The fascinating thing about the Gen 4 Citycats imo, is that they hold more people than a HESS Lightram 25.
4 Likes
lololololol what a disingenous way of spinning “the state government was against the underground station”
nothing pisses me off more than the two year debacle to decide whether the station would be between BCC and TMR
Interesting comment to write when you have nothing positive to say and while pretending to be innocent, but they left out a few small things…
- The underground station design was never feasible.
- The land is owned by the State Gov.
- A bus network review was all the CC needed at a fraction of the cost of underground station.
- The BCC signed the contract in secret for the underground station in haste without TMR’s approval or knowledge.
- The State Gov reacted to this blindside by contacting both parties asking WTF!
- The Mayor whinges and complains and blames State Transport minister despite being told of the risks of pursing contract without State approval.
- The BCC were forced to break their own contract within 48 hours and payed ~$300M compensation to the contractors.
In the end nobody seems to talk about or remember this sorry saga. The Brisbane Metro should be taught as universities as a case study on how not design and build public transport projects.
1 Like
Could we have some links to docs about this?
2 Likes
There is some interesting discussion on these presentations - and public transport more generally, particularly buses - on State Opposition Leader Steven Miles’ podcast with BCC Councillor Emily Kim.
(And yes - this should be understood as partisan polticial communication and assessed accordingly.)
Cr Kim raises concerns that the LNP Councillors request these presentations from council staff essentially to fill up the meeting time and reduce time for questions to avoid scrutiny. Interesting in the context of the discussion above about the positive rewriting of history on the Cultural Centre busway station.
Chatting with the firebrand Brisbane councillor Emily Kim about her run in with Pauline Hanson, journey to politics, obsession with public transport and the gym.
1 Like
After the spring recess have November presentations up now.
Brisbane’s transport: 100 years of history
Continuation of the 26Aug presentation posted above with detailed history and photos.
Bus Network Coordination
Nothing new but goes through the Network Planning > Network Scheduling > Depot/Garage > Network Coordination Centre flow.
Popular northern bus routes
Dive into the top 5 3xx routes by FY24/25 patronage.
Certainly a few nudges towards BUZing the 300 in there:
4 Likes
The top 5 3xx routes is interesting, but very unsurprising except for the 300.
The insights section is just proof that the decision makers are still looking at it the wrong way though.
Here are some of our most frequent routes… now based on the patronage it’s a strong demand corridor! Confirmation bias anyone??? That’s like making a hypthesis after you’ve gathered the data! The better insight is that people will use high frequency services. What other corridors on the north could be strong demand if the service was increased?
5 Likes
A bus route is constrained by the roads it must drive on.
Therefore main arterial roads are probably the best bet.
Would be good to see the whole spreadsheet of routes and their patronage, I believe it is floating around somewhere.
1 Like
What other corridors on the north could be strong demand if the service was increased?
It’s been something said within the PT literature for decades now..
And that is giving Albany Creek & Eatons Hill (Old Northern Rd corridor) a BUZ-like service, in the north-west (route 359).
I only say ‘BUZ-like’, because council is acutely aware that adding new BUZs’ to their almighty bus network would stretch their bus depots thin. Its why the 125, 175, 185, and 204 (Margaret St/Mary St high frequency corridor) don’t run every 15 minutes past 7pm (in both directions), for example.
There’s also the Beckett Road corridor (in Bridgeman Downs) that would benefit from 350 Aspley-City being high frequency, as currently it averages 30> minute headways.
The rest of the northside (within Brisbane City Council) would otherwise appear to have relatively good-ish access to a train station (via active travel modes or bus feeder connections) and/or be within arm’s reach to a high-frequency bus corridor. The north-west is just a gaping black-hole in comparison..
2 Likes
I’ve requested a 2024/2025 version, who knows how long that might take to show up if ever.
It doesn’t explain why those services except for the 175 run half-hourly on weekends, which makes me think TfB is just being a cheapskate in the name of keeping rosters and headcount as similar to pre-BNBN.
There are definitely some corridors and routes worthy of BUZ treatment…
- The 300 as noted: always, ALWAYS packed
- The entire Riverside corridor, with the 204 being a good candidate for extension to Cannon Hill for more connections
- The 450/460, with the elimination of the 453/454, allowing for a good backup to the 444
- 350 or 359. Take your pick.
There’s also merit to the idea of merging the 333 and 340, with the latter one keeping the Gabba via Cook route and sending the 330 to Gabba via South Bank.
4 Likes
Route 300 needs to be extended to dfo
Should 330 be made with 10 mins frequency after Bracken Ridge tafe with 20 mins frequency for current route for east branch while western branch be similiar of route 327 Northwind Estate, Western Bracken Ridge section
That would enable 326/327 abetter crosstown route between Strathpine and Sandgate
1 Like
Eagle Farm Depot tour
Fleet Summary
139 Buses (6 Vehicle Types)
o Volvo B7 Rigid – 98
o Volvo B8 Rigid – 14
o Volvo B8 Articulated – 20
o Volvo B5H Hybrid – 1
o Yutong E12 Electric – 4
o Volvo BZL Electric – 2
Peak Vehicle Requirement
o AM – 121
o PM - 118
Based on the above EF depot peak utilisation is 87% of their fleet
Staffing:
Bus Operators – 302
o Full-Time - 199
o Part-Time - 16
o Casual - 87
Administration Staff – 10
o Depot Operations Manager - 1
o Depot Operations Team Leader - 4
o Depot Counter Officer - 3
o Administration Support Officer - 1
o Operations Support Officer - 1
Maintenance – 29
o Garage Manager – 1
o Maintenance Implementation Officer – 1
o Maintenance Quality Officer – 1
o Fleet Condition Officer – 1
o Maintenance Planner – 1
o Stores Officer – 1
o Trade Staff
• Mechanics – 9
• Coach Builders – 1
• Auto Electrician - 1
o Apprentice Staff
• Mechanics - 2
• Coach Builders – 2
• Auto Electrician – 1
o Bus Assistants - 7
Routes:
Areas of coverage
o Northern Suburbs
o Inner Northern Suburbs
o Inner Southern Suburbs
o Eastern Suburbs
Total Routes – 91
o Blue City Gilder – 1
o Loop Service Routes (40, 50 & 60) – 3 (Should be 30, 40, 50)
o Regular Service Routes – 53
o Rocket Service Routes – 8
o Nightlink Services Routes – 2
o District Service Routes - 24
Network Coordination Centre
Nothing particularly noteworthy but good background.
Inner City construction update
Updates on:
- Roma Street station
- Albert Street station
- Dutton Park station
- Salisbury station
- Kuraby station
- XMAS rail closures
- Queens Wharf
- Riverside (Dexus)
4 Likes