Network 2014

Started by Barry Drive, March 23, 2012, 11:22:10 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Barry Drive

Someone in Amaroo is clearly not happy. A notice has been posted to nearly every stop along the 59 route, presumably complaining about the loss of a connection to Belconnen.

The Love Guru

If you want a direct bus to Belconnen then don't live in Gungahlin. Maybe I should complain that I don't get a direct Gungahlin service from my Belconnen suburb.

Bus 400

Maybe Crace residents should complain because they've lost their link to the Gungahlin Lakes Club.

On a side note to the Weston Creek Xpresso's, it will be sad for the current users of the 729. As whenever I've been on either the 17:15 service, it seems like a close nit group with most talking to each other.

Also the Southside Chronicle has a piece of another part of the Network 14 under consideration.it can be found at http://canberra.realviewtechnologies.com/ipad/?index=soindex.djvu#folio=13
This looks like a good idea & something like the Tuggie bus might work with this.

belcodriver

Quote from: The Love Guru on October 05, 2013, 11:49:49 PM
If you want a direct bus to Belconnen then don't live in Gungahlin. Maybe I should complain that I don't get a direct Gungahlin service from my Belconnen suburb.

It's hardly unreasonable that Gungahlin suburbs on the side closer to Belconnen get buses there given that there is very little employment in Gungahlin. Most of Tuggeranong has services to Woden.

Bus 400

The Weston Creek Community Council response can be found at http://www.wccc.com.au/wccc/index.php/main/wccc-submission-on-the-action. My main point for showing this here is the bit that states:

Quote
Council is also concerned that the routing of Route 27 is trying to cover both Route 27 and 75 and so leaves parts of Waramanga and the Fisher shops without a service close by.

Now for those of us that saved the files onto our computers, the proposal clearly shows the 27 going right past Fisher Shops. The only way the bus could get closer is if it went into the Fisher Shops loop/carpark. While the bit of Waramanga that won't be covered under the proposed Network 2014 is barely serviced as it is now.


The Love Guru

The network will never succeed in being streamlined if the continue to offer connections for here to everywhere. Lyneham to Dickson I can understand and is well patronised. Fawkner Street in Braddon is really poorly patronised and penalises commuters on the route 7 (currently, possibly 39 in new network) by having to not only fight through narrow streets that aren't really bus suitable, then try and make their way around the cluster f*** that is the front of the Canberra Centre. I think this diversion over the proposed direct route to the city will cost commuters close to 10 minutes every trip, to service stops that really don't need the service fulltime. Perhaps a better option is divert certain services (every 2 hours 9am-3pm) via Fawkner St.

Barry Drive

#57
Still aiming for July 2014. Which means they have at most 2 months to finish the routes and timetables before releasing the shifts.

Totally agree that Fawkner St is a PIA. Not only is it a time waster, but at night cars are often illegally parked. I hope they consider my suggested compromise of Mort St, Elourea St, Torrens St.

(Unlikely to be 39 - might go back to 7 or perhaps 31.)

smitho

Quote from: The Love Guru on January 24, 2014, 09:31:07 AM
The network will never succeed in being streamlined if the continue to offer connections for here to everywhere. Lyneham to Dickson I can understand and is well patronised. Fawkner Street in Braddon is really poorly patronised and penalises commuters on the route 7 (currently, possibly 39 in new network) by having to not only fight through narrow streets that aren't really bus suitable, then try and make their way around the cluster f*** that is the front of the Canberra Centre. I think this diversion over the proposed direct route to the city will cost commuters close to 10 minutes every trip, to service stops that really don't need the service fulltime. Perhaps a better option is divert certain services (every 2 hours 9am-3pm) via Fawkner St.

I drove a peak period No 7 for a few years and even then, Fawkner St generated VERY little patronage.

Bus 400

How about sending the 9 up there going in the opposite direction? As I see this route having night services cut.
If you wanted to be clever, you could even start the 9 at the Canberra Centre stop & continue around to City Bus Station. But to get some ideas around this issue. May I suggest looking at bus networks from when Braddon was being developed.

Barry Drive

Make of it what you want: the new GTFS file goes up to the end of School Holidays term 2 (20 July 2014).

smitho

Quote from: ACTbusspotter on January 31, 2014, 01:27:51 PM
Make of it what you want: the new GTFS file goes up to the end of School Holidays term 2 (20 July 2014).

This is consistent with a well informed tip that the Shift Pick is likely to occur in June.

Barry Drive

Another teaser for Network '14: Minister Rattenbury has issued a media release stating that under Network 14 ("due for implementation in the middle of this year"), there will be 602 trips each weekday servicing the Parliamentary Triangle as compared to 492 in the current network.

QuoteThis will see Parliamentary Triangle service frequency increase to between one to seven minutes (rather than one to twelve minutes in the current network) in the morning peak and increase to between one to ten minutes in the afternoon peak (rather than one to fifteen minutes in the current network).
^ Huh?

Leaving aside the questions (for the moment) as to whether there is actually need for more trips (as opposed to a perceived need for more), and whether said trips will match passenger needs (time and destination wise), it shows that the construction of timetables for N14 is well underway, if not completed.

The Love Guru

Running more buses is not the answer to improving patronage. How about running them to where people want to go and not have every service getting caught up in the traffic chaos in the city. Might be time to test Barton direct services from Belconnen and Gungahlin without going thru the City

ajw373

Quote from: The Love Guru on February 23, 2014, 01:11:50 PM
Running more buses is not the answer to improving patronage. How about running them to where people want to go and not have every service getting caught up in the traffic chaos in the city. Might be time to test Barton direct services from Belconnen and Gungahlin without going thru the City

True, and how about some better co-ordination.

Case in point now my wife has sold her car, so 3 days a week I now get the bus from Dunlop to Barton. The best bus for me is the 703 that leaves Fraser West at 7:03, though of course this and the following 703 only go as far as the City. That of course means a change in Civic. The 703 is scheduled to arrive at 7:46, 1 minute behind the 7:10 from Belconnen which gets to Platform 10 at 7:45. In the two weeks I have been doing this I have been lucky, that on 2 occasions the 703 was early (or the 710 late) so have got the connection, but failing that it is a 14 minute wait for the next 700 series and about the same for a 200. Now sure there may be some other services in between but who remembers them all, where they leave from and their time.

The simple solution would of course get the 710 leave 5 minutes later, or not have those two 703 services in the morning terminate in the city.

The Love Guru

No issue in the new network, the last plan I saw had no 703 or equivalent. Just catch your standard route service with a 7 infront of the numbers and it will go so far then direct to the city. Hardly demand responsive to do it this way, but then they are just dumbing it down for all the people out there who can't remember 2 numbers.

ajw373

Yeah saw that it becomes the 743. Though gets back to your point above about direct services, this change will mean going through Kippax, Belconnen and the City plus a change. So will add at least another 10-15 minutes to the journey, which even at present is still 1 hour 10 minutes, Vs a 25 minute drive (at 7am)

Barry Drive

No, the planned 743 will skip Belconnen: travels to City and Barton via Kingsford Smith & Belconnen Way. It won't travel via Kippax either, just the Park & Ride stop on Southern Cross Drive.

ajw373

Yeah, your right, I was thinking of the 343. Just hope all 743's continue onto Barton, as opposed to 3 out of the 5 703's at present. Same in the reverse direction in the afternoon too, and both times when I would want to use it the most!

Barry Drive

Too late now, but that is the kind of feedback ACTION would have liked. (Not that they necessarily would have delivered what you need though.)

ajw373

I did provide feedback.

Barry Drive

Good. I didn't mean to imply you didn't - but I did mean to imply that ACTION needs people to tell them their connections are sometimes inadequate (to put it politely).

ajw373

You would think Myway should be able to do that better!

Snorzac

Unfortunately the concept of a connection is a thing few people see as worth while in Canberra, the mentality seems to be that even if it's gonna take longer by staying on the same bus when I could get a different one and beat it by a good 20min, I'll stay on the one I'm already on.

A prime example of this is he passengers that catch the 313 I used to get every morning, it connected almost perfectly with both the 705 and 749 but the pax going to Woden and Tuggeranong , out of the 20 or so I think one would transfer onto the 705!

Buzz Killington

Quote from: ajw373 on February 24, 2014, 07:14:46 PM
You would think Myway should be able to do that better!

It probably does, but Captain Skybed might have a good point. It might be a case of 'why bother with connections if only a minority use them'

That said, the timing on the 749 and 705 Xpressos aren't the greatest. The last 749 leaves Belco just after 8am, for example.

smitho

Whole point of ACTION when it was first envisaged was that it was a Network (hence, the "N" in ACTION) designed around a frequently serviced, rapid intertown spine route, supplemented by fairly frequent suburban (or local) route services feeding into key interchange points, known as "interchanges" with easy connections.

The original ACTION logo design was intended to reflect this intention.

Changes in the way ACTION operates following the advent of self-government have reduced the primacy of the intertown services by introducing additional stops on the Intertown (Blue "Rapid"), and re-routing in Belconnen (and in Tuggeranong on weekends) which have slowed intertown services considerably. Added to this, reductions in suburban route frequencies have compromised the connectability of the network.

This in turn brought on the need for more direct commuter expresses / Xpressos during peak periods.     

Bus 400

I've also noticed that Canberran's will catch the first bus that heads in their direction. Rather then risk an hour or two wait for my specific bus route.

King of Buses

One of the drivers I know mentioned the other day that one confirmed thing for the new network is the 319 going along Forsythe/Paperbark. I don't know where he found that out though, seeing as not much is actually confirmed (including the start date/shift pick).

Buzz Killington

Nothing has been publicly confirmed. I suspect that the new network would be in the final stages of planning at the moment, which would explain why drivers (and we) are starting to hear bits and pieces.

Barry Drive

The details of Network 12 were released just over 2 months before implementation. So if the rumoured start date of 7 July is to be achieved, the details will need to be released publicly within the next week.

The Love Guru

Timetables will not be available until 2 weeks prior to implementation.
I expect shifts and network details to be available to staff within the next couple of weeks

Barry Drive

Agreed. But, if they follow the same script as last time, the route structure will be announced first - possibly this week.

A GTFS file should also be released prior to the printed timetables.

Barry Drive

ACTION are holding information sessions for Parliamentary Zone commuters this week, starting tomorrow. Can't imagine doing that unless details of Network 14 are going to be available.

Watch this space.

Bus 400

It has been finished (mind you back in March)!

The Weston Creek Community Council have put the minutes up from their meeting back at the end of March on their website. See page 2 at http://www.wccc.com.au/Pages/meetings.php

By the looks of things, the 705 proposal is staying as is the 83.

aidenh37

Yay 313 goes direct to kippax then belconnen. Much more better for more people.

Barry Drive

It's now mid May, and still nothing. Wonder if they're investigating further cuts due to possible Budget shortfalls.

ACT Budget should be in early June - may not know anything before then.

Earliest possible start now August, although there are some suggestions it won't now commence until Term 4 (October).

smitho

Quote from: ACTbusspotter on May 21, 2014, 02:24:34 PM
It's now mid May, and still nothing. Wonder if they're investigating further cuts due to possible Budget shortfalls.

ACT Budget should be in early June - may not know anything before then.

Earliest possible start now August, although there are some suggestions it won't now commence until Term 4 (October).

Traffic shortfalls may be an issue too, depending on whether or not the reduction in patronage arising from public service cuts is offset by patronage growth due to paid parking and increasing petrol prices.

I suspect ACTION patronage has been feeling the effect of APS cuts for at least the past year, as the Rudd/Gillard government cuts were displacing casual, junior and short term contract staff...often the kind of people who use ACTION for trips to work

King of Buses

Quote from: ACTbusspotter on May 21, 2014, 02:24:34 PM
It's now mid May, and still nothing. Wonder if they're investigating further cuts due to possible Budget shortfalls.

ACT Budget should be in early June - may not know anything before then.

Earliest possible start now August, although there are some suggestions it won't now commence until Term 4 (October).

According to ManOfACTION, the next shift spill is in October.

smitho

Quote from: King of Buses on May 21, 2014, 08:02:22 PM
According to ManOfACTION, the next shift spill is in October.

Present indications are:-
most likely to be spill & picks in August/September -  to allow start-up of new network at the beginning of the ACT's 4th school term in early October.

Barry Drive

Recent news coverage about Network 14: "School bus services [to be] reduced"

Mentions school bus services will be reduced from 300 to 240 "after the mid-year holidays", but doesn't give an actual start date or details of which services will be affected.

In what could be a giant beat-up "17 school services have been redesigned to become a connecting service to a bus station to transfer to a school dedicated service;" with comment of how unsuitable it would be for young children to be forced to use busy public bus interchanges. This is despite not being of aware of which services may be changed and ignoring the fact that many school services already transport primary school children to "interchanges" (such as from Orana school).

King of Buses

Does this mean that some routes will take the "Sydney" approach and extend services to Schools?
One possible one is the 318 and 319 and they could service all the Lanyon Valley Schools in lieu of the 525 or 583.

But this won't go down well at all...

Barry Drive

Since nothing has been released, it's hard to say what will or won't happen. But some routes divert into schools now: 43 to Macgregor Primary, 45 to Mount Rogers (Melba ), 51 to John Paul College & 318? to Covenant College.

Buzz Killington

ACTION confirmed on Twitter that services will operate along Plimsoll Drive, Casey in Network '14

The Love Guru

Correct. We have route directions but no maps as yet. Unable to comment further until the network is made public.

Barry Drive

New ACTION GTFS file was released yesterday: now goes up to 29 August 2014. Not that that necessarily means anything.

King of Buses

Have any drivers heard anything yet about it? Because if not, we can rule out next term.

Bus 400

A few more information has been released from the Weston Creek Community Council. With routes 25/725 being modified through Duffy, 26/726 modified through Rivett & Chapman & the 27 modified through Stirling. Then a few new Xpresso's & times (http://www.wccc.com.au/Pages/meetings.php). But as mentioned previously the Wright bus will replace the 28.


Skitube

Quote from: Bus 400 on June 08, 2014, 09:12:50 PM
With routes 25/725 being modified through Duffy

this one doesn't surprise me, it was said at belco info session that they wanted to combine 25 and 28, especially around Renmark and Eucumbene since that part is very hilly... wouldn't surprise me if 26 and 27 are modified for the same reason

Bus 400

School services are to change next term. More details will be given about the school changes in Week 10. Not having a school aged relation (in ACT anyway). I have no idea when week 10 is.

King of Buses

This upcoming week is week 8, so two weeks.

It will require shift changes (drivers are picking now I think), so why don't they rearrange the entire thing together including those hideous weekend routes ::). Besides, if they don't do it soon it won't be network '14...