Cockburn for a Mandurah Train lol

[Leyland B21]

it posted twice. Apologies

[BusSpotter97]

Oh yeah.
Sorry thats what I meant.

[Leyland B21]

Im trying to work out why my post came up twice!!! I only had a 6 pack at that point in time!!!

Jase

[laptop15]

Well I hope it works because its a good link for people south of Cockburn to get t the Armadale area.

[laptop15]

I ran a couple of 529's this afternoon. I left Cockburn at 1723 with 3 passengers all who went all the way to Armadale. On the return journey from Armadale I did the trip with an empty bus.

Thats a start

[kp.nuts]

I can't see this service being used for anything other than Armadale passengers to go to Cockburn shops/station, or Cockburn passengers to go to Armadale shops/station (I'm well aware that seems like a pointless statement, let me finish).

I can't imagine this bus stopping anywhere between about Eighth Rd Armadale and Cockburn station, except maybe once or twice a day for a Forrestdale passenger. Everyone living between Eight Rd Armadale and Armadale station would probably go to Armadale station, rather than Cockburn, and they have a choice of 2 services for that. Everyone living near Cockburn would probably go to Cockburn shops/station, rather than Armadale station. And most of those people would have a bus service already, with a better frequency.

The only time Cockburn area passengers would go to Armadale is for Kmart/Target, or for a station on the Armadale line. Maybe Burswood? But it might be quicker to go in/out of the city for that, especially with having to change trains for Armadale -> Burswood. Pretty much most of the other shops in Armadale are also in Cockburn anyway, and with Perth shops open til 9pm weekdays, it's not like Armadale is more available (the 529 doesn't run that late anyway). The only other time would be on Sundays, but the 529 doesn't run on weekends. The ones that aren't (Harvey Norman, maybe?) would probably require a car to transport the items home, so they wouldn't get the bus anyway.

Armadale area passengers are more likely to use this service. They wouldn't use this service to go to Cockburn shops, as I don't think there's anything at Cockburn that isn't in Armadale. If they were to use this service for shops, they would use it to go to Armadale shops. I don't know if they would use the 529 to go to the city from Cockburn stn, I guess it might be quicker because Cockburn -> Perth is only 5 or so stations at a high speed, whereas Armadale -> Perth is about 13 stops at a slower speed. But the main reason Armadale passengers would use this service would be if they wanted to go to to Murdoch uni, or any area south of Cockburn, such as Mandurah or Rockingham for the day. Using the 529 would make that journey a lot quicker.

So, if you're still reading this, in my opinion, it is clear this service will not provide enough passenger loading to keep it past the 3 month trial. Although the idea of a bus service from Armadale to Cockburn is a good one, and seems ideal having to just go down the one long road, I don't believe the area is ready for it yet. What needs to happen is for more residential areas to be built along Armadale Road, near the middle. This bus route would then provide the transport needed to get them to the city via one of the train lines, as well as a direct link to the shopping centres. Until the residential areas are built, unfortunately there is little need for this bus route.

[Q4004]

I crossed 2 buses on the trip back to Cockburn. After checking the timetable there is a 30 min frequency during peaks and given the loading I experienced can't seeing it lasting unless there is a cut back in service level. However, it was a pleasant drive compared to the hurley burley of the Circle Route and the terrace

Back to reality today...

What bus did you have?

[crazyknightsfan]

Sounds like there's a few f*ck ups operating this new route. Attachment is from 'Comment News' (Gosnells), 7/12/10