rev wrote: ↑Mon Jan 07, 2019 12:05 pm
Norwood, Payneham & St Peters Council proposing new bus route to link inner north with east
Ben Cameron, Eastern Courier Messenger
26 minutes ago
Subscriber only
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A new congestion-busting bus service connecting the inner northern suburbs with the east side of town will be proposed to the State Government.
Norwood, Payneham & St Peters Council will write to the Transport Minister Stephan Knoll seeking a feasibility study into the potential introduction of the new route
It could run, the council says, off North East Rd and Nottage Tce, Medindie Gardens, to Kensington Rd, along Stephen Tce, Nelson St and Osmond Tce.
Spearheading the push, Mayor Robert Bria said almost all bus routes in NP&SP ran in an east-west direction, and in and out of the Adelaide CBD.
“To go from North East Rd to Currie St to The Parade can take up to 40 minutes,” Mr Bria said.
“Cutting it to about 12 to 15 minutes would be ideal.”
With the former Caroma site on Magill Rd poised to make way for a seven-storey development and up to 200 residential apartments, traffic would increase on Magill Rd, Nelson St and Osmond Tce.
The new bus route had the potential to create more economic opportunities for businesses along Magill Rd and The Parade.
Mr Bria said a new bus route would also allow residents living in the inner north and working in the east to avoid taking a bus into the CBD and then another out again.
“The State Government is currently conducting a review on bus services so it makes sense to make this approach now, whilst consideration is being given to what a future public bus service will look like,” Mr Bria said.
Cr Sue Whitington agreed, saying it was an “excellent opportunity for consideration”, while Cr Christel Mex said a new bus route was “really needed” with “all the infill we’re having”.
https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/messenge ... 2ebff8b809
This is not a good proposal. Let's start with the current routes. To get from North East Rd to The Parade doesn't require going to Currie St, you can change at Grenfell St. It can easily take 40 minutes, when you add in the waiting times.
Mr Bria's “12 to 15 minutes would be ideal,” proposal is not including the waiting time. People who don't take public transport have a difficult time understanding this. There is no analogy when driving a car, you just get in and drive, you don't have to wait for the car to arrive.
A direct bus from the north to the east would have much lower patronage than buses from the north to the city or the east to the city. So the bus from the north to the east would be infrequent. Let's be optimistic and say the route will be every half an hour (I don't think it even justifies that.) If you wait half an hour for this bus, add in “12 to 15 minutes" on the bus, you're up to over 40 minutes.
Improving the Existing Routes
The fact of the matter is we can't have buses going from anywhere to everywhere. The patronage on each individual route would be low, so the buses would be infrequent. The fact of the matter is that some people will need to change routes to get where they want to go. This is likely the case for passengers travelling between suburban locations.
Making the existing routes faster and more frequent will improve travel times for both those heading to the city and those on Mr Bria's route.
I think buses on The Parade are too infrequent. Google Maps says "every 15 minutes", but looking at the timetables, that's at the best times of day. Bring the frequency up to every 5 minutes and it improves the trip between the city to The Parade and Mr Bria's proposal.
Another idea is for buses from North East Rd to use the new O-Bahn tunnel, rather than driving through North Adelaide.
