tonyp wrote: ↑Sat Jan 30, 2021 10:44 pm
You can't compare it with the Ryde tram between White Bay and the city because the route is completely different, but between Top Ryde and White Bay, the tram was only a few minutes slower than the 500X but with more than twice as many stops. So much for the benefits of a limited stops bus! I did a quick run over stop spacings on the 500X and, unlike the exercise I did on the 333 recently, I found that many of the spacings on this one are really long. No wonder people get upset if they can't get off. If they could keep the distances down to 500 metres max, it would be more attractive for users.
It's different circumstances with the 500X though - unlike most of the the 333 (with the exception of the stretch past Centennial Park), there are stretches of the 500X where there is less catchment, and from Drummoyne inwards, the route is also paralleled by alternative all stops services reducing the need for the 500X to stop at any but the busiest bus stops (which still account for the vast majority of Victoria Rd patronage anyway). West of Drummoyne the 501 provides for intermediate stops to be still served, but these stops have relatively low patronage anyway, even where distances between stops are greater.
Horses for courses - network design needs to fit circumstances, not a one size fits all model - and I'm sure we are both in agreement on that front.
As for comparing tram speeds from long ago, it's really completely irrelevant in a practical sense, although I agree it has the superficial attention grabbing that can help attract attention from decision makers and the public. Substantially different traffic congestion, traffic lights with multiple phases, and changes such as not being able to swing on and off a moving vehicle all contribute. Limited stops services on congested corridors such as Victoria Road don't save much time, due to effectively being slowed down by all stops services which are sharing the same bus lane, and without indented bus stops. This is a good argument for simplifying route structure and maximising use of high capacity buses to reduce the number of buses per hour using the bus lane - exactly what has happened to Victoria Road in these changes.
Of course, there's still plenty that could be done that would speed up the buses (we all know what they are, as they are discussed here frequently) - but undoing the current knots in the bus network is an evolutionary path, not a revolutionary one.
