Tuesday, August 20, 2013

CityCats become CityCuts

New City Cat - MV Quirk's Incompetence
Earlier this year Brisbane City Council (BCC) stuffed up the TransLink Bus Network Review, by continuing with their confusing to use and grossly inefficient bus network. Likely due to having to find savings to fund the bus network that bleeds funding through duplication and waste, BCC have now cut $2m from the CityCat budget. This has resulted in the following reductions to CityCat services.

  • Weekday daytime off-peak service reduced by 17%, from 12.5 min frequency to 15 min frequency.  
  • Evening off-peak service reduced by 17%, from 25 min frequency to 30 min frequency.
  • Last 3 services on Sunday to Thursday nights cancelled.
These cuts are very disappointing, and combined by planned fare increases in January 2014, may well reduce CityCat patronage. The CityCat is very important to university students and tourists off-peak, and thus any daytime off-peak cuts are bad news for Brisbane's reputation. The late night cuts will make it almost impossible for passengers to travel late at night to/from suburbs not served well by bus or train (such as Bulimba with it's busy restaurant district). It is clear that BCC are irresponsible when left in charge of public transport. It is time that state government removes BCC's responsibility for both ferry and bus services (possibly through privatisation), so as to create the efficient and frequent public transport network that Brisbane deserves. However, as LNP politicians are well known for looking after their LNP mates, don't hold your breath! 

News source:
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/citycat-timetable-changes-reduce-services-20130820-2s8d7.html

6 comments:

  1. To be honest...25 mins to 30 mins is probably a good move...How did they come up with a 25 min frequency to begin with?

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  2. Plus a 45 min frequency on weekends and public holidays before 8.15am from Apollo Rd and 9am from UQ- a reduction from the current 25 min services!

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  3. One of the stated reasons of all these changes, bus changes and now ferry changes is to better allocate resources throughout the network.
    So far I am yet to see any redistribution, all I am seeing are cuts.

    On the issue of ferries, if they wanted to make the timetable easier to remember, they could have gone with 20 min frequencies for the same effect. 10 past, 30 past, 50 past is easy to remember.

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  4. @Gavin you wrote:
    "One of the stated reasons of all these changes, bus changes and now ferry changes is to better allocate resources throughout the network."

    Yeah, cut services along Waterworks Road where they urgently need a Buzz Route and probably end up giving another route to the already overserviced U of Q.

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  5. Bryan Horne,
    What a backward move in such a fast growing City. We need to provide accessible public transport for passengers from shift work environments, late night tutorials and lectures at UQ and restaurant workers. These people are the ones who can less afford to catch a taxi. Public transport is a service for all and should be affordable. The Brisbane city council need to get out of the public transport arena. Quirks free City hoppers are costing the rest of the paying public in loss of services to their destinations.
    Shame on you BCC!!!!

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  6. It's not just 2 or 3 minutes more waiting in the morning. Citycuts are so crowded that some of them don't stop on some terminals, like it happened to me yesterday at 8:17am on Sydney street terminal. I really don't see the point of these cuts in a rich country like Australia and a city like Brisbane who wants to be "Australia's new world city".

    ReplyDelete

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