Public transport is well, err, public, so passengers may see things motorists darting from remote-controlled garage to multi-storey car park don't.
Should bystanders render assistance or does this create other problems? There's some good discussion over on John Quiggin's blog after a woman suffered a stroke at a Brisbane bus stop.
(compiled from http://www.alphalink.com.au/~parkerp/meltrip/bus.htm ).
Summary
Total number of metropolitan bus routes: 306*
Number that run until at least 7pm weekdays: 165 (54%)
Number than run until at least 9pm weekdays: 40 (13%)
Number that run Saturdays: 238 (78%)
Number that run Sundays: 87 (28%)
Number of 'full time' routes (run Mon-Sun and operate after 9pm weekdays): 35 (11%)
In detail
Routes that run Mon-Sun and operate after 9pm weekdays: 35
Routes that run Mon-Fri only and cease before 7pm weekdays: 32
Routes that run Mon-Fri only and cease before 9pm weekdays: 11
Routes that run Mon-Fri only but cease after 9pm weekdays: 2
Routes that run Mon-Sat only and cease before 7pm weekdays: 69
Routes that run Mon-Sat only and cease before 9pm weekdays: 82
Routes that run Mon- Sat only but cease after 9pm weekdays: 3
Routes that run Sun-Fri only but cease before 7pm weekdays: 1
Routes that run Mon-Sun but cease before 7pm weekdays: 17
Routes that run Mon-Sun but cease before 9pm weekdays: 32
Peak period only routes: 14
Limited service and special routes: 6
Sunday only routes: 2
Comments
* With Sunday service extended about 3-4 years ago, the proportion of routes offering Sunday service has increased from 20-25% to 28% today.
* More recent service increases (Jan and February 2006) have included some new routes, some extra Sunday services and one or two extra late services on weekdays. This has slightly reduced the number of 'C' routes (finishing before 7:00pm) and increased the proportion of 'D' routes (with the final service between 7:00 and 8:59pm). A few years ago the average Melbourne bus route ran every 40 minutes and finished at 6:53pm (source BAV). However with 54% of routes with a final service at 7pm or later, recent improvements will have extended the average finishing time to approx 7:10pm.
* Even under the slack definition used(**), barely 1 in 10 metropolitan bus routes can be considered to run 'full-time'.
Notes
(*) Includes only routes with a standard Met route number. 'The Bus' is includes as it has been assigned a route number by the Metlink website.
(**) Any route with a weekday service after 9pm is counted as 'full-time', even if it has no weekend evening service.
One of the most popular pages on Meltrip is the bus routes index.
As well as updates due to recent service expansions, I thought it was time to overhaul the way routes were classified according to running times. For those new to the site, these are the letters (A, B, C, etc) after the route description.
Because there are many possible service variations, this has always been a balance between information content and simplicity. Up to now letters were added to tell if a service ran Saturdays, Sundays, evenings or whether it was a peak-only service.
Under this method, some routes were difficult to classify, and I used a cut-off time of 8 or 9 pm to determine whether a route qualified as 'full time' (no letters) or 'no evening service'. The problem with this was that it was too coarse, and routes that had a service at (say) 8:30pm were in the same group as full-time services, some of which run as frequently as every 20 or 30 minutes until midnight.
Because it includes part of the evening peak period (especially in outer suburbs) the 6 to 10pm period is critical for many travellers. Not all workers have full control over their finishing times, and the risk of missing the last bus is ever-present. Along with weekends (on some routes) 6 to 10pm is the period where there is the greatest mismatch between modern travel needs and service provided.
For this reason I have altered the codes to better suit travel patterns. A and B cover Saturday and Sunday services and are unchanged. However routes marked 'C' are those where the last service departs before 7pm. Allowing 30-60 min travel and transfer times, 'C' routes do not fully cover the evening peak hour, so are more suited to day travellers (eg shoppers and pensioners) than commuters.
Routes marked 'D' routes offer early evening service, with the last service departing at or after 7pm. On most, service ended before 7:30pm, though a few continue until almost 9pm. Most people on these routes should be able to work until after 6:00 or even 6:30pm and still have transport home. Some 'C' and 'D' routes have extra services on some nights (either Thursday, Friday or Saturday), but for simplicity I excluded these.
Peak-only routes that were marked 'D' are now shown as 'P'.
Unmarked routes are considered 'full time' as they include weekday service until 9:00pm or later along with weekend service. Reference to timetables is important as these later service may not apply on all sections of the route or on weekend evenings.
The changes will not cater for everyone, but they should allow most people to eliminate unsuitable routes quicker without needing to see the timetable.
