Ventura TT updates: 4 December 2016

[Craig]

Muddled timetable data has appeared on the PTV website suggesting updated runtimes will be implemented on selected Ventura Dandenong routes from 4 December. In a number of cases both the old and new runtimes are side-by-side due to a database error, allowing easy comparison of the changes. New data has appeared for all Dandenong depot routes (other than 828) but in many cases there is not any changes.

Routes that appear to have runtime updates include:
800 (Dandenong - Chadstone via Princes Hwy)
811 (Dandenong - Brighton via Springvale & Southland)
812 (Dandenong - Brighton via Parkmore SC & Southland)
813 (Dandenong - Waverley Gardens via Springvale)
857 (Dandenong - Chelsea via Bangholme)
885 (Glen Waverley - Springvale via Wanda St)

There new runtimes will mean more reliable trips at the expense of clockface headways, as is usually the case when Ventura revises their timetables (many weekday timetables are still unchanged from Grenda's days).

I would suspect the missing day restrictions on late night 845 & 849 trips will also be corrected shorly.

There don't appear to be any span/frequency improvements for any Dandenong routes that fail to meet mimimum standards - eg 814, 815, 844 & 857 all still lack both Saturday afternoon & Sunday services, while 800 & 804 remain two-hourly Saturday afternoon & not operating Sundays, along with 885. Likewise, the Endeavour Hills routes will continue to operate 2-hourly on Sundays and continue to finish late afternoon.

As per a similar issue a few weeks ago, 811 & 812 are only showing Dandenong-based trips at the moment (download while you can!).

There also appears to be a new 703 (Blackburn - Middle Brighton) timetable from the same day, although the new timetable only appears to be displaying towards Blackburn right now. Only weekend runtimes are being revised from what I can tell.

Sunday services will now operate in the Bentleigh - Middle Brighton section for the first time in nearly 20 years, at long last! The actual frequency on Sundays however remains about every 45 mins, and there are still early 9pm finishes for parts of the route on weeknights and the entire route on Saturdays, still failing the SmartBus service standards. Another data issue is all 703 northbound trips on weekdays are shown running via Forest Hill Chase - all peak services and a few other random trips skip the centre (as the weekday TT is not changing, they can not be changing this service pattern).

Kind Regards


Craig

[burrumbus]

Thanks Craig.
On the list of Dandenong routes,which way have the run times gone?? More or less ??
Cheers.

[Craig]

On the list of Dandenong routes,which way have the run times gone?? More or less ??

As you'd expect, there are selected peak trips with several extra minutes runtime, but in other cases it is a general revision of runtimes along the route to better match actual journey times - e.g. interpeak 800 trips still take around the same time, but the times between different timepoints have been adjusted.

Kind Regards


Craig

[MAN 16.242]

There also appears to be a new 703 (Blackburn - Middle Brighton) timetable from the same day, although the new timetable only appears to be displaying towards Blackburn right now. Only weekend runtimes are being revised from what I can tell.

Weekdays runtimes have been revised too

[Craig]

There also appears to be a new 703 (Blackburn - Middle Brighton) timetable from the same day, although the new timetable only appears to be displaying towards Blackburn right now. Only weekend runtimes are being revised from what I can tell.

Weekdays runtimes have been revised too

Yep, you're right - the changes are not too significant and posting late last night, didn't jump off the screen - it didn't help I also compared both sets of southbound times when the new data isn't up yet!

Kind Regards


Craig

[MAN 16.242]

708 also now has new TT online from 4 December 2016 with minor Weekday run time changes

[Craig]

Partial announcement regarding the changes...

Changes to Route 703 and minor timetable changes to Bayside metropolitan bus routes

From Sunday 4 December 2016, residents of Middle Brighton, Clayton and Bentleigh will receive a boost to services with the extension of bus Route 703 through to Brighton on Sundays.

Minor timetable changes will also be introduced on bus routes 703, 708, 811, 812 and 822 to ensure timetables better reflect current traffic conditions and services arrive and depart on schedule.

Key features:
Bus Route 703 will now operate through to Brighton on Sundays.
Timetable adjustments of between 1-3 minutes on routes 708, 811, 812 and 822.
Improved connections with metropolitan train services.
Improved customer experience by providing more reliable and punctual services.

Changes affect the following bus routes:
Route 703 Middle Brighton – Blackburn via Bentleigh, Clayton, Monash University
Route 708 Carrum – Hampton via Southland
Route 811 Dandenong – Brighton via Heatherton Road, Springvale
Route 812 Dandenong – Brighton via Parkmore Shopping Centre
Route 822 Chadstone – Sandringham via Murrumbeena and Southland

The new 822 timetable has yet to be uploaded.

Kind Regards


Craig

[MAN 16.242]

The new 822 timetable has yet to be uploaded.

Kind Regards


Craig

New 822 timetable is now online
Also a new 828 timetable is online but has issues with many trips missing.

[Matty G]

A new timetable for Route 788 has also been posted.

Unless there are errors, there are no "Friday only" trips (so the one standard Monday to Friday timetable) with the last service now leaving from Frankston to Portsea at 2305. The last Saturday night trip ex Frankston at 2337 now runs thru to Rosebud (Port Phillip Plaza) as opposed to Mornington.
And as per the other Ventura Group timetables released for this period, this route has had a number of alterations to its arrival and departure times throughout week.

---

[Leyland B21]

The new 822 timetable has yet to be uploaded.

Kind Regards


Craig

New 822 timetable is now online
Also a new 828 timetable is online but has issues with many trips missing.

Route 828 appears to only show the Moorabbin Depot trips.

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

[Craig]

A second news item has now appeared - given the general title of this one, it is confusing that is doesn't just list those routes changing in the Bayside area as well in the same one.

Timetable changes for a number of Ventura bus routes

From Sunday 4 December 2016, new bus timetables for various metropolitan bus routes will be introduced to improve service reliability and provide better connections to train services.

Timetable changes will include minor changes to arrival and departure times by up to 14 minutes. Average journey times will change by up to 13 minutes on weekdays and 9 minutes on weekends.

Timetable changes affect bus routes listed below:

Route 631 Southland – Waverley Gardens via Clayton, Monash University
Route 701 Oakleigh – Bentleigh via Mackie Road, Brady Road
Route 705 Mordialloc – Springvale via Braeside, Clayton South
Route 767 Southland – Box Hill via Chadstone, Jordanville, Deakin University
Route 786 Rye – St Andrews Beach via Dundas Street
Route 787 Sorrento – Safety Beach via Rosebud via Blairgowrie, Rosebud, Dromana
Route 788 Frankston – Portsea via Dromana, Rosebud, Sorrento
Route 800 Dandenong – Chadstone via Princes Highway, Oakleigh
Route 813 Dandenong – Waverley Gardens SC
Route 821 Southland – Clayton via Heatherton
Route 828 Hampton – Berwick Station via Southland SC, Dandenong
Route 835 Berwick Station – Narre Warren Circle via Narre Warren South, Berwick North
Route 836 Berwick Station – Eden Rise SC via Bridgewater Estate
Route 841 Narre Warren North – Cranbourne via Narre Warren, Cranbourne North
Route 846 Berwick Station – Eden Rise SC via Bryn Mawr Boulevard
Route 857 Chelsea – Dandenong via Patterson Lakes
Route 885 Glen Waverley – Springvale via Wanda Street
Route 926 Pakenham Station – Fountain Gate SC via Lakeside, Beaconsfield

So now we've got changes across the following depots:
Dandenong: 800, 811, 812, 813, 828, 857 & 885
Moorabbin: 631, 705, 708, 811, 812, 821, 822 & 828
Oakleigh: 701, 703 & 767
Pakenham: 835, 836, 841, 846 & 926
Rosebud: 786, 787 & 788

It does seem some of the timetables are still being worked on - eg 767 southbound is missing Box Hill times, 787 is missing most trips ex Sorrento, footnotes remain missing across several routes.

Kind Regards


Craig

[Bradley]

The new 822 timetable has yet to be uploaded.

Kind Regards


Craig

New 822 timetable is now online
Also a new 828 timetable is online but has issues with many trips missing.

Route 828 timetables have now been fixed, but missing one trip bewteen 9:00am to 9:34 trip ex Hampton a 34 mins gap, possibly 9:20am trip??

Cheers

Bradley.

[Bradley]

A second news item has now appeared - given the general title of this one, it is confusing that is doesn't just list those routes changing in the Bayside area as well in the same one.

Timetable changes for a number of Ventura bus routes

From Sunday 4 December 2016, new bus timetables for various metropolitan bus routes will be introduced to improve service reliability and provide better connections to train services.

Timetable changes will include minor changes to arrival and departure times by up to 14 minutes. Average journey times will change by up to 13 minutes on weekdays and 9 minutes on weekends.

Timetable changes affect bus routes listed below:

Route 631 Southland – Waverley Gardens via Clayton, Monash University
Route 701 Oakleigh – Bentleigh via Mackie Road, Brady Road
Route 705 Mordialloc – Springvale via Braeside, Clayton South
Route 767 Southland – Box Hill via Chadstone, Jordanville, Deakin University
Route 786 Rye – St Andrews Beach via Dundas Street
Route 787 Sorrento – Safety Beach via Rosebud via Blairgowrie, Rosebud, Dromana
Route 788 Frankston – Portsea via Dromana, Rosebud, Sorrento
Route 800 Dandenong – Chadstone via Princes Highway, Oakleigh
Route 813 Dandenong – Waverley Gardens SC
Route 821 Southland – Clayton via Heatherton
Route 828 Hampton – Berwick Station via Southland SC, Dandenong
Route 835 Berwick Station – Narre Warren Circle via Narre Warren South, Berwick North
Route 836 Berwick Station – Eden Rise SC via Bridgewater Estate
Route 841 Narre Warren North – Cranbourne via Narre Warren, Cranbourne North
Route 846 Berwick Station – Eden Rise SC via Bryn Mawr Boulevard
Route 857 Chelsea – Dandenong via Patterson Lakes
Route 885 Glen Waverley – Springvale via Wanda Street
Route 926 Pakenham Station – Fountain Gate SC via Lakeside, Beaconsfield

So now we've got changes across the following depots:
Dandenong: 800, 811, 812, 813, 828, 857 & 885
Moorabbin: 631, 705, 708, 811, 812, 821, 822 & 828
Oakleigh: 701, 703 & 767
Pakenham: 835, 836, 841, 846 & 926
Rosebud: 786, 787 & 788

It does seem some of the timetables are still being worked on - eg 767 southbound is missing Box Hill times, 787 is missing most trips ex Sorrento, footnotes remain missing across several routes.

Kind Regards


Craig

Route 767 ex Box Hill now online and been fixed as for 787 still just have one trip the 4:15pm ex Sorrento??

Cheers

Bradley.

[Craig]

Also a new 828 timetable is online but has issues with many trips missing.

Route 828 timetables have now been fixed, but missing one trip bewteen 9:00am to 9:34 trip ex Hampton a 34 mins gap, possibly 9:20am trip??

I think this is the consequence of more accurate runtimes without funding for an extra bus sadly, although unlike the Dysons runtime changes in 2011, there are still the same number of trips across the entire day in each direction, but spacing has suffered.

Earlier ex Berwick there are now departures at 06:34, 07:00 & 07:28 - this results in two consecutive 30 min gaps in the height of the morning peak for almost the entire route (on a route with an approx 20 min all day headway)

These same departures arrive Hampton at 08:31, 08:58 & 09:27.

Subsequently, these buses seem to return from Hampton at 08:33, 09:00 & 09:34.

Concerningly there seems to be several 2 min turnarounds at Hampton - I hope the shift bats reveal the buses actually get 20 mins in many cases - otherwise the timetable will fall apart, a 2 hour route needs a minimum 5 minute layover, for both driver comfort and recovery from delays. Of course, they may have mitigated this issue, perhaps by having 20 min layovers, or at least the Moorabbin depot trips running on/off instead of onroad driver changes in Graham Rd Highett.

Kind Regards


Craig

[Craig]

Noticed there is also a new 823 timetable from 4 December.

There is an additional return trip after school, departing Southland at 15:34 and returning from North Brighton at 16:00, plugging the usual hour-long gaps.

Kind Regards


Craig

[MAN 16.242]

Concerningly there seems to be several 2 min turnarounds at Hampton - I hope the shift bats reveal the buses actually get 20 mins in many cases - otherwise the timetable will fall apart, a 2 hour route needs a minimum 5 minute layover, for both driver comfort and recovery from delays. Of course, they may have mitigated this issue, perhaps by having 20 min layovers, or at least the Moorabbin depot trips running on/off instead of onroad driver changes in Graham Rd Highett.

And there is plenty of examples past and present of where short layovers i.e under 5 mins on long and/or congested routes has resulted in struggling to maintain the timetable.

[Craig]

A new timetable for Route 788 has also been posted.

Unless there are errors, there are no "Friday only" trips (so the one standard Monday to Friday timetable) with the last service now leaving from Frankston to Portsea at 2305. The last Saturday night trip ex Frankston at 2337 now runs thru to Rosebud (Port Phillip Plaza) as opposed to Mornington.
And as per the other Ventura Group timetables released for this period, this route has had a number of alterations to its arrival and departure times throughout week.

Seems to be an error - there are now PDFs available on the Ventura website spat out of their Austrics software while they wait for PTV to get their act together. Link - http://www.venturabus.com.au/timetable- ... er-2016-2/

The 22:05 & 23:05 trips are labelled "788f"

The last Saturday trip is now shown on the PTV website as terminating at Mornington again, which contradicts the PDF on Ventura's website. But the PTV website has issues across several routes still to resolve...

Kind Regards


Craig

[MAN 16.242]

A second news item has now appeared - given the general title of this one, it is confusing that is doesn't just list those routes changing in the Bayside area as well in the same one.

Timetable changes for a number of Ventura bus routes

From Sunday 4 December 2016, new bus timetables for various metropolitan bus routes will be introduced to improve service reliability and provide better connections to train services.

Timetable changes will include minor changes to arrival and departure times by up to 14 minutes. Average journey times will change by up to 13 minutes on weekdays and 9 minutes on weekends.

Timetable changes affect bus routes listed below:

Route 631 Southland – Waverley Gardens via Clayton, Monash University
Route 701 Oakleigh – Bentleigh via Mackie Road, Brady Road
Route 705 Mordialloc – Springvale via Braeside, Clayton South
Route 767 Southland – Box Hill via Chadstone, Jordanville, Deakin University
Route 786 Rye – St Andrews Beach via Dundas Street
Route 787 Sorrento – Safety Beach via Rosebud via Blairgowrie, Rosebud, Dromana
Route 788 Frankston – Portsea via Dromana, Rosebud, Sorrento
Route 800 Dandenong – Chadstone via Princes Highway, Oakleigh
Route 813 Dandenong – Waverley Gardens SC
Route 821 Southland – Clayton via Heatherton
Route 828 Hampton – Berwick Station via Southland SC, Dandenong
Route 835 Berwick Station – Narre Warren Circle via Narre Warren South, Berwick North
Route 836 Berwick Station – Eden Rise SC via Bridgewater Estate
Route 841 Narre Warren North – Cranbourne via Narre Warren, Cranbourne North
Route 846 Berwick Station – Eden Rise SC via Bryn Mawr Boulevard
Route 857 Chelsea – Dandenong via Patterson Lakes
Route 885 Glen Waverley – Springvale via Wanda Street
Route 926 Pakenham Station – Fountain Gate SC via Lakeside, Beaconsfield

So now we've got changes across the following depots:
Dandenong: 800, 811, 812, 813, 828, 857 & 885
Moorabbin: 631, 705, 708, 811, 812, 821, 822 & 828
Oakleigh: 701, 703 & 767
Pakenham: 835, 836, 841, 846 & 926
Rosebud: 786, 787 & 788

It does seem some of the timetables are still being worked on - eg 767 southbound is missing Box Hill times, 787 is missing most trips ex Sorrento, footnotes remain missing across several routes.

Kind Regards


Craig

Other timetable changes noted are
Dandenong: 845
Oakleigh: 733

In both cases there seem to be only one timepoint with run time changes.

[Craig]

There are still at least 20 outstanding issues with the timetable data on the PTV website for the changes that began yesterday, which I have reported to Ventura via Twitter - https://twitter.com/craig_halsall

Issues include missing timetable data for Routes 706, 733, 767, 787, 812 & 900 and numerous missing footnotes and missing day restriction info.

Kind Regards



Craig

[burrumbus]

Great stuff Craig.Wish PTV were as on the ball as you!!.
Another one for your list ,I discovered at the Highlands Shopping Centre,Craigieburn stop(shopping centre side).This timetable and the one on the opposite side of the road only display the 529 timetable.So there is no 533 timetable displayed at the shops stop.I would have thought the ideal arrangement would be to through route 529 and 533 at Highlands.Alas they operate as separate services and turn around there for much of the day.It takes the 529 around 2 minutes to disappear through two streets to work back to Craigieburn.
Cheers.

[Craig]

In addition to my reports earlier today regarding the issues with online Ventura timetables, I have identified issues with the stop timetables along Route 703.

The timetables installed at Forest Hill Chase incorrectly indicate all trips operate via the centre, which is not correct - there are no services at peak times in either direction!

Furthermore, it appears the limited stop university day trips are incorrectly listed at timetables at all stops and do not have a "University Days Only" footnote.

I have posted some photos from Forest Hill Chase onto my Twitter feed for PTV's and Ventura's reference - https://twitter.com/craig_halsall

Kind Regards


Craig