tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18909424.post4813800357267940255..comments2024-03-24T23:01:11.766+11:00Comments on Melbourne on Transit: Building Melbourne's Useful Network: Part 10 Inner north (east west routes)Peter Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13413976934040474125noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18909424.post-78934224694319525802019-07-10T16:46:39.229+10:002019-07-10T16:46:39.229+10:00Thanks Ricky some good points. Regarding the 404, ...Thanks Ricky some good points. Regarding the 404, I'll have more to say about this and a potential east-west link on Friday. Stay tuned! I deliberately left out a Clifton Hill - Melbourne Uni link. It would have to be every 10 min or better to be worthwhile and I only had every 20 min down for the 502. <br /><br />I contemplated running 510 via Lower Heidelberg Rd but it would overlap a fair amount of the 546, be a bit longer and be less direct to the hospital area. Eaglemont is a high income area. It would support a reasonable peak and school time service but I'm not sure if it has the right demographics for a 20 minute all-day service (in the long term I can see routes like 508 and 510 going to every 10 min). Also the area needs to be considered in relation to the 548, 567, 350 and other north-south routes that were beyond the scope for this item. My gut feeling is there should be a route southwards from Latrobe Uni then Heidelberg then down Burke Rd for Camberwell to replace the existing 548 (Heidelberg being bigger than Ivanhoe and offering a 903 connection). If you did pull out the 548 you could, as a substitute, route an extended 510 to Heidelberg via St Elmo Rd.<br /><br />Re 508, more on that Friday but my view is that 472, while it's got good frequency, is too indirect to connect with anything beyond Moonee Ponds. It's really a neighbourhood route that just happens to have good frequency (like 552). I did think of extending 508 to Ivanhoe but it might miss part of Alphington near the station. Running straight south down Grange Rd also misses the station. I don't like its dead eastern terminus but in the end I left it as something to consider for a separate review. Too many interdependencies make implementation harder and I try to limit it to only a few each week. <br /><br />My scope is generally routes every 20 min or better (ie 'Useful Network') but routes like 526 could be useful to 'mop up' issues created by making the former more direct. As it serves a residential area it should run to minimum standards. The main issues in the area are the mess of 903, 513 and 527 as opposed to a single route running every 10 min (maybe 6-8 min in peak). But I do like the concept of tying 526 and 553 somehow, though the latter may have implications for western Reservoir which is very poorly served with only the limited service 558. <br /><br />I think 503 has potential. Especially if the Upfield line is upgraded to a 10 min service. It serves areas that are near trams but a bus>train trip might be faster. And these are gentrifying densifying areas. While 503's eastern terminus is weak there is potential to extend it eastwards. Eg if 567 is made purely a north-south route, extended to say Hawthorn via Kew then you might still want something in Bastings St to replace the deleted 567. That something could well be an extended 503. There is some overlap with 508 but it's probably tolerable. The purist might say that Bastings St doesn't need buses as most is walkable to train stations. However not having a bus would cut its local connection from Northcote. An extended 503 would not only retain that connection but improve it with service nearer Northcote Shopping Centre.<br /><br />Peter Parkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13413976934040474125noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18909424.post-34129301844858925892019-07-09T23:30:47.722+10:002019-07-09T23:30:47.722+10:00I think you're somewhat on the right direction...I think you're somewhat on the right direction with the 502 Peter, however, I would consider making a few slight changes.<br />I. Looking at the somewhat dead wood that is the 404, extending the 502 across to Footscray has a lot of potential in creating a somewhat reliable East-West link where one doesn't exist at present.<br />II.Running it via the front door of the Zoo and Monash Parkville/Royal Parade, whilst adding on 3-5 minutes, would avoid the narrowest section of Elliot Avenue, probably being somewhat beneficial for running times.<br />III. Using Elgin between Swanston and Nicholson would provide the triple benefit of having a connection to Melbourne Uni (meaning less requirement for a 401-esque service), avoiding the narrowest and most congested section of Princes St (the main reason why 546 has major late running issues), and provide a solid patronage generator, with much more reason to dump the 403.<br /><br />The 510 extension, I would somewhat consider the pros and cons of going through Lower Heidelberg Rd over Upper. Whether this would provide much benefit is debatable, but it leads rather nicely to replacing the 551 with it as a Latrobe link for the inner north.<br />If this was the case, 504 or 506 would be a nice candidate for running via the Yarra Bend Development and Upper Heidelberg Rd to Ivanhoe/Heidelberg, if a service really had to go that way, or else replacing a modified 549 as a southern link to Northland.<br /><br />Eastern End of 508 has always been an interesting one. It lends itself to being a very nice inner orbital smartbus (what blue should have been but wasn't to be) involving Highpoint/VU/Williamstown and Glenferrie/Camberwell/Caulfield. Whether it would be better off being a defacto orbital though coupled with an upgraded and modified 472/548 though is another matter entirely. Either way it has untapped potential, and for it being in the top 30 patronage, should really be looked at closely.<br /><br />512, whilst being easy to upgrade to 7 day operation, doesn't exactly have much going for it, with weak termini at both ends (extremely weak in the case of the East). A potential option could be combining it with the 526 and the western half of 553 (with an extension to Reservoir), but otherwise it's basically a charity service.<br /><br />503 is somewhat dead weight, as a legacy service. Whilst yes, there's a 500m-1km gap to the 508/510 (and even less to the 509!), it doesn't exactly have much of a purpose outside of being a small scale station feeder.<br /><br />All in all some good ideas there, but definitely some food for thought.Ricky Gnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18909424.post-29313139991981042892019-07-06T15:59:37.290+10:002019-07-06T15:59:37.290+10:00The 502 makes sense but to make it more useful I t...The 502 makes sense but to make it more useful I think it should continue up Heidelberg road to the new Yarra Bend development in Alphington and on the other end should continue down Smithfield road to Footscray.<br /><br />510 extension to Heidelberg also makes sense.<br /><br />If these bus routes were more frequent I'd use them more. Living near Bell and spending most my time in the inner north, the only buses I occasionally use are the 903 smart bus and the 250/251 as they seem to be frequent and reliable and are quite useful for going across town rather than just in it out.Callum Scotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09825070810586571495noreply@blogger.com