Maybe have the 402 become a “Metro” route, with the 209 terminating at Stones Corner or Langlands Park? [Edited to add:] Dunno what should happen with the 412 in such a scenario, though.
There are a few scenarios, so worth exploring.
For example, a metro bus could operate as a high capacity rail shuttle:
Toowong <> UQ Chancellors Place <> UQ Lakes, Boggo Rd <> PA Hospital <> Buranda <> Stones Corner
This could run every 7.5 minutes and mop up all the transferring passengers. It could run express from UQ Chancellors Place to Toowong Station.
This would allow standard buses to flow between Indooroopilly and terminate at PA Hospital or another location.
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damn your good at making these maps
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Thanks! Trying to make it easier to visualise what could be, without giving off “GrAPHiC DesIgN iS My PaSsIOn” vibes.
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What app did you use?
Inkscape.
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This scenario is attractive, and as always, the map looks great.
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Route 402 (Metro BRT) becomes a high frequency, high capacity shuttle between Toowong <> UQ Chancellors Place <> UQ Lakes <> Boggo Road <> PA Hospital <> Buranda <> Stones Corner. It will be well loaded travelling in any direction.
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Load Balancing: Much of the load on Route 412 is between Toowong Station - UQ Chancellors Place. Having a high frequency shuttle will mean more space on Route 412, which can continue to use standard buses.
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Interchanging passenger demand from Boggo Rd <> UQ lakes gets mopped up, which allows a 209 Service to proceed as a cross-town to Indooroopilly using standard buses and capacity on board.
Proof of Concept:
The high frequency Route 601 bus in Melbourne runs between Huntingdale Station <> Monash University. This route:
- Has only has 2 stops, the station and the uni.
- It uses standard buses.
- It travels on ordinary roads (in the past there was no priority, but now it has bus lanes or bus jumps)
- The frequency of service is very high - a bus runs every 3-4 minutes all day (about 15-23 buses per hour).
It achieves 22,000 passengers per weekday (Wikipedia), which translates to about ~ 5.7 million trips per year. This is similar to what a rail line in Brisbane might be moving a year.
The UQ Case
A similar concept applied at UQ could potentially be even more successful. In the UQ case, you have two rail stations (Toowong, Boggo Road), two busways (SEB, Eastern) and a large hospital precinct (PA Hospital).
We would have the benefit of a much larger vehicle (Brisbane Metro) and exclusive busway for much of the route length.
Notes
Route 601 Huntingdale Station - Monash Uni
Timetable excerpt showing buses every 2-4 minutes
Route 601 Timetable
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Came across some more interesting background research:
“We have traffic modelling for [consultancy] MRCagney that indicates that if we had the opportunity for buses to ‘go through’ the university – and in this case, we would want it to go under UQ – you would reduce traffic on the St Lucia road network by 20 per cent,” he said.
More than 3.1 million bus trips are made to UQ’s two separated bus stations each year, making it the origin and destination of two of Brisbane’s busiest routes.
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