Route 300 video

The Brisbane Times today posted a copy of a video that is showing at the EKKA of (translink) Brisbane Transport Bus route 300 from Adelaide Street to Toombul Shopping center.

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.

Brisbane transport activity video

I saw this video on the Brisbane Times website on Friday (but have been unable to upload it until now due to internet issues, & have now had to link to their youtube page) as a transportation geek found it rather intriguing.

A Canadian IT company (STLTransit) used Translink data to compile this video which uses dots of light to represent translink services operated by the many different bus companies as well as Queensland Rail trains. 

This video provides a great insight into how public transport operates across the translink region and shows just how busy it is in and out of Brisbane during peak hour

Complient BT buses

As some of you may be aware from my other online presences I am a bit of a transport geek, and one of the things that interests me slightly (but nowhere near as much as aviation) is public transport here in Brisbane, both buses and trains.  So here's an article on some musings related to a story on the Brisbane Times website today (HERE).

It appears that a storm in a tea cup has broken out between Brisbane Transport the department who run the Brisbane City Council buses, and Queensland Advocacy Incorporated Chairman Ken Wade, & of course council opposition leader Cr Milton Dick has weighed in with his opinion.

Brisbane Transport has apparently written to the Australian Human Rights Commission seeking a five-year exemption from disability compliance for non compliant buses, due to their imminent retirement (before 2019) and the unfair financial penalty it would be for BT to repair them before retirement.

According to Brisbane Transport's application, hand rails and grab rails on 361 of Brisbane Transport's 1225 buses do not comply with sections of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and the Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport 2002; the hand rails are either too thick or too thin, or inappropriately placed.
Cr Matic said 50 of those buses were due to be retired by mid-2013. A schedule in Brisbane Transport's exemption application shows the rest of the non-compliant buses are to be removed from the roads by 2019.
“All council's buses currently comply with the DDA and council is well ahead of the game when it comes to disability access," he said.
"At present, 86 per cent of the Brisbane Transport fleet is wheelchair friendly – significantly ahead of the 55 per cent end of year target specified under DDA legislation.”

Now this interests me as to which buses the report relates to it suggests that 361 will be retired by 2019 now below is a copy of the current fleet lists (thanks to btbuses.info for the information)

Now I assume the MAN 18.310 both Diesel & CNG are safe, as are the MAN NG313 Artic's, and the Scania L94UBs, and with the B12BLE & B7RLE fleets being brand new they too will be safe.

Obviously the B10M mk3 & B10M mk4 fleets being high floor are scheduled to go as they are non-compliant, but that only equates to 155 buses, so the question is which of the other fleets will go to make up the 361 needed?

There are another 206 buses that dont meet the compliancy, if you withdraw the B10L fleets that's only another 59 buses, even knocking out the other 'orphan' fleets the Mercedes O500LE's, MAN NG313 Artic's Scania K310UB6x2 tag's it still doesnt add up.

So if there are any Bus enthusiasts or gunzel's reading this I would be interested to here your opinions on this article and what effect it will have on the BT fleet in the coming years.