More disfunction

Most commuters know that Brisbane's public transport is well below par for a city of Brisbane's size. Two more examples, are the news that AirTrain do not want to run trains after 8pm, and the location of bus stops outside Fortitude Valley train station. 

Today, this story in the Brisbane Times shows that Airtrain do not want to run trains after 8pm as they are "too costly". This is despite Airtrain making a profit of $7.4m! Have Airtrain not considered that a passenger on a train after 8pm may also be a passenger (and thus another fare) travelling in the opposite direction at another time? Did Airtrain's contract not consider that Airtrain is a public service, and should thus have a half-decent level of service? Off peak gaps of every 30 minutes, and no trains after 8pm is prime evidence that Brisbane's public transport is still stuck in the dark ages. 

Another example of dysfunctional public transport is the bus stop locations outside of Fortitude Valley station on Brunswick Street. There are two bus stops for services travelling north towards RBWH - 211 and 212. Some buses run from one bus stop, and some bus services run from the other. Unfortunately, the bus stops are located far enough apart that even someone who can run may not get to the other bus stop if the next bus arrives at the other bus stop from where they are waiting. There are also no signs telling passengers that other bus routes run from the other stop. Thus many passengers may have buses passing where they are waiting, even though that bus is travelling to their destination. Why can't all buses just go from the same stop? 

This is not the only example of dysfunctional bus stop locations in Brisbane. Many services travelling to the same suburbs depart from different locations in the city. Whilst this is less of problem for inbound passengers, for those homeward bound it can effectively half the frequency of services. Just to add insult to injury, there are no signs telling passengers which bus routes travel from which location (as is common place in London).

If the government wish to attract people to public transport, there needs to be decent service provision, and the system needs to less confusing (and frustrating) to passengers.