TT #171: Dandenong's 814 & 848 bus pair

Today we’ll look at a pair of routes feeding Dandenong station. I’ll do this as the routes share many stops, even though this is not immediately obvious from their very different route numbers.  

Route 814 starts at a dead-end terminus at Springvale South. Its only purpose there is to provide residential area coverage feeding the shops and station at Springvale. It runs north along Springvale Rd until turning east along Police Rd. This portion overlaps Route 813, with the difference being that 813 goes on to serve residential streets before Waverley Gardens while the 814 keeps heading east past the centre, overlapping with the 848. 814 then goes south via Noble Park North east of the cemetery before rejoining the 848 into Dandenong. None of the abovementioned routes have had reform for years except for a service upgrade for Route 813 as part of half-hearted network changes associated with the new Route 816 in Keysborough South. 

Route 848 is a little like the 850 in that it goes from the Glen Waverley area to Dandenong. However unlike the 850 it doesn't start from a major centre, commencing instead from the second-order Brandon Park Shopping Centre (which recently lost a K-mart). From there the 848 serves the south-western part of Wheelers Hill with a bigger catchment than the freeway-hugging 850 in the area. It heads roughly south-easterly until Wellington Rd where it goes west almost to Springvale Rd. From there it resumes it south-easterly bearing via the Valewood locality of Mulgrave via Albany Dr. It has relatively little unique catchment with the 885 and 813 close by. It then joins 814 on Police Rd, sharing stops at and east of Waverley Gardens until the 848 takes its own path south parallel to and about 400 metres east of the 814. 848 joins the 814 at Oakwood Avenue but it's inconsistent with some 848 trips deviating via Coolavin Avenue. The routes then overlap for the remainder of the trip to Dandenong. 

You can get a better idea of the shape of each route below. The 814 is particularly indirect; no one would ride it to go from Springvale South to Dandenong as it looks like multiple routes tacked together. 

Local MPs include Gabrielle Williams (Dandenong), Daniel Andrews (Mulgrave), Meng Heang Tak (Clarinda) and Martin Pakula (Keysborough). All have been considered safe Labor seats but some booths in them recorded big drops in Labor's primary vote in the recent federal election. 

Service levels and trip spacing

Route 814 is a limited service route, operating Monday to Saturday morning only. It has had no timetable upgrades for decades and missed out on the 2006 'minimum service upgrades' that extended 7 day and early evening service to many other buses.  Weekday operating hours are roughly 7am-7pm while Saturday is 8am to 1pm. 

Route 848 is also hourly at all times it runs. However it gained minimum standards. This means that it finishes at 9pm seven days with starts of around 6am weekdays, 8am Saturdays and 9am Sundays. 

Because both routes are hourly and overlap from Dandenong it's worth looking at whether timetables are offset to provide a more useful 30 minute spacing. The 848 leaves Dandenong at roughly :55 past the hour. The 814 leaves at roughly :25 past the hour except for later Saturday trips.  Towards Dandenong most 848 trips arrive around :40 with 814's arriving around :15. This offsetting, with 25-35 minute spacing rather than two buses arriving in quick succession, represents thoughtful scheduling. 

History

Nothing's much changed for 30 years with both 814 and 848 having their current alignment on the 1992 network map.  The 848 existed in 1971 but was then a short route radiating north from Dandenong. Suburban development saw it extended north to almost the Mulgrave Freeway by 1978. Back then areas north of the Mulgrave Freeway just had the 850, not the 848. 848 got extended to Brandon Park in 1987.

The 814 is newer than the 848 but has a close ancestor in the 821 that ran from Springvale to Dandenong. The Springvale South portion was served by a long-discontinued Route 808. The 821 commenced in 1977 with it (mostly) becoming the 814 sometime in the '80s. 

Patronage

Route 814 is an extremely well used route by Melbourne standards with 40 passenger boardings per hour on weekdays and 29 per hour on Saturday (in late 2018). 

Route 848 is about half as busy with 20 and 15 respectively. Interestingly its Sunday usage is slightly higher at 16 boardings per bus hour. This is likely because other routes in much of its catchment (including 814) aren't running. The existence of 7 day service on the quieter route but not on the busier route is one of the many quirks of buses in this area. 

Opportunities

Both routes have significant opportunity for improvement and simplification. Higher frequency is desirable for both, especially the 814 given its high usage. 814 is one of Melbourne's busiest bus routes lacking 7 day service. Route 848 could benefit a stronger northern terminus. 

There is also a need for a rethink of bus routes in the area since nothing much has happened for 30 plus years. Favourable catchment demographics and overall bus usage mean that services should be significantly better than hourly throughout the week especially if inefficient overlaps can be reduced. While residential coverage in the area is quite good there may be a need for more direct north-south routes, for instance feeding stations such as Noble Park from the north. 

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