PTA/Transperth approach to bus network reform

[PaxInfo]

Adelaide's last attempt at reforming its bus network failed due to political opposition.

Perth takes a more gradual approach.

This blog post discusses how it's done, with reference to the new routes 915 & 26 and the declining Route 103.

https://melbourneontransit.blogspot.com ... kes_7.html

[tonyp]

Those stealthy Sandgropers! One moment you're laughing at them over their chugging old railcars, turn your back for a few years, then turn around and find they have Australia's best public transport system, the devils! Very good article. It's often the way to go, although NSW seems to trade on spectacular announcements of very radical changes. Perhaps Sydney gets a buzz out of major change, Adelaideans are perhaps very conservative, so the stealthy approach would be better. I know all those Perth routes very well (and they work very well), which makes it an even more interesting read. Thanks for the link. Whose blog is that?

[PaxInfo]

Whose blog is that?

Mine.

Large parts of the Perth network look like they need reform, although difficult street layouts don't help. Eg Hamilton Hill/Coobellup south-east of Fremantle have a lot of routes including some legacy routes to the CBD dating from before the train (although they are old housing commission areas so patronage may be OK). Parts of suburbs like Leeming lack 7 day service. There are still dead-end termini in areas like Beechboro and Cloverdale but hopefully the Ellenbrook and airport lines will lead to revised networks.

[Merc1107]

Eg Hamilton Hill/Coobellup south-east of Fremantle have a lot of routes including some legacy routes to the CBD dating from before the train (although they are old housing commission areas so patronage may be OK)

Despite the tangled web of routes and what appears like over-servicing, the people in these areas do make good use of their bus service. I would attribute this to the fact all the services run with good span, good frequency or coordination and actually go somewhere people want to go - compare this with the Baldivis, Hammond Park or Wandi feeders which are inconvenient for anything other than city-bound travel.

While Coolbellup and Hamilton Hill have tidied up a lot in the past two decades (or so I'm told), it is a lower socioeconomic area and thus cash tickets are used more often than SmartRiders. Unfortunately, ticket transfers are no longer recorded so I suspect official patronage figures in these areas would tend to understate the actual patronage.

Parts of suburbs like Leeming lack 7 day service.

Historically, Bibra Lake was Leeming's rival suburb. It probably still is. Compare the bus service, though - Bibra Lake has 7 day service on the 514 with exceptionally good nighttime service (how that has survived is a mystery to me, nobody uses it!). Whereas the last 515 on a weeknight is before 8pm, and I don't think the 516 is any better! Sending one or both routes down to Cockburn would make good sense, I think, and perhaps justify an improved service for Leeming.

[tonyp]

Mine.

Good blog thanks, I've been enjoying reading other posts.

I think I've actually been a victim of the "Perth process"! When we go there from Sydney, we typically stay around Mosman Park/Fremantle, so naturally I'm hanging out for the airport rail link to be completed. In the meantime, we use a two-bus trip with interchange, carefully chosen due to heavy luggage having to be carried, so walking long distances is not feasible. For the Mosman Park route we catch the 380 from the airport into the city then interchange in St Georges Terrace to a bus towards Fremantle direction. (It always annoyed me that there were no buses between the airport and Perth Station, from where you can join the rail network in any direction.)

I forget the route number of the second bus, it was one of those 100 series services, but I had got into the lazy habit of just throwing the paper timetables into my bag for the next trip which may be a few months later. So last trip we get to St G Terrace late in the evening and find to our horror that the bus has been cut back and was no longer running! We grabbed a Uber to complete the trip. I guess I was foolish not using the app, but it was a sure sign of stealthy little changes going on.

[Bus Suggestions]

I've regularly followed Melbourne On Transit, well written articles on a well-prioritised and structured blog. Thanks for the nice write-ups PaxInfo, always a wonderful read. It's interesting seeing three approaches to bus reform explained in parallel - the extreme all-in-one-go (Adelaide), the midway (Perth), and the stasis extreme (Melbourne).

[tonyp]

The only big city missing in that piece is Sydney and I would love to hear your opinion of that compared to Perth and the others PaxInfo! Though maybe you've already given it somewhere else in the blog. I'll explore.

[Enviro 500]

Mine.

Good blog thanks, I've been enjoying reading other posts.

I think I've actually been a victim of the "Perth process"! When we go there from Sydney, we typically stay around Mosman Park/Fremantle, so naturally I'm hanging out for the airport rail link to be completed. In the meantime, we use a two-bus trip with interchange, carefully chosen due to heavy luggage having to be carried, so walking long distances is not feasible. For the Mosman Park route we catch the 380 from the airport into the city then interchange in St Georges Terrace to a bus towards Fremantle direction. (It always annoyed me that there were no buses between the airport and Perth Station, from where you can join the rail network in any direction.)

I forget the route number of the second bus, it was one of those 100 series services, but I had got into the lazy habit of just throwing the paper timetables into my bag for the next trip which may be a few months later. So last trip we get to St G Terrace late in the evening and find to our horror that the bus has been cut back and was no longer running! We grabbed a Uber to complete the trip. I guess I was foolish not using the app, but it was a sure sign of stealthy little changes going on.

103?

[tonyp]

103?

Yes I think that's it. They'd cut back late evening runs or something like that.