How transport bodies portrayed their activities in 2024

One way that transport bodies promote the last year's achievements is to make a highlights or wrap-up video. It may only last a minute but is typically slick, fast-paced and upbeat. The video may be shown at an end of year staff presentation and/or be shared on public media. 

Enjoy some examples of the latter here: 

Suburban Rail Loop Authority

Describing 2024 as their biggest year yet, you can watch the SRL's video on their 1.2k subscriber YouTube channel here:

The SRL Facebook page (6.4k followers) also has many videos. 

Level Crossing Removal Project

Their end of year wrap-up is not yet on their 4.4k subscriber YouTube channel, but you can watch it on Facebook (page has 46k followers).

Victoria's Big Build

An umbrella body for the state's major road and rail infrastructure projects, you can see an end-of-year video summary on Facebook (8.7k followers). Other videos are on their YouTube channel (1.2k subscribers). 

North-East Link

Milestones from the construction of the North East Link tunnels, the M80 Ring Road Completion and Eastern Freeway Upgrades are shown below on their YouTube channel (1.9k subscribers). 

NEL's Facebook page has 25k followers with many videos put on during the year. 

West Gate Tunnel

The project's 2.7k subscriber-strong YouTube channel has many videos but not any end-of-year wrap-up. Their Facebook page has 44k followers. 

Department of Transport and Planning

DTP, possibly reflecting the current leadership's diffident style, didn't do a publicly available end of year video. Their 1.6k subscriber YouTube channel comprises mostly of little viewed digital tools tutorials, slightly higher viewed arts projects and more popular train and tram videos (that gunzels would love). 

It's as if  the more enterprising sections of DTP took it on themselves to make videos showcasing their niche work, which, in the absence of 'big picture' videos commissioned by the Secretary, defined their YouTube channel as a hotchpotch. Lacking general videos that portray a network vision effectively deals DTP out of the undeclared low-level propaganda war for public and political goodwill between government bodies that exists when competing for limited budget resources.  

The last time the department articulated a rough vision for public transport in video form was about 5 years ago (below). This was before the pandemic when Jeroen Weimar was heading PTV. Paul Younis had just taken over as Department of Transport head. Under the latter's stewardship public transport services were to lose prominence in this merged department which saw it also take in planning in 2023.   

The Department's Facebook page is inactive but the PTV page that it runs has 65k followers. 

Fix Dandy Buses community campaign

The FixDandyBuses campaign (as #Fix800Bus) successfully advocated for 7 day service on the Route 800 bus down Princes Hwy, making 2024 a successful year. Not only that but it marketed the improved service to ensure high usage from the first day. Inspired more by the self-assured SRLA and LXRP than the demure DTP, it also couldn't resist making a wrap-up video that's viewable here: 

The last year

Read my last item in 2023 where I speculated on the future of the (then) over 900 day old Bus Plan. To answer the question posed, some good 7 day upgrades got done for buses (notably the Route 800 mentioned above) but 2024 wasn't really the year of wholesale bus network reform. Although there was significant community campaigning for same, with the Sustainable Cities campaign getting high prominence in the west. As we heard in PAEC, the Bus Plan has effectively been redefined as a label added when the government does good stuff with buses as opposed to being a coherent budgeted reform strategy. Planning purists might hate that but it does mean that a focused community campaign can prevail by engaging with media and politicians in ways that a supine department is restricted from doing. 

Metro train timetables continued to be stagnant with no inroads made into getting rid of the cheap-to-fix 30, 40 and even 60 minute gaps that makes the network far less useful than it should be. However V/Line saw some significant service gains, notably the Geelong line going from every 40 to every 20 minutes on weekends. But Melton still awaits relief from its hourly weekend trains (Labor promised an improvement from every 60 to 40 minutes in 2022 but this is both inadequate and not yet delivered). 

On the leadership side, the Public and Active Transport Minister Gabrielle Williams got promoted, gaining responsibilities for transport infrastructure from Danny Pearson. This late 2024 reshuffle was prompted by the retirement of long-standing Treasurer Tim Pallas. Housing, including the government's aim to concentrate housing around transport hubs, dominated the planning agenda in 2024.

The next year

Jeroen Weimar will take over from Paul Younis as DTP Secretary in four weeks. The change will see Mr Weimar return to transport, which has been his primary career area. Despite the prevailing state budgetary pessimism, Mr Weimar comes with high expectations; for the first time in a while the department will have an articulate and not-shy leader with operational experience of public transport.  

We should see more growth area bus upgrades start with previous years' GAIC funded improvements coming to fruition. In early 2025 we'll hear about the results of the current round; the government has previously signalled that bus services will be one of the priorities. GAIC funding for buses is good but it needs to be emphasised that this is for a temporary term and is highly conditional to the extent that it grows network coverage but does not necessarily enable as much network reform as desirable. As a recent Age series emphasises, there's a huge backlog with population growth outstripping services in growth areas. At about this time the under development Plan for Victoria will be released, with an expected emphasis on housing including more housing growth centres (the first 25 discussed here). 

One requirement of this must surely that this denser housing not only be clustered around public transport infrastructure but the service operate frequently at least 18 hours a day. In contrast to Sydney's network post the 2017 train timetable, not a single individual line in Melbourne currently does this, with the nine hour rule dominant. All eyes then on whether this plan specifies (and funds) the 'switch to service' our network needs and a modern replacement for the moribund Principal Public Transport Network along the lines of the Future Frequent Network. 

In the public transport world 2025 is likely to be dominated by the Metro Tunnel. This project appeared a lot more real in 2024 with many people getting tours of the new stations. However the all day service levels for this and other intersecting lines remain the big unknown - unlike Sydney our track record is one of greater secrecy with regards to even broad timetable specifications and no guarantees that we will get all day frequent service. 

We also don't yet know the extent of tram network reform post Metro Tunnel. This is one of the potential major side benefits of the Metro Tunnel project as it allows tram capacity to be spread more evenly across the CBD rather than be concentrated on the Swanston St corridor. Wise tram reform would also improve multimodal connections around the edge of the CBD.   

Have other predictions for 2025? Please leave them in the comments below. 

TT 198: Ease Christmas shopping. Upgrade these 10 bus routes!

The last year has seen some welcome improvements to some shopping centre bus routes. Especially on weekends where there's been a widening gap between travel demand and sparse timetables, sometimes unchanged for decades. For example Chadstone and Box Hill bus routes like 612, 766 and 800 have recently gained 7 day service with 284 and 285 soon to follow. 

But there's scope for more, especially given metropolitan Melbourne's continued growth and the relatively slow rate of bus service reform on non-school routes. 

Here's my pick, mostly concentrating on already popular routes that serve major shopping centres and don't need buying more buses to upgrade. 

1. Route 408 St Albans - Sunshine - Highpoint

This route runs every 20 min Monday to Saturday but drops to hourly on Sundays. It's massively popular, to the point of sometimes being unable to pick up passengers once it leaves Highpoint. An upgrade here is cheap as it just involves a Sunday frequency boost and possibly some slightly wider operating hours. Every 20 minutes would not be overkill given the high usage (and not just around Christmas) but even a 30 minute frequency would be a significant win. 

2. Route 903 SmartBus orbital 

This is a huge route that goes from Mordialloc to Altona. Usage is however very uneven, with loadings peaking between about Oakleigh South and Doncaster. Weekday service is every 15 minutes but weekends have 30 minute gaps - poor for a premium bus route. There is some unevenness in the Saturday timetable as some extra trips have been shoehorned in but they really need to bite the bullet on this one with the busiest portion of the route running every 15 minutes on weekends. Service reliability can be poor so attention to bus priority and network reform to split the route into sections are also essential. Otherwise the operator resorts to desperate measures like skipping the busiest shopping centre stops they are meant to serve. 

3. Route 527 Northland to Gowrie

This is a bit like the 408 in that Monday - Saturday service is every 20 minutes but Sunday service falls off a cliff. In this case an uneven timetable with 40 to 60 minute gaps. Parts of this route overlap others so ultimately there could be scope for a wider network reform with even bigger gains. 

4. Routes 802/804 Dandenong to Chadstone

This is a pair of routes that in conjunction with the 862 form a relatively frequent corridor on their overlapping section. But only on weekdays. 802 and 804 don't run Sundays while 802 has no Saturday service. This makes them Chadstone's only routes without 7 day service. While sections of these routes overlap the 800, there are unique portions around Mulgrave and Dandenong North that justify 7 day service. Dandenong Hospital, Monash University Clayton and Dandenong Market (open weekends) are other destinations served by these routes. The good news for the government is that these are relatively cheap upgrades to do if done in conjunction with work on Route 862 which is why I've grouped them.  

5. Route 468 Highpoint to Essendon

Connectivity to Highpoint is good in some directions but not others. Route 468 is, in theory, a direct connection to the Craigieburn train line but suffers from lacking a Sunday service. Saturday operating hours are also limited. As this is a short route a 7 day upgrade would be very low cost. There may also be network reform synergies by extending a route like 408 to Essendon to provide a through route.  

6. Route 828 Hampton to Berwick

Route 828 sweeps across a huge part of Melbourne's south and outer south-east, serving shopping centres like Southland, Moorabbin DFO, Parkmore Keysborough, Dandenong and Fountain Gate. It is also the main bus serving Doveton. Weekday service is mostly every 20 minutes but weekends falls off to every 40 minutes on Saturday and only hourly on Sundays. While a long route a weekend upgrade to every 20 (or even 30) minutes would make it very popular for a lot of short trips as has been the case on the Route 800 since that got upgraded.  

7. Route 902 SmartBus orbital

The eastern part of this route, between about Nunawading and Keysborough, gets incredibly high usage on weekends including standing loads. An upgrade would especially benefit shops and transport connections at Springvale and Glen Waverley. Normal frequency is 30 minutes but relief may be possible by adding extra short trips between Nunawading and Keysborough to provide a 15 minute combined service over the busiest section. 

8. Route 406 Footscray to Keilor East

A popular route via Highpoint that like several others discussed operate every 20 minutes weekdays and Saturdays but drops to only every 40 minutes on Sunday. The Footscray to Highpoint portion is however indirect so longer term some network reform with the partly overlapping 223 may be desirable. 

9. Route 900 Caulfield to Rowville

Operating via Chadstone, Oakleigh and Monash University, this has been one of the most popular weekend bus routes. Some relief has been provided by the Route 800 upgrade but this doesn't help the Caulfield - Chadstone portion. And it has strong all year weekend patronage, recognised by a boost from 30 to 20 minutes over the busiest times. Due to 900's actual and potential usage a boost to every 15 minutes on weekends over wide hours (like is being done with 905 and 907) would be a big help, as would the addition of Sunday evening service.   

10. Route 508 Moonee Ponds to Alphington

This very popular east-west route does not serve big shopping centres unlike most of the others discussed above. But it intersects with a lot of tram routes and serves a dense, fine-grained and low car owning neighbourhoods around Brunswick. And weekend usage productivity is very high. Dropping to every 40 minutes on Sundays, it's a prime example of service and usage being mismatched. So it justifies an upgrade to every 15-20 minutes 7 days to reach full patronage potential.  

Conclusion

None of the above upgrades need more buses, with extra driver hours, fuel and a bit for maintenance being the main requirements. They are all tested routes with known high usage during the week and on Saturdays. And there are enough destinations that they would attract good all year usage, not just in the pre-Christmas shopping season.

I could add at least another 20 or 30 very worthy routes to the list. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!  

Other Timetable Tuesday items are here

Good buses, good politics and social media

Members of parliament measure community sentiment by several means. It may be what they get asked about when in public, the volume of phone calls their office gets or the number of emails. Their staff may also monitor social media to see which posts get high engagement and which do not. 

Where do buses fit in on the latter? 

To get a rough idea I looked at the Facebook page for two MPs who represent diverse working class areas in which living costs is a major issue. The seats concerned are Mulgrave (Eden Foster - 1.3k followers) and Melton (Steve McGhie - 8.4k followers).

Both seats had recent bus service upgrades (upgraded 7 day 800 in Mulgrave, new Route 452 in Melton) that both MPs posted about on their Facebook pages. 

I counted the number of reactions they got and compared them to the four immediately previous posts. 

On Eden Foster's page the 800 bus item was the most reacted to post of the five surveyed. This had about 20 per cent more reactions more than the next most popular post. I had to go back 15 posts to find one with a higher number of reactions so the Route 800 item was likely in the top 10%. 

The Route 452 bus item on Steve McGhie's page was also a good performing post. By a very high margin compared to the previous four. I had to scroll back over 30 posts before I found one that had higher engagement (238 reactions). That one was also transport themed; in this case the West Gate Tunnel. 

It's only two MPs sampled but this reaction test shows that if politicians want online engagement they could do much worse than to talk about improved buses and other transport projects. This also ties in with housing and cost of living narratives. 

On the latter, when it comes to transport, by far the most expensive trip is that which cannot be made by existing public transport services. This makes public transport coverage and service improvements that expand the range of trips practical by public transport throughout the week so worthwhile.