It doesn’t look much on the map. And the dotted line doesn’t give much assurance.
However one can see why Route 777 exists. And it’s not because it was an inheritance from 40 or more years ago; this route is only a little more than a decade old. It's one of the few results of the Frankston and Mornington Peninsula bus review, which if fully implemented would have simplified more of the area’s complex bus network. If there's any doubt that this needs doing, look at any of the 770-series routes on the map below.
With a run time of just 6 minutes, route 777 is one of Melbourne’s shortest bus routes. In terms of run time it might even be the shortest. It connects the Log Cabin Caravan Park with the Karingal Shopping Centre, which has all daily needs.
As you saw from the picture the Log Cabin Caravan park is more than just caravans. It’s also more permanent mobile homes. The Charting Transport SIEFA animation map shows the area as being highly disadvantaged. It is very likely that the Caravan Park includes many long-term residents, most likely age pensioners. This underlies 777’s ‘social transport’ role.
Timetable
Below is Route 777’s timetable. Two weekday trips run each way. Nearly five hours is allowed at Karingal. This allows enough time for people to change to other routes and spend a few hours at Frankston or Cranbourne if desired.
Route 777 does not run on weekends or public holidays. However the latter is not clear. PTV has a habit of attaching cryptic notes to the timetables for routes that do not run on public holidays (bottom right). If you see this note it is almost certain that the bus will not run on public holidays.
Patronage
Patronage numbers have been volatile but in 2016-17 it carried a shade over 1200 people per year. With four trips per day and 250 weekdays, about 1000 Route 777 trips run each year. In other words the average journey carries just over one passenger, ie low patronage. Convert that to passengers per time (ie 1.2 passengers per 6 minute journey, or 12 per hour) makes it look better, though still low.
Because services operate middays only, the route is likely to use buses that would otherwise be idle. So it's likely fairly cheap to run.
Conclusion
What would you do with Route 777? Is it just right as it is, serving as a shopper route to a low income area? Or should, as proposed in the bus review, it be part of a longer 7-day Karingal – Carrum Downs route? You comments are appreciated and can be left below.
See other Timetable Tuesday items here
See other Timetable Tuesday items here
2 comments:
Streetview is out of date for that location, incremental works have included a footpath connecting back into the development and on to other paths. Fenced developments such as these really kill permeability and active transport modes, once settled in its hard to add permeability later and leaves them dependent on motor vehicles.
Thanks for that - much appreciated. Agree about permeability. One of the selling points for developments and estates is often 'security' and permeability (where 'outsiders' can enter or walk through) is often seen as undermining this.
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