Transdev Greenfield changes

[MAN 16.242]

The proposed changes for the Greenfield timetable for April next year are now online, with frequency guides and maps showing all the changes.

http://www.transdevmelbourne.com.au/tra ... e-changes/

[Peter1805]

I have to say that I agree with their decision to split the Orbital routes up into 2 or 3 sections each.

Much more sensible and practical than the current arrangement, in my opinion.

[nonscenic]

Looking at the Eastern Suburbs area there are a mixture of good changes and ones that make it obvious why the announcement has been under wraps until after the State Election.
The orbital routes 901/2/3 are being split up into sections (and new 911 /12 / 13 / 33 routeswhich presumably might see an overall improvement in timeliness.
There are some winners such as route 309 being upgraded considerably in frequency and extended to weekends, presumably to increase the capacity that was removed in July between the Doncaster Park and Ride and the city. Route 318 gets an increase in services during the peak periods.
Weekday peak capacity on some routes is still not being increased to meet the crush loading that is occurring on some peak am routes and a token 4 am and 4 pm peak services are being retained on the resuscitated route 303.
Route 281 is being truncated to only run between Deakin uni and Box Hill, while the remainder of the current route is serviced by the orbital 911 .
Routes 284 and 285 are being replaced by a route 285 that incorporates the current routes south and west of P and R.
The Manningham Mover route 280 / 282 appears to be pruned to remove the Bulleen area and a new route from Heidelberg to Templestowe Village route 283 appears to have been omitted from the map.

[Alstom 888M]

No mention whatsoever of the 234, 235, 236, 237 runs at all. Surely they have not been scrapped. I guess they have been omitted from the document as that work was done earlier this year.

[newbus959]

wouldn't be wise for the 913 to at least terminate at La Trobe Uni?

[RailwayBus]

No mention whatsoever of the 234, 235, 236, 237 runs at all. Surely they have not been scrapped. I guess they have been omitted from the document as that work was done earlier this year.

The southern suburbs page has the following note:

"Note: There are no proposed changes to any other TRansdev service in the southern suburbs."

As those routes run in the very inner southern suburbs (if you can call them that?), I'd say they fall under that note. But it should mention that on the City page as well.

[Alstom 888M]

Fair enough, and what of the 219? No mention there, but I would not be surprised if it is to be scrapped.

[RailwayBus]

As with brochures and information regarding bus changes supplied by PTV previously, including Manningham, Brimbank and Wyndham, information provision is woeful. The map for Wyndham was bad, but the maps for this are shocking, don't cover the entire network, have brand new routes missing off them, etc.

And like the others, especially the Manningham one, you have to do all the work yourself to find out whether you are impacted or not.

Information about major changes like this really should be spelled out rather than just left for the customer to piece the puzzle pieces together.

I would expect the 219 to be scrapped, given the frequency that the 216 seems to be receiving.

[burrumbus]

Agreed Railwaybus.The maps are terrible.Same goes for the atrocious maps for the Sydney route services,now.I couldn't find a map that gives the full routes for the 248/249.

[RailwayBus]

Another observation relating to poor information provision is that service frequencies and operating times are inconsistent on some routes depending on what page you look at. 250/251. Possibly others.

[BroadGauge]

How on earth can a service still be called a "SmartBus" if it only runs every 30-40 minutes? Such as the 933 that's going to replace the 903 from Essendon to Altona.

Do the other services that are being cut to 20 minutely (and 30-40 on weekends) still really provide a "SmartBus" service level either?

At least the eastern sections of those routes have received a good boost in services, but not everybody lives on that side of Melbourne, contrary to popular belief

[newbus959]

I would expect the 219 to be scrapped, given the frequency that the 216 seems to be receiving.

Apart from a very small section in Sunshine, the two routes would be identical under the new changes anyway.

[railex]

The new route 248 cuts the service level on hotham street dramatically. Cut from every 15 mins off peak to every 30 mins. Plus weekends are cut to 40 mins from every 20 mins. Also for such a high density area a total removal of services after 9 pm currently end at midnight 7 days a week. This will piss off alot of people and in an extremely marginal electorate too.

The other issue with this new service is you have to change buses to access the city from hotham street. Right at the point where the service is full duri ng the morning peak. Eg at the alfred hospital. Off peak this might be ok but not at peak times.

Also not extending the new 249 from gardenvale to southland shopping centre via nepean hwy is a major missed chance to connect alot of routes together in the inner south east.

They should have extended the new 248 though untill the art centre where about 2/3rd of the bus gets off at peak times. Thus it would be Arts Centre to Sandingham via elsternwick.

[Paul_Nicholson]

Fascinating that this was released on the first working day after the Victorian election that saw a change of government.

I would have preferred to have seen some linking of the orbital routes. I've been known to make the trip from Ringwood to Melbourne Airport on the 901. Sure it's a leisurely trip but I would have liked the option to make the journey even if it was with a change of buses at the likes of The Pines or Westfield Doncaster.

Seems the proposals only cover routes?

What about the vehicles? Can Transdev expect to attract additional patronage when so many (most?) of the buses in service are grubby with graffiti and scratched windows? The buses show a clear lack of "tender loving care" and a "deep clean" would surely be rare if not non existent.

But I accept there is a community perception that Melbourne is a grubby city of grubby people and public transport is mostly for the grubbiest of the grubby.

I might be naive but I would expect a civilised city that Melbourne claims to be could do better.

Paul in Melbourne (who showers daily and washes his clothes regularly)

[nonscenic]

Fliers about the new changes were being handed out at the Park and Ride this morning, adding to evidence of pre planning to keep the announcement under wraps until after the State election.
This supports the hypothesis that overall the changes were seen by the previous government as being likely to be unpopular with the electorate.
Living in Manningham, the changes look to be an improvement, but the devil might be in the detail. Most of Manningham is in blue ribbon territory so there were probably issues with unpopular changes in more marginal areas.
From another perspective Transdev are struggling to provide buses for the current services during peak times and the trickle of Gemilangs isn't even enough on the current timetable to permit Transdev to retire the SL200's or the other ancient relics still being pressed into service, so the next few months isn't enough time to allow changes to increase weekday peak frequencies. Off peak there may be more scope but of course the number of drivers is the other issue.
The survey seems to be pushing for comments on the issue of connecting with trains. Given the uncertainties of both modes of transport in punctuality, timetabling isn't really helpful if you have 20, 30 or 40 minute frequencies. Connecting modes of transport only becomes a viable option if the service frequencies of each mode are about 10 minutes or less. Until this is achieved public transport will not become a viable option for many.

[Alstom 888M]

My understanding is that Transdev want to wrap the SmartBus fleet as well, save them having to run two distinct fleets. I've noticed the 703 is now only run by blue buses.

[philm]

Smartbus changes make sense, not sure what to make of the 285 changes though. Amalgamating the 284/5 routes together makes little sense, especially when you look at the new route. If their aim was to make bus routes more direct, then they have woefully failed with this one. What would make more sense is keep the two separate, run smaller buses on the 285 like the 280/82, and change the 284 route to run past Surrey Hills Station to create a PT link to the train line from the northern suburbs of Boroondara.

[matthew]

The proposed changes of 250 is unjustifiable - at the moment:

250 bus is the following:

Monday _ Friday 20mins in the day time 30 mins in off-peak 5 - 24
Saturday 30mins 6 - 24
Sunday 40mins 6 -22

The proposed changes of the 250

Mon -Fri peak 30mins off-peak 60mins - 6am - 21:00
Saturday 60 mins from 7am to 19:00
Sunday 60 mins from 8am to 20:00

http://www.transdevmelbourne.com.au/tra ... ges/cbd-2/

[Bus Lane]

Some of the interchanges with breaking the Orbitals up are not going to work... The interchange between buses at Essendon Station between the 913 and 933 are only going to work weekday off-peak when they are 15min and 30min respectively. Weekends and other times they will never meet.... So if you wanted to go to the DFO you will need to change buses and they will never be coordinated. This was the main point about the Orbitals, that you didn't need to change buses to get to a destination.

[werd]

Changes that I have noticed from the maps:

• The 906 is altered to run directly via Andersons Creek Rd (Not via The Pines).
  The 318 is made to run to Deep Creek via the old 308 route (via Blackburn Rd and Warrandyte Rd) and will service The Pines.
  The 207 looks to have been extended to replace the current 305 off-peak route.
  The 216 looks like in will run via the Queen Vic market and the 220 will service Docklands (Via Harbour esplanade and Latrobe St)

[newbus959]

It seems 216 will enter via Dudley St to Queen Vic Market and terminating at the end of Queen St.
The line for the 220 seems to disappear from the end of Lonsdale St, so I'm assuming it'll also terminate at the Collins St end of Queen St, not servicing Queen Vic Market

[RailwayBus]

The proposed changes of 250 is unjustifiable - at the moment:

250 bus is the following:

Monday _ Friday 20mins in the day time 30 mins in off-peak 5 - 24
Saturday 30mins 6 - 24
Sunday 40mins 6 -22

The proposed changes of the 250

Mon -Fri peak 30mins off-peak 60mins - 6am - 21:00
Saturday 60 mins from 7am to 19:00
Sunday 60 mins from 8am to 20:00

http://www.transdevmelbourne.com.au/tra ... ges/cbd-2/

As I said above, the 250 and 251 have different information shown depending on what page you look at. If you look at the Northern page, you'll see the frequencies and times are different to what you have posted.

[nonscenic]

As I said above, the 250 and 251 have different information shown depending on what page you look at. If you look at the Northern page, you'll see the frequencies and times are different to what you have posted.

Similarly in the maps the new 283 service from Heidelberg to Templestowe shops is missing on the Eastern page, but appears on the City page. There are probably several other differences in the information between editions. Presumably the proof reader position was abolished to make the announcements too difficult to be used in evidence against the government of the day

[huyie]

Some of the interchanges with breaking the Orbitals up are not going to work... The interchange between buses at Essendon Station between the 913 and 933 are only going to work weekday off-peak when they are 15min and 30min respectively. Weekends and other times they will never meet...

The mismatched frequencies also means that through-routing 913 and 933 won't be possible either over the weekend.

[newbus959]

There has just been a change on the transdev website for route 220
it now says Sunshine to City (Peak) and Sunshine to Footscray (off-peak)

I really hope that 220 off peak services dont terminate at Footscray