Over 12 years ago I listed some small usability issues for public transport that if fixed would greatly improve access to and connectivity within the network. Most would have been cheap. In fact you could have funded a substantial metropolitan-wide 'local bus blackspot' program for the cost of less than one level crossing removal per year. And the benefit cost ratio would likely be higher than certain mega projects that struggle to reach 1.0 even on initial lower costings.
A shortcoming though is that they are extremely local in scope. Administering 100 small projects probably needs more people than one mega project. Or maybe not given mega projects often get a life, and well-funded project authority, of their own. And transport bosses, blinded by the aura of big projects and driven by an eagerness to please their political masters, may not necessarily always publicly demonstrate an awareness of the basics of good service let alone make it a priority.
Anyway let's do a quick run through to see what's been fixed and what hasn't.
ACCESS & CATCHMENT ENLARGEMENT
1. Frankston Station northern access
My first example was a case study of Frankston station - a major hub in Melbourne's south. But like the smallest stations it has just one entrance (at one end). That greatly limits its connectivity, including to Bayside shopping centre to the north-west, buses immediately adjacent, and residential to the north-east. The station got a makeover in 2019 (including a roof with a hole to let the rain through) but the project's scope was insufficient to provide a new northern entrance. 0 points.
2. Access from northern Patterson Lakes to Bonbeach station
Here I highlighted an area that was physically close to its nearest station at Bonbeach but had poor bus and bike access. An east-west bike connection would have greatly increased the population within a 10 minute cycle ride and relieved parking pressures.
Since then Bonbeach got a new station as part of the level crossing removal at Bondi Rd. The new station includes a Parkiteer cage for bike storage (though information on it is patchy). It is also more locally accessible from the north and south thanks to a new Edithvale - north of Frankston bike path. However east-west connectivity remains poor with the short-cut muddy after rain. 1/2 point.
CONNECTIVITY
3. Bus stops at Cheltenham
The specific issue raised, that of connecting to Southland, got solved by building a new station there a few years ago. And Cheltenham station itself got rebuilt as part of level crossing removals. However bus legibility in the area remains poor and it's tricky to find stops from the station. Neither was there bus network reform or simplification as part of the Southland project. 1/2 point.
4. Bus and train timetable connectivity
I cited the example of bus route 517 every 24 minutes (on weekdays) not consistently connecting with trains every 20 minutes. It's been a widespread problem with buses in Melbourne, particularly in the north where it's the rule rather the exception.
Where are we 12 years later? Well, in 2022 Route 517 still has its silly 24 minute frequency. Though weekends got tidied up with a consistent 40 minute service being better than the previous 38 and 55 minute Saturday and Sunday frequencies. Hopefully weekdays will be sorted with promised local network reform in the Greensborough area. 1/4 point only.
SERVICE SPAN AND FREQUENCY
5. Shoulder peaks
Timetables often had problems where service frequencies collapsed too quickly either side of the weekday peaks. Fixing shoulder peaks could have relieved the (then) issue of peak crowding as travelling a little earlier or later would become more attractive.
There have been some improvements. The 2021 train timetable, which introduced maximum waits of 20 minutes on Frankston, Werribee and Williamstown marked a big step forward. As did earlier Dandenong line weeknight upgrades. Bus reform in areas like Cranbourne, Brimbank and Wyndham have also helped. But on the debit side cuts to tram timetables in shoulder peaks loom. 1/2 point here as vastly more needs to be done.
6. Trains' late Sunday morning starts
In 2010 Melbourne train timetables were unsuitable for people catching early planes or trains. Or even local events like Sunday markets. Melbourne was the laggard here with much later starts than other networks like Sydney and Brisbane.
What's happened? The most important has been the coming of Night Network. Not only did we get earlier Sunday morning starts but we also got 24 hour weekend service on our trains and some trams. And in 2021 some regular buses got likewise.
Achievement in the above makes my 2010 item, calling for a 60 - 90 minute earlier start for trains, look very puny. There is however an oddity in that because the new trips apply on weekends, there's two days (every Good Friday and Christmas Day most years) where the old late start times remain. In fact they're sometimes later than before on lines like Frankston due to timetable changes.
While operating hours are 99% fixed, frequencies have not been except for the Frankston, Williamstown and Werribee lines mentioned above. Thus we still have a lot of 40 minute Sunday morning frequencies even on busy lines like Mernda and Craigieburn. But due to Night Network delivering much more than suggested I'll give this a well-deserved full point.
LEGIBILITY
7. Complex bus routes
The example pictured was the former route 627 (unrelated to the current 627). It finished only a couple of kilometres from where it started, going via a path looking like a bent hairpin. That got fixed to become the 625 and 626 we know today. But there's so much to do including on the embarrassing 566 through Greensborough and many more. 1/2 point.
8. Complex public holiday timetable patterns for buses
Catching a Melbourne bus is a gamble on public holidays with different routes doing different things. For instance it may be Saturday arrangements, Sunday arrangements or no service at all. A standard was introduced and rapidly rolled out from 2006. However implementation has almost completely stalled since despite service complexity being recognised as a barrier to usage in Victoria's Bus Plan and standardisation being a cheap fix. 0 points!
EFFICIENCY
9. Overlapping routes in Sunshine West and 479's CBD trip
These were two very specific instances where bus services continued long after they were needed. The Sunshine West case was confusing 1.5 day a week deviations as the other route in the area didn't run Saturday afternoons or Sundays. Another was an odd very long weekend trip from the CBD to a long-closed asylum at Sunbury. Both were eventually discontinued.
More recently we've seen the redundant 673 removed. But there remains opportunity for more as part of broader bus network reform so we can simplify and strengthen the network. I likened the process to gardening and suggested how to fix poor performing bus routes here. 1/2 point.
CONCLUSION
I get 3.75/9.
We've done some good stuff recently but much more attention to usability problems on our public transport would be welcome. Most is low cost per project. Thus it can be affordably scaled up 100 times to deliver benefits right across Melbourne.
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