A Queen sized service for a Queen-named hospital?

On Sunday the governing Labor Party promised it would basically rebuild Ringwood's Maroondah Hospital for $1b and rename it after the recently deceased monarch. Thus we would join Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane in having a major hospital named after Queen Elizabeth. While Sydney has a rehabilitation centre.

The promise trumps a Coalition promise for a $400m upgrade to the hospital made the previous day. So whatever the election result there should be some form of major upgrade there. Ringwood is surrounded by seats made marginal by the 2018 landslide. The Coalition will need to win back these seats (and more) to take office. Labor could govern without winning them (like it did in 2014) but it has problems of its own with threats from Greens in inner areas and primary vote weakness in formerly safe often lower income outer seats. 

Of particular interest is the hospital's public transport access. In my review last month of transport services to hospitals, I rated it as 'poor'. Walking legibility is terrible and its nearest bus is a confusing loop that runs only hourly on weekends. Your best bet is the train (if you can find the station) but even this only comes every half-hour off-peak weekdays, the worst service in Melbourne for a location within 28km of the CBD.

A new Ringwood East station is promised as part of a grade separation but the overwhelming historical record is that these works rarely if ever come with train frequency upgrades and bus network reform. Thus rail passengers must endure months of disruption for works that primarily benefit motorists. 

Transport policy in Victoria is slowly recovering from a one-dimensional obsession on infrastructure to the exclusion of everything else. Big infrastructure can be good but not if pursued to the extent that it saps finances dry so that almost nothing goes towards improved service.

Skewed priorities, informed by low interest rates and budgetary doctrine, have made it easier to find $10b for an infrastructure project than $100m annually for better service. In few places are the consequences of this service neglect more stark than at Maroondah Hospital, whose PT access is rudimentary to say it politely.  

5 cost-effective transport upgrades for Maroondah Hospital

But what if you did want to improve service for Maroondah Hospital? Here's my picks. 

1. Boost Route 380 weekend frequency from 60 to 30 min to match weekdays. Later simplify this complex loop route by splitting into two Ringwood - Croydon routes, one north and the other south, serving all existing stops. The southern route would serve the hospital. If considered desirable it could still through-run into the northern route for passengers who really don't want to change despite the indirectness. 

2. Boost Lilydale train services as follows (highest priority first): 

a.  Off-peak boosted from every 30 to every 20 min (which in conjunction with a similar Belgrave boost would deliver a 10 minute 7 day frequency to Ringwood). Would fix an anomaly where weekend services already run at this frequency but waits for weekday services are currently longer.  

b. Simplify peak stopping patters with a greenfields timetable (they're currently way too complex). 

c. Boost evening and Sunday morning frequencies from every 30 to every 20 min on the Belgrave and Lilydale lines (ideally with all trips continuing in to the CBD to provide a 10 min combined service for Ringwood, as happens during the day on weekends). A 20 min maximum wait for Belgrave and Lilydale would bring service up to the level currently enjoyed by lines such as Werribee and Frankston that extend a comparable distance out from the CBD. 

Ringwood East Station is to be rebuilt due to a level crossing removal. Scope of project to be widened to include pedestrian legibility upgrades for Maroondah Hospital and Maroondah Council Offices.

3. Boost weekend Route 670 buses from 40 - 60 to every 20 min and improve walking access and legibility to Maroondah Hospital (as area currently pedestrian hostile). 

4. Extend bus route 688 from Croydon to Ringwood to provide a faster Mt Dandenong Rd connection to Ringwood and serve the currently unserved Ringwood Private Hospital. 

5. (Later) Subsequent wider bus network reform, likely involving a simpler Mt Dandenong Rd route (every 20 min or better past the hospital as backed by the Eastern Transport Coalition's Bus Considerations paper) and a Ringwood - Ringwood East - Eastfield Rd route (serving a large area without service).

How cost-effective are these? The first three don't require new trains or buses since they just work existing vehicles harder. 2a and 2b shouldn't require that many more driver operating hours. 

Others would require driver operating hours but there are many wider transport connectivity benefits across Melbourne's east, not just for the hospital. 4 on its own would likely require additional buses unless some economies can be made elsewhere. 5. may be more economical in that regard but might require multi-operator planning, swapping or sharing routes.

To maximise the usage of these upgrades, walking-friendly entrance points that maximise accessibility and minimise walking distances from the station and bus stops should be part of the hospital redevelopment's scope. 

How do other QEII hospitals fare for transport?

Adelaide's Queen Elizabeth Hospital in its western suburbs is a short direct walk from Woodville Station. Adelaide's trains are not known for frequency but Woodville is on two lines so enjoys a 15 minute off-peak frequency. Many bus routes stop outside the front and around the corner on Port Rd.  However times are somewhat lumpy with some 20 - 30 min gaps. 

Brisbane's QEII Jubilee Hospital is in its southern suburbs. It's a bit of a hike from Coopers Plains Station (about 2km) which also sees trains about every 15 min. Buses would be most travellers choice with multiple routes departing. Rarely would you wait 5 or 10 minutes and not see a bus. Even their unfortunately infrequent orbital 598/599 routes serves the hospital. 

Perth's huge QEII Medical Centre is the nearest to the CBD and has even better service. Most notable is the all week frequent 950 between there, the CBD and suburban Morley. However there are also other local routes and the free and frequent Purple CAT from the CBD. 

Sydney's Queen Elizabeth II Rehabilitation Centre is just across the road from the Prince Alfred. The buses outside it (412, 422) combined to provide a combined 7.5 minute weekday frequency to the CBD. Other options include an even more frequent service on busy Parramatta Rd or a 10 minute walk to Newtown Station.  

All these hospitals/centres are closer in to their CBDs than is Maroondah Hospital. If the renaming proceeds then Melbourne's QEII Hospital will be by far the least accessible example by a long margin if service improvements like the above (as a bare minimum) do not proceed. 

Conclusion

Even without the promised upgrades, Maroondah Hospital has long been overdue for better transport. The five steps above would be a good start.