Southern "Shoppers" Circle

Started by Barry Drive, January 20, 2012, 01:29:30 PM

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Barry Drive

I had previously discounted the idea of circle routes in Canberra, but having seen some of the proposed changes for "Rapid" and "Frequent" services in the future it occurred to me that those sectors could be better serviced by the use of two Circle Routes (one in each direction).

So I present to you the Shoppers Circle route: a service which connects Woden and Tuggeranong Town Centres with the major Group Centres - Southlands, Erindale, Calwell, Lanyon, Kambah and Weston.



7am to 7pm route. Frequency either every 15 or 30 minutes.

Comments welcome. I'm not certain about the best route between Calwell & Lanyon and also think that the Woden - Erindale sector might be better through Wanniassa (e.g. Langdon Av - like the 900) rather than around it [EDIT: map modified to show route along Langdon Av instead of Sulwood/Erindale Drives]

This route would also require a change to route 11 - such as running between Tuggeranong and Calwell only while the circle route operates (with connections at Calwell) [EDIT: only required if circle route runs every 15 minutes]

Buzz Killington

Woden-Erindale I'd run down the length of Langdon so that the Wanniassa Centre is serviced also.

Does the intended Route travel via Kambah Village or just past it? The nearest stop on Drakeford is a bit of a trek from the Village.

Barry Drive

Quote from: Buzz Killington on January 21, 2012, 12:26:13 PM
Woden-Erindale I'd run down the length of Langdon so that the Wanniassa Centre is serviced also.

Does the intended Route travel via Kambah Village or just past it? The nearest stop on Drakeford is a bit of a trek from the Village.
(1) Agreed. Wanniassa Centre is fairly well patronised on 900s. And it has a bike-racked bus stop.

(2) Best option would be a roundabout on Marconi Cres. Failing that, next best option is Summerland / Marconi. Trade off between being as direct as possible and maximising areas served.


ACT Bus spotter, on Flickr

Anyone have opinions on frequency and operating hours? Would a 15 minute frequency be too much? Should it run all day/night or just 7am to 7pm?

Buzz Killington

7-7 should be suitable. Can't see the target demographic using it outside those hours, except maybe on Friday nights.

15 minutes may be a little much. It doesn't take much to kill half an hour at the shops.

Barry Drive

Map now updated. Route extended along Drakeford Drive to match the "Transport for a sustainable city" draft plan.

Next challenge: provide some timing estimates.

bubzie

Best route from calwell to lanyon, imho, is (from calwell shops) L were street, through roundabout, R tharwa drive, L tharwa drive (then continue as normal)

avoids having to drive up casey/downard, which is a pain...and quicker too :mono:

Barry Drive

Agree that that's the quickest route, but is it the best? As I just mentioned on Facebook, there are currently no direct connections between Calwell and Conder Group Centre. Perhaps they are not needed, but if they are then best route would be through the middle of the suburb. Also, Downard St was chosen because it is currently unserviced.

Barry Drive

#7
Finally got around to working out some timing estimates. Full loop would take 80 minutes, based on sectors as follows:

Tuggeranong -> Kambah    15 min
Kambah - > Weston Creek  12 min
Weston Creek -> Woden     10 min
Woden -> Erindale              15 min
Erindale -> Calwell                 6 min
Calwell -> Conder                10 min
Conder -> Tuggeranong      12 min

Anti-clockwise loop might need an additional 2 mins for Woden -> Weston Creek due to the Westfield Woden diversion. Unless my timings are too tight, dwell times could also be added at Woden, Erindale and Conder to pad out the route to get it to the magic 85 minute mark.

Run as a 30 minute frequency in each direction. Route 11 could at some stage be modified to travel the same way between Woden and Erindale, giving a 15 minute frequency on a common route between Woden and Calwell 7am to 7pm. (Circle routes in both directions would need to be timetabled to ensure this occurs.) An evening service (similar to route 50) would also be needed IF a regular service to Erindale (or Calwell) is required after 7pm.

smitho

For this kind of service to be attractive, it'd need a 15 minute frequency, 0700-1900 on weekdays.

Only suggestion is to include The Canberra Hospital in the loop, this being the 2nd biggest hub in the Woden Valley after the Woden Town Centre.

I've long thought that a Woden Valley circular route is worth considering, linking the group centres (including the Hospital, Weston Centre...Cooleman Court, and the Deakin Business Centre/John James) ....to some extent, the smallish community circle routes (70 series) is a start.

Barry Drive

Quote from: smitho on February 12, 2012, 03:18:56 PM
For this kind of service to be attractive, it'd need a 15 minute frequency, 0700-1900 on weekdays.
When you combine it with route 11, the Woden - Calwell sectors will have a 15 min frequency. Similarly, you would get a 15 min frequency from Lanyon Group Centre to Tuggeranong by combining with route 19/319 (timetables may need to be adjusted to get that to work) - although along different routes.

Kambah and Weston Creek only have hourly services, so an additional 30 min service would still be an improvement.

Quote from: smitho
Only suggestion is to include The Canberra Hospital in the loop, this being the 2nd biggest hub in the Woden Valley after the Woden Town Centre.
Including Canberra Hospital in this loop would defeat its purpose. Besides, there are (will be) plenty of services direct from CH to Woden.

smitho

Quote from: ACTbusspotter on February 13, 2012, 11:45:50 AM

Including Canberra Hospital in this loop would defeat its purpose. Besides, there are (will be) plenty of services direct from CH to Woden.

In what way?