Providing transit in low density fringe areas is always a challenge. Especially to multiple settlements around a bay or river with no direct road access between them. Such a fate befalls Cannons Creek, Blind Bight and Warneet on Western Port (Bay).
A single bus that serves all of them is likely to be so slow and infrequent that only a few people (mostly schoolchildren) will use it. On the other hand splitting routes may introduce an unwelcome need to change. And in really lowly served areas where the aim is to get the most coverage from a single bus then it might not be possible anyway.
Consider this geometry when you read what follows about the area's Route 795, a limited service metropolitan bus route that connects Cannons Creek, Blind Bight, Warneet and Tooradin to Cranbourne.
Tooradin (the easternmost town in the above map) is much better placed. Being on a highway it enjoys service from both the abovementioned 795 and
V/Line coaches between Yarram and Melbourne CBD. Service is frequent by rural standards, including 7 day service, operating along a simple direct route.
795 maps
What does Route 795 look like on a map? This is how it's shown on the current PTV website. Only a little of it is a single line. So it's hard to know which way it goes, and whether all trips are the single same direction or whether they vary.
The old PTV website (
which I think in some ways was better than the current site) had more detailed maps for each route. 795's example is below. It shows the 796 (which may be useful for some passengers) and direction arrows for the 795. Some are the same direction all the time while others are marked as am and pm. So, unlike the previous map, you can trace where 795 goes, which is helpful.
Having said that you can still get direction information on the new PTV website. You just need to go to the Casey local area map that covers the area. Unlike the map above it is geographically accurate and shows more features.
A close-up of one of the 795's more complex bits is here.
Timetable
The 795 runs Monday to Friday only. It is almost a school and peak only service though the start and finish times are not quite wide enough for commuters, especially those who work closer in than Cranbourne. As an example the first bus arrives there at 8:18am, meaning that even if connections are good you wouldn't be in the CBD before about 9:30am. And on the outbound the last afternoon trip is just after 5pm from Cranbourne.
There are five trips in both directions. Two around 8 or 9am, two around 4 or 5pm and another around 2 or 3pm, which in the inbound direction operates on school days only. Buses appear to be kept near Cranbourne. It looks like the timetable has been designed to avoid dead running. For example the first trip to Cranbourne appears to be formed by an earlier arrival with the reverse being true for the last trip. While economical the effect of this is to narrow the span at times it could be helpful for commuters (eg an earlier first arrival at Cranbourne along with a later last departure from there).
Hence the 795 as currently timed doesn't work as a commuter bus for most. However its times could work for some school trips. Also day shoppers from Westernport areas can get the second morning bus to arrive at Cranbourne at 10am. There being no midday buses they must stay four hours before getting the next outbound bus just after 2pm.
Of note are the many variations and changes of direction. Few trips go the same way, especially towards Cranbourne. For example some finish at the shopping centre rather than go the extra stops to the station. And in the afternoon you can go from Warneet to Cannons Creek but not in the morning. However morning trips give access to Tooradin. See the
795 timetable on the PTV site to see if you can make sense of it.
History
Route 795 started in 1987 with details on the BCSV history website. The route appears not to have significantly changed for about 30 years with the 1992 network map showing it similar to now.
A weekend service was attempted in 2006 but patronage was not considered sufficient and it was dropped after a year. However the semi-rural Pearcedale is now served by the 792 from Cranbourne which runs a full suburban 7 day service (every 40 min). This contrasts to its long-standing complex loop route 776 from Frankston that runs only occasionally.
Conclusion
795 is a puzzle. Is how it currently runs the best possibility for a difficult catchment or are there ways of unscrambling it to make it better? Would trips at commuter friendly times help? Would anyone use it if a weekend service was revived? And is there scope for better integration with the V/Line coach to assist network reform? Comments are invited and can be left below.
Index to Timetable Tuesday items
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