UN 152: Transport for Mambourin

Take the train from Melbourne towards Geelong. Look right towards the YouYangs a couple of minutes after you depart Wyndham Vale Station. You will see lots of houses. That's Mambourin.

Their local station at Black Forest Rd is neither funded nor built. While a cruel tease for now its appearance on some maps may build expectations that cause it to eventually happen. But for now, like many new estates, service provision is lagging with not even a local bus route serving a now populated area. 

The nearest bus stop is 30 minutes walk away. Like at Mt Atkinson, locals are campaigning for a local service with a 'bus marathon' held last month. Mambourin is in the state seat of Werribee, held by Treasurer Tim Pallas.  

Mt Atkinson, discussed last week, was quite difficult to draw a bus route concept for. I presented several potential alignments, each with its pros and cons. Fortunately better planned Mambourin looks easier with a potential through route between two major stations. 

The first, and most easily resolved question, was whether an existing route could be extended. That would be the most economical way of improving coverage if this was possible.

The only route in the area is the 192 between Werribee and Wyndham Vale. That has a lot of unique coverage and is a good patronage performer. So it's best left alone and a new route added for Mambourin. 

Desirable features of such a new route include: 

* Connectivity to trains on both lines in the area (Geelong and Werribee)
* Good access to the nearest shopping centre (and preferably others)
* Good coverage of residential areas with reasonable directness
* Potential to feed trains at a future station at Black Forest Rd
* An efficient route length for a frequency that harmonises with trains

Mapped below is a rough concept for something that might reasonably satisfy these points. I've called it the 193 given that its nearest existing route is the 192. 

It feeds trains at both Wyndham Vale and Werribee, serves local shops and provides reasonable (though not complete) coverage. Its 12-13 km length should take a little under 40 minutes.

A very basic service every 40 minutes (meshing with off-peak trains at both stations) would require two buses while four buses would be required for a more attractive 20 minute frequency (which a lot more routes in Wyndham should have - all day - due to strong patronage). 

If the cheaper 40 minute option is chosen it is desirable that timetables are offset with those for Route 192 (also every 40 min off-peak) to provide a combined 20 minute frequency on common portions.   

That's the concept anyway. The actual alignment might be different, depending on roads that are open and where further housing has been built by the time that service starts. 

Thoughts on all this are appreciated and can be left below. 

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Note: From now on I will post on Thursdays instead of Fridays. This should widen readership and discussion on a day of the week where influential readers are more likely to be in their offices with colleagues rather than working from home.