Building Melbourne's Useful Network 29: Coburg Hadfield Glenroy

Last week we introduced the 904 Murray Rd Megabus from Coburg to Heidelberg. Aimed to be at zero cost it would greatly simplify bus services across Melbourne's north.

But it did leave some loose ends in the Glenroy, Hadfield and Coburg areas. Especially Bell St. It would be desirable to extend the 904's 10 minute service along Bell St westward to at least Pascoe Vale South. However you wouldn't do this upgrade unless you did something about the large number of parallel bus routes on Bell St west of Coburg as service would then be excessive. 

Existing Useful Network

I explain the Useful Network concept here. It's those routes that are frequent enough and run over long enough hours to be useful for many trips. I've specified a 20 minute frequency on weekdays and 7 day service until 9pm. In other words the coloured lines on the Melbourne Public Transport Frequent Network map with the 20 minute frequency selected. This map shows the sparsity of Useful Network routes in most fringe areas, despite their sometimes high population densities. 

Below is the existing Useful Network for the Coburg/Hadfield Glenroy area. It's sparse in the north with no strong east-west routes connecting Hadfield with Glenroy. Neither does Hadfield have a north-south connection from Broadmeadows despite this having a large shopping centre, being a civic hub and having two orbital SmartBuses (including one to Melbourne Airport). Route 513 terminate at Glenroy while the 527 has a weak terminus at Gowrie Station. 

In the south the Useful Network is quite dense. It includes several overlaps on Bell St. One can see the rationale behind this as that's where the 58 tram stops. However network changes in the last 10 years have added no less than two routes to Bell St (903 and 561) to the potential exclusion of  improvements in less served areas. In both cases existing routes neither simplified nor rerouted when these new services were added. You can compare today's network against previous years (going back to 1971) here. 

Another historical remnant can be found in the service levels. The three main routes (513, 527 and 561) operate to minimum standards as regards span of hours. However weekend frequencies vary. For example 527 operates every 20 minutes on Saturdays but has only a 40 to 60 minute frequency on Sunday. Whereas the other two have a flat 40 minute frequency on both weekend days.

Below is the PTV map with all routes. Routes operating at lesser frequencies (typically every 30 or 40 minutes) include the well-used 536 across from Glenroy and the 534 from Glenroy to Coburg. 

Route 534 has very little unique coverage, especially in the south. 

Route 536 has a lot of unique coverage. It serves areas furthest from train stations. It's also a very productive route. However it has limited operating hours and no Sunday service since the 1990-91 cuts. For these reasons I rank it as the second highest priority bus route that needs Sunday service in all of Melbourne. 

Route 536  has a deviation taken by every second trip. This lessens the frequency on each portion.  536's 30 minute weekday service also makes the route incompatible with trains on both the Craigieburn and Upfield lines which operate every 20 minutes.  

50 years or 60 years ago there wasn't much at what we would now consider central Broadmeadows. Westmeadows was the original pre-railway settlement.  Coburg and Glenroy were well established with postwar housing spreading into Hadfield. Ford had established near Upfield station with housing and local shops at Dallas. Housing had spread outwards to Coolaroo by the 1970s, Meadow Heights by the 1980s and Roxburgh Park by the 1990s. 

Local plans envisaged Broadmeadows as a major town centre. Civic facilities and a new shopping centre were built. However the local bus network reflects pre-1960s patterns. For example there is no bus connection from Broadmeadows to Hadfield and then Coburg. Buses are either north of the ring road or south of it, never north-south even though a road connection is available and routes like 527 and 534 that could push further north have either weak (Gowrie) or moderate (Glenroy) sized centres as termini.  

All these factors will be considered later when reviewing the area's local network. The area is mostly in the seat of Pascoe Vale held by Lizzie Blandthorn MP. 

Revised Useful Network

Instead of presenting one suggested network, I'll present three. Each has their pros and cons. Please let me know in the comments which you prefer and why.

Revised Network A (above) involves the least change. Routes 513, 527 and 561 remain the main routes, with each operating every 20 minutes on weekdays. However the network is made simpler with some routes straightened and simplified. 

Most striking are the changes in the south with more frequent routes are put onto main roads. For example, instead of eastern Gaffney St having less service than O'Hea St the service levels are swapped around. This allows Route 561 to be straightened with a direct alignment from Pascoe Vale to Batman before going via Coburg. Batman gains a better feeder bus service. And because there's a simple direct route between there and Pascoe Vale, afternoon commuters can catch either an Upfield or Craigieburn train for the 561 bus home. Building up this portion of 561 as a feeder should increase its patronage compared to now. 

O'Hea would retain a service with the rerouted 534. The 527 that was there moves onto Bell St. This causes an overlap with other routes (513 and 903). However it's not more than now because the 561 is no longer there. 

The northern ends of the 513 and 527 are unchanged. However 536 is changed. Its alignment might be seen as being slightly less direct. However it is consistent. It needs longer operating hours and Sunday service. Route 536 is extremely productive and justifies an upgrade to every 20 minutes which would also harmonise it with train services. However extra bus resources would be required. 

The map shows Route 534 extended to Broadmeadows to provide a new Coburg via Hadfield connection. Like 536 it operates every 30 minutes. It might be possible to do this extension if its frequency was reduced to every 40 minutes. The extension may not however be popular unless it went closer to Glenroy Station (one of the route's busiest stops). A less radical form of this network would leave the 534 terminating at Glenroy. 

534 is basically a fill-in service that serves areas away from the more frequent routes. Its existence allows other routes to be made more direct. 

Route 542 is on neither this nor the next two maps. It is not well used and parts of its catchment are quite near stations. However it has unique coverage west of Glenroy and street layout west of Jacana makes walking difficult. Today's item proposes no change to it. 

How much will Revised Network A cost? The answer is approximately nothing in its cheapest form. Swapping the 527, 534 and 561 in the south shouldn't cost anything. 

Extra costs would only accrue if the 536 was upgraded and (possibly) if the 534 was extended. However it should be noted that the 538 overlaps the 902 and may not be necessary if (a) coverage is provided on Widford St with the extended 534 and (b) other changes were made to retain a direct service between Campbellfield and Broadmeadows. Because of this you might leave the 534 as is and extend it as part of a Dallas/Coolaroo/Upfield/Campbellfield revision. 

Unlike Network A, revised Network B is very radical. Its rationale was to provide simpler, more frequent but sparser routes while maintaining reasonable coverage. Since it's so cheap you should be able to improve operating hours on its three main routes. For example you might start weekend service 1-2 hours earlier and extend evening service 1 - 2 hours later. This would greatly increase the usefulness of buses, particularly for local trips and suburbs with no trains, eg Hadfield. 

There is less overlap on Bell St. Every route in Hadfield runs every 20 minutes between Glenroy and Coburg. Batman Station gains a stronger feeder service in the 561 but Pascoe Vale and Gowrie lose bus connections from the east and west respectively. 

Coverage is generally maintained. Northern Glenroy is the main concern with walking distances increased compared to the current 536, although Widford St would gain if the 513 is extended to Broadmeadows. These coverage issues could be addressed by realigning 527 off Hilton St to serve Evell and/or Daley St. People in this area lose their bus to Gowrie but the trade-off is the upgraded frequency (30 to 20 minutes) and single seat ride to Bell St and Coburg. 

Route 513 would get a major change in this network. Instead of basically a south-north route to Glenroy it becomes an east-west route via Boundary Rd. Merlynston Station would become a stronger interchange point.  The Pascoe Vale portion of the 513 would instead be served by the rerouted 561, which like the 513 connects to Glenroy and Coburg. 513 could terminate at Glenroy like it currently does or extend to Broadmeadows. The Broadmeadows extension is optional (especially if Route 527 is rerouted via Dalray St) and similar comments as made before regarding a Route 534 Broadmeadows extension apply. 

Speaking of which, this network deletes Route 534. The rerouted 513 and 561 cover most of its catchment. Parts near Coburg North (including O'Hea St) could be served by an extended Route 531 that currently has a weak southern terminus.   

This network extends the 20 minute network to most residential areas. It's quite simple and all routes get strong termini. 513 and 527 have long direct portions. And because it deletes two routes (534 and 536) it should be very economical. The main issues are that it denies buses to Pascoe Vale and Gowrie Stations. Hence, while frequencies are generally better, fewer people get a bus to their nearest station than with Network A.  

This is our third and final option. It's basically a variant of Network B. Comments made before regarding rerouting 527 via Dalray St and terminating Route 513 at Glenroy apply.  The main change compared to Network B is that it retains buses to Pascoe Vale and Gowrie Stations. There's obviously extra bus kilometres involved so the cost will be higher. 

But for commuters its gives more travel choices and may optimise bus loadings. The latter is a good thing about simple routes like the 536 - since it goes directly between stations, buses going both directions are useful in both the morning and afternoon peak. Network A strengthens this concept by retaining (or upgrading) the 536 and straightening the 561. Network B weakens it. 

Network C attempts to revive it but adds some complexity with overlapping sections near both stations. Also through passengers (more likely shoppers and students who need to go to Coburg) would be delayed due to the backtracking. 

This isn't the first time I've looked at the Hadfield network. I also went through it back in 2011. Note though this was written when the network was smaller, eg Route 561 had not been extended into the area. 

Conclusion

What do you think about these suggested networks? All are fairly cheap with Network B probably the cheapest. Are the extra expenses of C worth it compared to B? Or would it be better to stick with the less radical A that still delivers benefits like the straightened 561 and the simplified 536? Please share your thoughts in the comments below. 

PS: An index to other useful networks is here.