I’m pretty sure it’s Carindale and not “Cardindale”, translink.
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I noticed that the new route 26 to and from RBH and Upper Mount Gravatt is gaining traction. The bus was 50% full from RBH on Wednesday arvo, when I changed from the metro.
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It was standing room only between Fortitude Valley and Woloongabba on the one I caught on Wednesday.
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I got it with my girlfriend on Wednesday from KP to Griffith and I think I got the last one. It had a decent amount of passengers past the Gabba.
I reckon it will get very popular on a short time and might require off-peak operation, maybe by absorbing the 77.
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And I have a feeling the 161 doesn’t serve Eight Miles Plains, either.
Uni students have definitely been big winners with BNBN. QUT Gardens Point and Griffith University Nathan Campus in particular are much better connected with more routes and better frequencies overall.
I would like to see the 77 trialled on weekends to be honest. A 12 month “use it or lose it” trial. I also think there would be a market for a 79 Chermside to UQ Lakes via the Clem7. With Boggo Road becoming an important interchange point with CRR, it would provide a direct link to Chermside that bypasses the CBD.
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Speaking of high patronage: the 175 is proving to be a hit. Full buses back to back to the city today.
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Wonder what it’ll be like today, with buses only running every 30 min?
175 basically needs to be a BUZ at this stage, IMO.
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Having spent the past week at my partner’s house and catching buses from Mains Road (specifically the Robertson stop between Sunnybank Plaza and Mains Road Park n Ride), I’ve come to the conclusion that some of the BNBN changes have notably increased crowding on the 130s during the AM peak.
I caught a couple of these 130s a fortnight ago during the time the rail shutdown was happening, and put the fact that these buses had so many standing passengers to rail passengers getting off at Altandi rather than using the rail buses at Banoon. Some of my posts on here at that time reflected this belief.
During the past week, and again today, the 130s around the 7:45-8:15am mark have consistently featured a lot of standees - so many that the bus driver has to call for the passengers to move further towards the back to let more passengers on at the park n ride. While it was common to see some standees on 130s prior to BNBN, they weren’t quite to the sardine tin proportions I’m seeing now.
My assumption is that the changes to other 13X routes around the Sunnybank Hills, Calamvale, Algester, Parkinson, etc area have resulted in a significant number of extra passengers being pushed onto the 130s, or opting for the 130 over other options. I’ve not seen as many AM 140s to compare their numbers, but the one I saw this morning at Griffith Uni had only a few standees - little different to what I remember before the BNBN, while pax on the 137s and 139s have been comparatively light - I can either score the odd seat, or I’m one of the first standees, when I get one one of them.
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It’s worth Translink looking at sending Route 26 to UQ Lakes by merging it with route 29 which also serves the Gabba and potentially route 234 which serves Kangaroo Point.
Merging all 3 routes into 1 would free up resources for all day operation between RBWH and UQ Lakes.
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I’m not sure how that would work, are you saying that Route 26 should divert to UQ then head back along the Eastern Busway to the Valley via the Gabba? Not sure that would be tolerated by people from Buranda and south of Buranda going to the Valley.
There are lots of buses on the SEB already, so the section of Route 26 to Buranda is duplication of service kms that could potentially be spent elsewhere.
Potential Concept:
UQ Lakes <> Buranda <> Woolloongabba <> Kangaroo Pt <> Valley <> RBWH <> Other (potentially to Ashgrove). The O’Keefe Street portals could be used to ensure that Buranda busway platforms were serviced (both inbound and outbound). This would create same-platform transfer to all SEB services like M1 Brisbane Metro.
Click to Enlarge.
We created a whole new connection between Kangaroo Point and the southeast (that’s showing promising results, mind you) and now you just want to kill it after less than six months? Come on mate.
If you wanna “solve” duplication (which is something that does not apply to the 26) then merge it with the 77 and the 338 all the way to Chermside and run it 7 days every 15-20 minutes.
Sure, you would miss the non-stop run via the M7 but it’s a small trade off for something better: a permanent one-seat connection between RBWH and the southeast without touching the CBD.
Killing the 338 would allow to use its resources for off-peak service.
About the 29: merge it with the 234. City to UQ via KP. Some tweaks could be made to the final product like eliminating the loop operation by making the route finish at Alice St alongside the City Loop.
We want more connections Jesus lord.
Well, the route is still duplicative, whether it is six months old or not. And there are plenty of buses between Mt Gravatt <> Buranda already. The BNBN should be reducing duplication, not increasing it.
I’m open to other suggestions such as your proposed 29 + 234. Have a map to share?
The busy section that is well patronised would be retained in a new routing as well. By connecting to UQ (second largest destination after the Brisbane CBD) numbers on the service would also increase.
Passengers on the SEB can connect at Buranda from the M1 and other routes. It already runs every 2-3 minutes, so a same-platform transfer at Buranda will be relatively easy.
It’s better to have one frequent all day route connect RBWH <> Kangaroo Point <> Woolloongabba and beyond rather than 3 different BCC variations. I think that is fair.
We have bigger and more egregious duplications.
- 200/222 - 61
- 333/340 - 338
- GCL - 590
- 196 - 195 (and 107…)
- M1 - 555 (!)
- 444 and all of Indro
I think there’s definitely bigger fishes to fry right now than to even think about getting rid of a genuinely useful connection.
About the 234: give me a bit.
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I think, with the double up of routes, it really becomes a problem when the busses run empty on crowded roads
Which leads me to the question: what is the patronage of the 26 like between Buranda and Mount Gravatt? Haven’t taken it myself so I wouldn’t know
Which is why we should be advocating on minimising empty running as much as possible.
Your bus has finished its peak service? Great, now make it run in revenue service ASAP, ideally with counterpeak services or returning to the city on a normal high frequency route.
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Route 26 is an unmarked BCC Rocket Bus
If we look at the route map, it is classic BCC rocket bus network planning:
- peak only rocket
- single-seat direct trip
- large service gap in the middle of the day
- duplicates existing High-Frequency services
It looks a lot like the infamous Route P88 (Eight Mile Plains - Indooroopilly) which was introduced then removed. Only this time, the bus is going north rather than west.
What is the justification of ~ 9 km of bus route duplication, of a high-frequency Brisbane Metro M1 BRT service (coming every 2-3 minutes)?
Image - Duplication:
And also note the huge service gap in the timetable. We need all day bus routes, not just more peak only rockets… this service is another single-seat BCC Rocket bus, they just didn’t label it so …but that’s what it is!
Notes
Route P88
Route 26 Timetable (Translink)
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I feel like you’re just acting in bad faith here and not understanding (or just wanting to remove for the sake of “duplication”) the need for non-city services in the slightest.
Go ride the 26 a few times first (as some of us have done already) and then try to rebuke it.