Rapid buses doomed before start?

Aren’t there plans for a Park & Ride at the intersection of Wells Station Road & Flemington Road? It would be in land on the Harrison side of the tip.

bd84 said :

The route that it takes will take around about 40-45 minutes to complete even with limited stops, and what is the demand for a service to Kingston railway station? I don’t think it would be very high. Add in that the service ignores the vast majority of Canberra, I don’t see how this service will be of much use to a lot of Canberrans.

I also wonder if the Government have also considered the impact of parking, particularly in the Gungahlin Town Centre, when people will have to travel by car to catch this service.

Kingston yes, the railway station less so, but it is only the very end of the line. My point was that all other stops along the way are logical and will be heavily used.

To put this in perspective, all Gungahlin commuters will know that Flemington Rd has very heavy traffic every day already. But did you know that the current low numbers of buses (that’s buses not busses folks) already carry as many people on Flemington Rd as all those cars do?

On parking, it isn’t about having a p’n’r in the town centre. It is about changing the culture (passengers and ACTION’s) that you should be able to get on one bus in your street and stay on it until you get to the city. A smart network has suburban wanders that collect everyone and drop them at the nearest hub. Then they get on the next express service that comes along for the key link in.

That said, we are campaigning strongly to get a major P’n’R built at EPIC in their unused overflow parking to the north, and this new service if continued would drop in there as part of connecting to Mitchell. The logical time for this P’n’R to happen is when the Sandford Rd extension to the Federal Hwy is built, which is 1st half of 2010.

Just thought id post the ORIGINAL spin for the Rapid trial. In the media release from yesterday, a lesser service is now ‘improved’.

This is what was promised in April:

Media Release
New rapid transit buses every 15 minutes

Released 28/04/2009

Commuters can expect a bus every 15 minutes during peak times and every 30 minutes during off-peak times on high demand weekday routes when the ACT Labor Government trials new rapid transit buses, Chief Minister and Minister for Transport Jon Stanhope revealed today.

The Budget will provide $1 million for the new service, REDEX – Rapid Express Direct, to be trialled in 2009-10 between 6:30am and 7pm on weekdays during school terms.

Mr Stanhope said passengers and businesses would benefit from better transport access to town centresand the Parliamentary Triangle.

“This responsible investment by the ACT Labor Government will deliver more buses more frequently in peak demand periods,” Mr Stanhope said. “The rapid transit buses will create the capacity for an additional 300,000 passengers travelling to major employment hubs, town centres and through the Parliamentary Triangle.

“REDEX is expectedto commence in October 2009 to coincide with the start of the 4th school term. New ACTION buses that were funded in last year’s Budget, for nearly $50 million, will provide the additional bus capacity needed to deliver the services. A review of the trial and community feedback about the new services will inform the future of REDEX and its potential growth.

“The ACT Labor Government is committed to providing Canberrans with better public transport options. By increasing the frequency of our bus services we can help to address traffic congestion, reduce transport emissions and provide better access to our town and employment centres,” Mr Stanhope said.

REDEX 1 will be a return service to Gungahlin, Dickson, City, Russell, Barton, Woden, Erindale and Tuggeranong. REDEX 2 will be a return service to Kippax, Belconnen, City, Russell, Barton, Woden, Erindale and Tuggeranong.

Buses will run every 15 minutes from 6:30am to 9:30am and 3:30pm to 6:30pm and every 30 minutes at all other times.

Minutes of the GCC online would be nice.

BTW: Fiona looks hot from these new fan dangled profile pics

proper rapid transit buses would feature:

seperate lane on road
few stops
different coloured buses

im not surprised at the gradual dissolution of the ‘rapid’ buses. the govt like to wrap their services with great sounding names – rapid, sustainable, nowaste etc. actual delivery differs to the spin.

they could use the rapid routes as recommended by their consultant, and actually offer real rapid transit, as recommended by their consultant – but im doubtful that will occur.

the question has to be asked – why go through a farcical consultation process when they never actually deliver improved mass transit services ?

Gungahlin Al said :

bd84 said :

Another bus to nowhere, no improvement, no surprise. The route was decided by the same people who have designed the network that currently exists?

Sorry??
Gungahlin to Mitchell, the City, Russell, the Parliamentary Triangle, then Kingston. Direct. Straight down Flemington Rd, Northbourne, etc.

Most of us work in Mitchell, Civic, Russell, or the triangle. So how exactly is that a bus to nowhere on indirect routes?

That said, your other comments about about the need for network overhaul are valid, and in keeping with what I said earlier.

The route that it takes will take around about 40-45 minutes to complete even with limited stops, and what is the demand for a service to Kingston railway station? I don’t think it would be very high. Add in that the service ignores the vast majority of Canberra, I don’t see how this service will be of much use to a lot of Canberrans.

I also wonder if the Government have also considered the impact of parking, particularly in the Gungahlin Town Centre, when people will have to travel by car to catch this service.

I think this is the equivalent concept of the Metrobus (route 10) in Sydney – which is basically a Sydney Buses route operated by some specially painted buses (and some normal ones at peak times) that links major activity centres. The Northbourne-Civic-Russell-Triangle-Kingston route is a pretty major group of activity centres not currently well serviced by a single route number other than at peak times. This allows people to go to a stop and know a bus with a consistent number will turn up within 15 minutes.

Why doesn’t the redex go to Lanyon centre (the south equivalent of the G)?

Mr Waffle said :

Really? Wow, it’s like being in the not-too-distant future! Too bad I don’t catch the bus, but still, nifty…

Gungahlin Al said :

I understand it will always use buses with bike racks for those interested.

These are the buses to be utilised on the REDEX Service: http://actbus.net/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=16958

You can see the information screen in the second row, third photo along.

bd84 said :

Another bus to nowhere, no improvement, no surprise. The route was decided by the same people who have designed the network that currently exists?

Sorry??
Gungahlin to Mitchell, the City, Russell, the Parliamentary Triangle, then Kingston. Direct. Straight down Flemington Rd, Northbourne, etc.

Most of us work in Mitchell, Civic, Russell, or the triangle. So how exactly is that a bus to nowhere on indirect routes?

That said, your other comments about about the need for network overhaul are valid, and in keeping with what I said earlier.