Alright
Upon further feedback, I’ve made these changes
555 is to be extended to Griffith University
N555 to run express from the City, then to follow 576, 572 and a modified 565 and 563 alignment
587 (new) will no longer terminate at Flagstaff, and continue via Greenbank to Springfield Central
Does anyone have any more feedback they would like to share?
Not a local or anything, but regarding the 535, I think sending it down pebble creek way and the more suburban parts of South Maclean could be a pretty simple way of increasing coverage, something like this:
I also think even with the introduction of the 536 a detour stop at Pub Ln would be good to keep, both as an interchange point from Flagstone to Greenbank and also due to that stop serving quite a few shops
545 is the backbone service for a large portion of Logan - it definitely should not be getting truncated in any way, shape or form, it should be moved to be a high frequency service along the current alignment.
Brentwood Drive is a 50km/h local road that is used as a rat run route, and connects to Chatswood Drive at a non-lights controlled intersection. I don’t understand the benefit of running it along here as it is duplicating the 572/573, but if you absolutely have to, don’t use Brentwood Drive - continue up John Paul Drive to the lights controlled intersection with Chatswood Road.
These services run as loops because sections of their route run on roads so narrow that having a car on the side of the road could prevent two buses being able to pass one another.
You might actually get a substantial bit of blowback from Kimberley Park residents who don’t want their secluded little pocket subject to the noise of buses running back and forth all day, seeing it as not worth the benefit of having a bus stop.
A 576, 572 and 565/563 alignment?!? That would make it something like a 2 hour long journey (the current Fortitude Valley to Loganholme route is a 53 minute journey as is). If you want a nightlink service through Eagleby Beenleigh and Holmview, run it from Beenleigh Station.
For this area, I think thought should be given on a reverse Nightlink service for people who might go clubbing on the Gold Coast. From memory, you can get to Surfers Paradise from Beenleigh quicker than getting to the Valley from Beenleigh.
Its largely duplicated by the 550. For most of the time it runs along Kingston Road south of Logan Central outside of 550 coverage, it only stops at a few stops. While this may remove a direct connection between some residents in Underwood, a significant portion of the ridership is just between major hubs, as with most bus routes.
There are residents in Marsden and Crestmead which also rely on this service; however, this is predominantly resolved through the 550 and the new 551. Furthermore, the introduction of an express Springwood to Browns Plains (and Inala) bus service also resolves most of the inter-hub demand. However, I’ll investigate the ridership patterns again and see if I could justify the 545 remaining the same.
I think this was resolved later and I forgot to mention it, but the new 554 does continue through John Paul Drive. This was after the initial post.
Buses like the 553 run on roads which are effectively reduced to one lane with both sides filled with carpark. With a bus stop on a side, they effectively act as passing loops. While I only see a major problem with the 570, ultimately, they all travel on 2 lane roads along houses with driveways, and, as a result, they can be yellow lined.
While loops themselves can be effective when used correctly, Logan’s use of them add a large amount of time for one direction, which can be the difference between driving to a train station or driving fully, and a user using the feeder service. The 570 and 567 did not make sense to be loops, considering they are feeder services. I’ll revaluate whether these routes could be redesigned to be on more appropriate streets, but, this could potentially cost coverage and time.
I have been reconsidering the need for this spur, and, with this new community opinion, I’ll push that forward.
My analysis indicate the entire trip would only be an hour and 30 minutes, considering midnight and late-night traffic loads. Unfortunately, the current N555 has only been designed for Daisy Hill and Shailer Park in mind. People catch night link buses predominantly because they are unfit to drive, not because its as convenient as driving. It does not make sense for the N555 to serve major park and ride facilities near closed shopping centers if they cannot drive home, or need to rely on an uber.
Plus, a lot of this hub demand during the late night would be supplemented by the metro and the rail lines. This would basically allow transfers to hubs served by this new N555, particularly at Springwood and Beenleigh. While this adds a transfer, it also significantly reduces commute time.
Running different bus routes during the late night might be more of a roster nightmare. Furthermore, there is usually only a few bus drivers per week that actually run the N555. Considering Clark’s current situation in recruiting new bus drivers, this would ultimately be a better option than running 4 different lines in the same corridor.
However, I’ll reconsider some segments of the route to reduce travel time, while minimizing the compromise with coverage reduction.
Thanks for sharing 
I originally didn’t continue with this due to the size of the roads, but I’ll take a look again.
I was originally planning with just adding 2 through stops instead, as to not impact the current users of that bus stop, and to reduce time wasted serving that spur.
I dispute that the 545 is “largely duplicated by the 550” - there are only a few sections where the two routes travel across the a substantial section of the same road, mainly between Grand Plaza and Fifth Avenue, and the purposes of the two routes are very different.
The 545 is a trunk route - running solely along main roads and connecting almost all the main activity centres in that area. It really is the 555 equivalent for the western portion of Logan - the backbone route.
The 550 is a suburban route - it meanders though suburban Marsden, through Waterford West, through Loganlea (still an important stretch that sounds like it may be underserviced under your changes), then goes up along Jacaranda Avenue, down Wembley Road in the opposite direction to the 545 and then covers the section of Kingston Road that the 545 misses by going via Woodridge Station, and turns off Kingston Road just after the 545 rejoins it.
I don’t think the 550 can adequately service the use case for the 545, and truncating the 545 is effectively kneecapping that service.
A Beenleigh-Helensvale-Robina NightLink could be an idea, as trams operate all night making it much easier to run one. Timetable it against the NightLink train from Beenleigh to the trams
I don’t know why they can’t just extend the Beenleigh train to the Gold Coast.
Yes, I realise an all stops train might be pretty long, but it will be shorter than an all-stops train to Beenleigh, and then a bus.
T5 Beenleigh to Fortitude Valley is 52 minute
T5 Beenleigh to Helensvale then L1 Helensvale to Cavill Ave is 1 hr 2 minutes
Both these were based on departing Beenleigh after 9:30 pm on Saturday 24th October (still a closure between Bannoon and Boggo Rd this weekend, then closure between Beenleigh and Varsity Lakes 17-18/10.
Could they not just run a GC service? Especially considering the tram runs all night
Extra train, extra crew, and Nightlink services hardly have any passengers already. Not sure that would be worthwhile.
T5 Beenleigh to Nerang + 740 to Surfers Paradise is a closer 57 minutes
T6 Beenleigh to Fortitude Valley is 1hr 10 minutes
So it really depends on what service you get/route you take.
Nightlink services were never designed to carry many passengers. They were there to provide a reliable service for club goers in the Valley, who might not be in a position to drive. Rejecting a nightlink because it might not attract enough ridership is contradictory to the core purpose of nightlink
740 only runs every hour after 7:50 pm, though.
One of the many things I garnered from the late Paul Mees’ A Very Public Solution (at the State Library in 2001–2002) was the concept of “cross-subsidisation”, with services with more ridership potential subsidising ones with less. A whole-network approach, to make it useful for a wide variety of purposes. This is crucial. [Edited to add:] Whilst not realistic to roll out overnight service along even every major corridor, Toronto’s Blue Night bus network serves routes no more than 2 km apart.
