UN 147: Ten Super-cheap bus boosts for 2023

It's tricky. 

We have a minister who wants to do bus reform. 

But apparently there's little state government money floating around. 

Victorians have been told to brace for public service job cuts in May 3's state budget with the CPSU claiming 6000 positions could go. 

Today's tighter budgetary environment is mainly due to rising interest bills on capital projects started when money was cheap and was expected to remain so. Those who believed Reserve Bank assurances about rates staying low are now feeling the pinch. Election commitments like the V/Line fare cuts starting today would also have tightened things, especially as this involves recurrent funding that is scarce at the best of times.  

Tougher public finances makes getting the most community benefit and ridership from existing transport vehicles and service kilometres more important than ever. That needs carefully selected service uplifts and network reform at least partly funded by redundancies on the network.

Keep reading for 10 opportunities of this for 2023.    

Defining the game

There's two games here. A big game and a little game. 

The big game is that more bus (and train) service kilometres per capita is needed. And an ability to deploy it sensibly. The last time the Victorian governments really played the big game for public transport service was 2006 - 2010 for buses, up to about 2013-4 for Metro trains and under this government for weekday V/Line trains. 

Playing the big game needs money. It's not huge by capital works standards but it does need to be ongoing. You look to government budgets rather than departmental plans for the best clues on what's going to happen here. This is why May's budget will be so important. 

The best that can be hoped for is that although parts of government (including transport) might be pruned there's a redirection of resources into transport service. Recent state budgets have shown a small move in this direction, with more in 2022 than 2021 which had more than 2020's. 

The little game is where we maximise benefit from existing service kilometres. That involves cutting inefficient overlaps and optimising service to better reflect community need and usage. A lot of this happened during the last Coalition government. There was also a bit done in 2021 such as the Transdev network service redistribution and the Night Network bus revamp. 

Small route reforms to remove inefficient overlaps or simplify deviations might also be possible. This is best done at the start of a government's term (ie now!) so that there is time to resolve any controversial issues before the next election. Even if high frequency cannot be funded immediately, a reformed network can make this easier to implement on needed portions, as illustrated below. 

(In case the above looks familiar, this example was based on Route 556 around Epping) 

Adding new routes over an unchanged existing network is expensive to fund but easy to implement. In contrast optimising service is cheaper to fund but more demanding to implement. This is because such reform needs careful planning, acceptance of trade-offs and more explaining to the public. 

Still that's not to be sneered at as the bus network has a 30+ year backlog of cheap-to-fix problems and many routes should be simplified before they warrant big service increases. The list below concentrates on these due to the current budgetary environment. 

Budget bus boosts for 2023 

Here's the list. Special emphasis is on opportunities to spread 7 day service and simplify routes with close to zero net cost due to offsetting savings.    

1. Seven day Route 800 for almost nothing

Route 800 is Melbourne's best used bus route that lacks 7 day service. Operating hours are very short and Saturday afternoon buses have 2 hour gaps between them. This is despite it serving major destinations including Chadstone Shopping Centre, Oakleigh, parts of the Monash Precinct and Dandenong. It's also the only public transport in low income parts of Noble Park and Dandenong. Service was slashed under Joan Kirner and never restored since despite the growth of 7 day trading and high-rise developments such as M-City. 

A full upgrade would involve the weekday 20 minute frequency being rolled out on weekends along with longer operating hours such as a 10pm finish. A $2 million spend on improved service wouldn't be excessive given this route's importance. 

But what if you wanted to do something for the 800 but had no funding? You'd then have to look at quieter nearby routes that have more service and transfer bus resources from them to the 800. An obvious choice is the 704, as I discussed here. 

Route 704 takes just under 40 minutes to do its run. Service is every 40 minutes on weekends, thus requiring two buses. Route 800 is about an hour long. Thus its hourly Saturday morning service requires two buses while Saturday afternoons needs one bus. 

A zero cost upgrade could trim Route 704 from every 40 to every 80 minutes on weekends, thus freeing one bus. Adding that straight to the 800 would allow a 40 minute service on Saturday mornings, a 60 minute service on Saturday afternoons, a new 120 minute service on Sundays and some later finishes. Though in practice one would likely prefer hourly on both days rather than 40 minutes for Saturday mornings.    

Pruning 704's weekday service could free up more resources, eg for further (and needed) weekend upgrades. Not ideal but better than now. And in areas like the 800 passes through people will heavily use even low frequency buses such as seen on routes like 813 and 814.  

2. Seven day 404 from Footscray to Moonee Ponds

This one is possible after the Metro Tunnel opens in 2025. Currently the 403 bus runs from Footscray to Parkville to feed regional students to Melbourne University and avoid an extra train/401 bus change (as V/Line trains don't stop at North Melbourne).  

That will become redundant when the Metro tunnel opens as there will be frequent trains direct from Footscray to Parkville. Hence there remains the question of what to do with 403's buses and service hours. 

The fastest route from Footscray to Moonee Ponds is not the 82 tram but the 404 bus. This also serves the dense Kensington Banks development. However the 404 only runs every 40 minutes interpeak and not at all on Sundays. Extra service hours taken from the 403 could enable an interpeak boost to 20 minutes and potentially 7 day running.

As Route 404 already has a 20 minute peak frequency these changes add hours but not the peak bus requirements. A potential use for the bus vehicles could be in the Melton area to accommodate high growth and fill needed coverage gaps. Making this easier is that 403, 404 and Melton routes are run by the same bus operator. 

3. Seven days on Park Orchards' 271

Route 271 from Box Hill to Ringwood is a coverage style route operating via Blackburn North and Park Orchards. Its 30 minute Saturday frequency is relatively good for a Melbourne bus though usage isn't very high. There is no Sunday service which is unfortunate as there are large areas where it is the only public transport. 

Sunday service is doable at low (but not no) cost if Saturday service is pruned to 60 minutes and trips are transferred to Sunday. Sunday trips are a bit dearer to run than Saturday trips due to wages. Hence to be cost-neutral there will need to be other minor timetable changes on the Kinetic network. Potential examples could include deleting Route 281's Deakin extension on university holidays (or even all the time when the upgraded 201 starts) and/or rationalising some peak trips on the quieter outer portions of some routes. 

   

4. Seven days to Yarraville on the 431

Kingsville, on Route 431, is remote from other public transport except on the busy and hard to cross Geelong Rd. It's a densifying and developing area. The 431 stops suddenly at 7pm weekdays and 6pm Saturdays. There is no Sunday service though Saturday service runs at better than average 30 minute intervals. 

Also feeding Yarraville is the 432. This is a long and windy route from Newport to Yarraville via Altona Gate. Service frequency is uneven. Weekday off-peak gaps vary between 20 and 30 minutes meaning that there is no clockface/memory timetable. Saturday and Sunday services are every 45 minutes although there are longer hours than on the 431. Route 432 is a not particularly heavily used route. 

An opportunity exists to shift service hours from 432 by lowering its weekday frequency from 20-30 to an even 30 minutes. This should be able to fund (and possibly interline with) an upgraded 431 operating every 30 minutes on weekdays and 40 minutes on weekends (both days) with longer hours with a similar service kilometres to now. More detail here. 

5. Patterson Lakes seven day buses

The only bus accessible to the large part of Patterson Lakes away from McLeod Rd is the 857. This is a limited service route with short operating hours, 90 minute gaps and no Saturday afternoon and Sunday service. Meanwhile McLeod Rd has the 708 and 833 which both operate 7 days. 

7 day coverage would be improved if one of the McLeod Rd routes (eg 833) operated south of there via Gladesville Av. In return the existing Gladesville Av route could be moved to McLeod Rd. In other words an 833/857 swap. 

While this doesn't change the number of stops served, this swap adds extra service kilometres as 833 runs more frequently than does the 857. But if the 833 was shortened then it would even out. 

Is this possible without reducing coverage? As it turns out the answer is yes. When the 833 was extended to Carrum a few years ago its backtracking along Frankston - Dandenong Rd was retained. This is despite there being other routes in the area including the 832 and the more frequent 901 SmartBus. Removing this backtracking would simplify this route and free up kilometres that could fund the extra distance in Patterson Lakes.

Route 857's kilometres would be less, improving directness from Carrum Station to Dandenong. However it may be desirable to add kilometres to Route 708 to retain service in the southern part of Carrum (if moving the station closer to this area is not considered sufficient). 

This change does mean somewhat less frequency on part of McLeod Rd but is an overall greater good gain with much more widespread 7 day service. More detail here.     

6. Four new SmartBus routes

Four bus routes have service levels that almost qualify them as SmartBus routes. In fact their frequencies at certain times (eg weekends) are often already better. However operating hours are often very slightly shorter.

Only a handful of trips per day would allow these routes to be counted as SmartBus, the indicator of premium bus services in Melbourne. The expansion of such as network was a significant thrust of Victoria's Bus Plan and routes 216, 220, 234 and 246 are the lowest of 'low hanging fruit'. 

* 216 City - Sunshine: Requires very minor weekend span improvements.

* 220 City - Sunshine: Requires very minor weekend span improvements. Desirable to reform with Route 410 to simplify Ballarat Rd services and provide a direct Victoria University - Docklands - CBD connection. More here.

* 234 Queen Vic Market - Garden City: Requires very minor weekend span improvements. (~6 extra trips per week)

* 246 Clifton Hill - Elsternwick: Requires earlier morning start times 7 days (2 - 3 extra trips each way per day).

All routes are operated by Kinetic. Internal economies would need to be found for these change to be service kilometres neutral. Possibilities could include shortening Fishermans Bend routes to start south of the current Queen Vic Market terminus, deleting Route 429 (but modifying 428), reducing frequency on or deleting parts of the heavily duplicative and poorly used 280/282, and doing some peak frequency rationalisation on outer parts of some longer routes (subject to patronage counts).  

7. Simplified 600/922/923

Buses between St Kilda, Elwood, Brighton, Sandringham and Southland are a complex mess. Some roads can have up to 4 routes going to pretty similar places, none very frequently. The complexity also means that 3 of the 4 routes don't run much after dark, intervals can reach 80 minutes and some trips finish mid-route. As well buses going the same way might depart from different stops, such as at the newly rebuilt Cheltenham Station. The use of widely separated route numbers (and too many routes in general) make it harder to find timetables on the PTV website and even harder to establish which is the next trip at stops. 

Patronage varies significantly along the 600/922/923 corridor. Its northern part includes Elwood, an area with significant housing density and buses as the only nearby public transport. Its middle bit around Brighton parallels a train line and other bus routes, with quite low patronage. Meanwhile its southern part, with significant unique catchment, provides a feeder service to Sandringham and Cheltenham as well as connecting to Southland.  

These factors make the 600/922/923 ripe for reform. The northern part is arguably unnecessary, especially if Route 606 is boosted. The Brighton section is possibly also redundant while the Sandringham to Southland portion could be simplified from three to two routes. There's different ways to do this with more detail here and here. 

8. Simpler 770 and 771 in Karingal area

Karingal's main residential area bus routes are the 770 and 771 from Frankston station. Both operate on complex routes, going different ways on the way to and from Frankston. This means that people in the area need to take a different bus back to what they took there. 

Significant simplification is possible if the loops are removed and the 770 and 771 made into linear bidirectional routes. That's possible without loss of coverage. More detail on that is here. 

9. Simplifying by splitting (380, 566, 736)

Complexity is a key reason people avoid using buses. Melbourne contains more than its fair share of complex and underperforming bus routes; people just want to go from A to B and not backtrack or go around in circles. Some routes can be simplified just by splitting into two straighter routes with service retained at all existing stops.  

Three examples include: 

380 between Ringwood and Croydon. A complex circular route that could be simplified to two Ringwood - Croydon bidirectional routes, one north and the other south. Weekend operating hours extensions are desirable but the split can be done without them. This route serves Maroondah Hospital. 

566 between Lalor and Northland. A complex route that backtracks via Greensborough with some stops served by buses in both directions. No one would ride it end to end. Hence it is a good candidate for a split at Greensborough. Other potential improvements include a western extension to Epping Plaza and improving its frequency from the current ~23 to 20 minutes to harmonise evenly with trains. 

736 between Blackburn and Mitcham. Again no one would ride this end to end as walking would be quicker and there is a train. Glen Waverley is a major centre, interchange and future SRL station. The service would become easier to use if it was split into two routes. Through running and timetables could even remain the same with a route number changing at Glen Waverley.  

10. Removing useless kinks

Some bus routes have kinks or deviations that slow through passengers but do little to improve network coverage. Some kinks may add confusion if they only operate on some trips. Examples of those that may be removable without changes to other routes include: 

279's occasional Blackburn deviation
504's indirectness in Fitzroy North

506's Smith St kink
536's alternating paths in Hadfield

833's Dandenong - Frankston Rd backtracking (more on this later)

Four of these five should reduce route kilometres so marginally reduce operating costs. Route 536's should be unchanged with the main gain being simplicity and avoiding 80 minute gaps at some stops. 

Potentially removable variations and deviations on other routes include those on 273, 432, 469, 503, 510, 555, 558, 624, 693, 732, 737, 742, 733, 894, 895 and many others. However other network reforms nearby may be desirable to retain coverage if these are done. 

What's not listed? 

Many popular routes that strongly justify service increases are not listed above.

The main reason for this is that offsetting cuts are harder to find. For instance Route 506 (a strongly used route lacking Sunday service) is run by a small bus operator with only one other route (503 which also lacks Sunday service). Larger operators in outer areas like CDC in Werribee, Broadmeadows Bus in Craigieburn, Sita in Melton and Ventura in Dandenong have strong justifications to run more of their routes more frequently over longer hours but also appear to lack significant 'fat' from which resources could be simply siphoned. 

This is why important upgrades such as 506 and 536 (7 day service), 406, 408, 410 (improved Sunday service) and 150, 160, 192, 495, 529 and 533 (boosted off-peak and/or weekend frequency) are not listed despite strong rationale for them (including appearance in this Top 40 upgrade list). The same applies to many 7 day and public holiday standardisations of local routes to deliver 365 day service.

If funding for service increases comes available then those in the Top 40 list, along with growth area coverage expansions, should get top priority. These are all strong routes which in some cases just need upgrades on one day of the week to make them good. Despite the straightened times, advocates should not be shy about requesting funding boosts on routes in such high patronage propensity / high social needs catchments.  

 

Another reason for me not including some initiatives is that several routes and/or several operators might be involved. For example it is highly desirable that Route 903 operate via Highpoint instead of duplicating the 465 west of Essendon. The overall cost would likely be low. However this involves route or at least timetable reform involving other operators routes including 406, 465 and possibly others like 407 and 419.

Network reform requires some capital spending, even if it's mere thousands putting in new bus stop poles and replacing timetables. Even trifling amounts can be hard to source, with DTP scoring much less here than the major construction agencies.  

Similar can be said for much needed network reforms in areas like Keysborough and Dandenong North along with more ambitious examples involving Knox and Doncaster, north-south cross-Yarra connections around Ivanhoe/Camberwell/Caulfield and additional 10 minute corridors such as between Coburg, Northland and Heidelberg and Footscray to Highpoint. Further examples of reform to provide simpler consolidated main bus routes are presented here. 

Buying buses is another expense but permits needed growth area coverage expansions. As well as completing missing links whose absence makes travel needlessly slow because routes finish just short of a major station or destination. Here's the top 12 with the second 12 presented here.

Trains too! For some higher profile stuff than dinky little bus timetable tinkerings then less waiting for Metro trains is a must. Cutting 30 - 40 min maximum waits to 20 minutes between 7am and 9pm / 7 days should be top priority. Ways to benefit service to 100 stations on key lines are described here.    

Conclusion

Presented are more than ten very low cost bus boosts that should deliver an overall simpler and better network. These could be made better, and extra ones done, with extra bus hours and kilometres funding. 

Your thoughts on these and any other ideas are appreciated and can be left below.  

Index to Useful Network items here