TT #160: Bus 841 - Casey's vital link

Running from Cranbourne to Narre Warren North via Fountain Gate, the 841 bus is one of the City of Casey’s major bus routes. It runs almost exactly north-south with small deviations to serve stations and shopping centres. 

Route 841’s catchment is about 40km south-east of Melbourne. It is predominantly 1980s – 2000s detached housing built on curvy streets within a mile grid of north-south major roads built for the convenience of cars but the inconvenience of walkers. The 841, along with the 893 to the west and the 888 to the east, feeds catchments off these roads to train stations on the Pakenham and (in some cases) the Cranbourne train lines.   

You can see how the 841 fits in with the broader network below. It is fairly simple and straight unlike most other nearby routes like 894, 895 and the circular 834/835 pair.  

Route 841’s strongest destinations include Cranbourne Shopping Centre, Cranbourne Station, Narre Warren Station and Fountain Gate. Its northern terminus is weak with a residential area terminus. To be fair though it would need to be extended through a low density area before it could be extended to a possible stronger northern terminus such as Endeavour Hills Shopping Centre.  

The 841 bus serves several state electorates including Narre Warren North (Luke Donnellan - Labor - not recontesting), Narre Warren South (Gary Maas - Labor) and Cranbourne (Pauline Richards - Labor). Some boundaries will change for this year's state election. For more information see my 7 part seat by seat 2022 state election special. Route 841 is mentioned here as a prospect for an electorally significant service upgrade. 

Timetable

Route 841 is your standard Melbourne suburban bus route operating seven days per week to approximately 9pm. Weekday frequencies are approximately every 30 minutes peak and 40 minutes off-peak. Weekend frequencies are roughly 40 minutes Saturday day, 60 minutes Saturday evening and 60 – 90 minutes Sunday. The existence of >60 minute headways means that the 841 does not meet hourly minimum service standards on Sundays.    

Compared with routes either side the 841 has much inferior service to the 893 (every 20 minutes all week) but usually better service than the always hourly 888. The 841 though has the by far the biggest mid-route trip generator of all three routes with it servicing the busy Fountain Gate Shopping Centre and the nearby civic centre. 

Patronage

Route 841 is an above average patronage performer with boardings per km about 30-40% above that for the average bus route in Melbourne. More precisely it attracts 31 boardings per hour on weekdays and 22 boardings per hour on both Saturday and Sunday. School holiday weekdays are only very slightly less than school days, indicating the 841 enjoys strong usage from other sources. 

Route 841’s relatively good patronage is despite the roads it runs on which often offer poor pedestrian connectivity from residential streets near it and too few crossing opportunities. Its usage shows that many people will walk a bit to direct bus services. This is particularly if they serve a major destination and run more frequently than average. 

History

The northern half of the current 841 can trace its history back to 1987 in a shorter form. The 1992 Melbourne network map shows its southern portion operating as a route 840. Later these were amalgamated into a longer 841. Still later it gained 7 day service and the portion south of Narre Warren station straightened as additional routes were added to the area. 

Conclusion

Route 841 already has quite good usage but is there scope for it to perform better and be given a stronger northern terminus? For example should it continue to Endeavour Hills or even Dandenong to replace the 843 and 861? Does it deserve a 7-day 20 minute frequency (like 893) given its potential usefulness as a Narre Warren and Fountain Gate feeder? Would a southern expansion to Frankston to incorporate 791 to form an outer orbital SmartBus make more sense or would this reduce reliability? What do you think? Comments are invited and can be left below. 

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