Translink Bus changes (rant)

So the first round of changes to Brisbane Transport (BCC) Buses under the Translink banner come into effect on Monday July 22nd.

I am a little more than cranky with the changes, and with TransLink, BCC & Qld Gov.  I even had a 15 tweet rant on twitter on the way home tonight.  What really pisses me off the most is they are about to raise the fares by another 7.5% yet they are about to screw with capacity on some heavily utilised routes.

As of Monday July 22 the changes to routes 77, P88 & 111 take effect.  But not all the changes to these routes take effect and this annoys me no end.

The P88 route which was set for the chop is chopped but unlike the promised in the BCC report (HERE) it is not being replaced by the stated new P163 service.  What annoys me the most as a regular user of morning and evening peak P88 and 111 services is the lack of capacity.

Between 6am and 7am there were 6 P88 services 6:00, 6:10, 6:20, 6:30, 6:40, 6:50 & 7:00, these were operated by the Garden City Depo with a mix of MAN 18.310 (CNG) & Scania L94UB buses, both of which have a stated seating of 44 passengers or total capacity including standing of 63 passengers. This equates to a maximum of 372 pssengers on the 6 services.

They new P163 does not start and Translink advises passengers to instead take the 111 service. However the new timetable for the 111 service (effective 22-July-2013) shows no change between 6am and 7am, with only 7 services 6:00, 6:15. 6:25, 6:35, 6:45. 6:55. 7:00.  These services are operated by the Willawong Depo with mainly MAN NG313 Articulated buses but occasionally MAN 18.310 (CNG) buses.

The MAN NG313 has stated seating of 63 with a total capacity including standing passengers of 85. So the 111 service between 6am and 7am offers capacity of 595 passengers.  So combined currently between the P88 and 111 on Eight Mile Plains to Roma Street their is capacity of 967 passengers.

From Monday 22 July the capacity between Eight Mile Plains and Roma Street from 6am to 7am will drop from 967 passengers to just 595 passengers.  Now as a regular commuter on this route during this time, I cant see a way that these 7 111 services will be able to hold the entire demand.

Yes there are other routes that travel along the busway between 6am and 7am, but they are also often at capacity before they reach Garden City or Griffith University.

I find this to be entirely short sighted of the BCC, Translink & the QLD Gov that they are almost halving capacity between Eight Mile Plains and Roma Street in what is a peak period, with no replacement services for the capacity they have cut.

I encourage you to have your say, by commenting on Translink, BCC & Qld Gov websites, tweeting, emailing and Facebooking them, or contacting your local member of State Parliament and complaining.