Jan 2021 bus changes - STA region 7

[Ray]

Another last minute change - route 115 was previously advertised as terminating at Australia Square, Pitt St. It's now shown as terminating in Bridge St and then outward trips using the Cahill Expressway. Looks like buses will actually layover in Bridge St and not Gresham. Feels like a loop service, but with a rest between trips!

It's been a while since any outbound service has used the Cahill - perhaps the 200 was the last one.

[Swift]

Why did they end the service at 8? It's the North Shore classed as a quiet country town?

[Jurassic_Joke]

Why did they end the service at 8? It's the North Shore classed as a quiet country town?

That would be a question for the former Labor Government, 340 was M40 and Metrobus = it was their initiative.

Up till now, after 8pm if you lived in that area of Willoughby, you'd have to take the slow all stops 343 down into the city. Now, pax can all day catch the new all day 340 (route 120 to/from QVB) over the highway directly to the City from Willoughby and cut off a chunk of travel time, so this is pretty significant. And 343's northern half still exists in the new route 115 for those that need the stops omitted by the freeway.

All the original State Transit Metrobuses routes (m10, m20, m30, m40, m50)) finished at around 8pm. I don't know why, but it was a big point against it, along with withholding the timetables from the public because "you don't need it, its turn up and go". As far as I remember, the real-time transport apps didn't exist back in 2009 so yeah imagine that

I mean we have B-line now, thats the Liberals' equivalent of Metrobus in my view, can you imagine if the B-line, or whatever new bus project they introduce, stops service at 8pm? I think it would most definitely attract scrutiny in today's Sydney

[boronia]

All the original State Transit Metrobuses routes (m10, m20, m30, m40, m50)) finished at around 8pm. I don't know why, but it was a big point against it, along with withholding the timetables from the public because "you don't need it, its turn up and go". As far as I remember, the real-time transport apps didn't exist back in 2009 so yeah imagine that

I mean we have B-line now, thats the Liberals' equivalent of Metrobus in my view, can you imagine if the B-line, or whatever new bus project they introduce, stops service at 8pm? I think it would most definitely attract scrutiny in today's Sydney

Those original m routes were simply to increase capacity along trunk routes without congesting city terminals. Some clever marketing (new numbers, red buses) misled passengers into thinking it was some marvelous innovation. Timetables weren't necessary because 90+% of passengers would just go to their local bus stop and catch the first bus that came along. They finished around 8 pm because the other routes they shared could manage the loadings on offer.

[pgt]

Why did they end the service at 8? It's the North Shore classed as a quiet country town?

That would be a question for the former Labor Government, 340 was M40 and Metrobus = it was their initiative.

Up till now, after 8pm if you lived in that area of Willoughby, you'd have to take the slow all stops 343 down into the city. Now, pax can all day catch the new all day 340 (route 120 to/from QVB) over the highway directly to the City from Willoughby and cut off a chunk of travel time, so this is pretty significant. And 343's northern half still exists in the new route 115 for those that need the stops omitted by the freeway.

All the original State Transit Metrobuses routes (m10, m20, m30, m40, m50)) finished at around 8pm. I don't know why, but it was a big point against it, along with withholding the timetables from the public because "you don't need it, its turn up and go". As far as I remember, the real-time transport apps didn't exist back in 2009 so yeah imagine that

I mean we have B-line now, thats the Liberals' equivalent of Metrobus in my view, can you imagine if the B-line, or whatever new bus project they introduce, stops service at 8pm? I think it would most definitely attract scrutiny in today's Sydney

I use buses on the Pacific Highway, and yes, after 8pm it is quite difficult to get home without a change of mode/service at some dimly lit stop (*), especially when they decided to go from a bus about every 20 minutes to midnight to a service that is hourly or less (it's something when NightRide services run slightly more frequently than the route bus earlier in the evening does!).

Curiously, and it could be more a case of there is no space to print the times, but I wonder if they're doing the same thing re not printing timetables at bus stops for the high frequency routes ("turn up and go" anybody?).
If you look at the Chatswood stand for the 144, up until yesterday they only had printed times for the 200 (**), but it does have an e-ink display.
I haven't seen any of the route 120 stops but for any with the new blue/white signage, are the times for route 115 and 120 showing or just route 115 (probably have to wait until Sunday to answer this one).

(*) Usually have to wait at either the Blue St/Blues Point Road or Victoria Cross outbound stop for a bus going up the highway after getting off a bus or train there... St Leonards is slightly brighter only because of the convenience store there, but it's further to walk from the station and usually end up missing the service so have to walk up the highway anyway.

(**) Previous to this routes 143, 144 and 200 had times all printed on the display - now that 200 doesn't operate from Chatswood, the printed display will probably be pointless unless they figure out a way to print all the 144 service times in that small space.

[boronia]

Most of the Metrobus stops had specific signage with route maps and "timetables" saying (like) first bus at 6:45 then every 10 minutes until 9:45, then every 15 minutes until....... . If you were really dependent on a M bus service it wasn't hard to work out when the next one was due.

[Glen]

I can remember some STA marketing suggesting the original Metrobuses did not run to a timetable when clearly they did. The drivers needed something to follow and the times could be found on 131 500.

[Swift]

So basically they were being deceptive. No surprises there. That's practically their religion.

[Fleet Lists]

I would not call it deceptive.
For the first few years the timetables were regularly tweaked to tune then to requirements without having to issue printed timetables to cover such changes. However the changes were included in the then 131500 timetables and trip finders.

[Swift]

Ok, so as I understand it, even though it was running to an internal operational timetable, it was deemed regular enough not to require a display to the public. Kind of seems pointless to run differently to other bus services though, if they were expected to adhere to a timetable anyway.

[boxythingy]

The M50 was seriously a joke. You could be waiting at Gate 8 UNSW for 20mins for a bus that was supposed to turn up "now" according to the app which may have been or not been tracking via realtime info. The journey then took 20min to complete subject to traffic. Thank god the new light rail provides relief in terms of frequency

[boronia]

The m10 was equally unreliable. Not uncommon to see two chasing each other along Anzac Pde, even 3 on a couple of occasions.

[Xplorer]

Another last minute change - route 115 was previously advertised as terminating at Australia Square, Pitt St. It's now shown as terminating in Bridge St and then outward trips using the Cahill Expressway. Looks like buses will actually layover in Bridge St and not Gresham. Feels like a loop service, but with a rest between trips!

It's been a while since any outbound service has used the Cahill - perhaps the 200 was the last one.

guess they realised that you can't turn left from Pitt into Spring to start next trip from Gresham, so they had to find another way of terminating

[swtt]

The new 500X terminus at West Ryde is a bit disappointing. No fanfare in welcoming such a frequent route. Not to mention, still the old yellow bus stop.

I would've thought the new hop style bus stop would've been at least, more fitting.

Sent from my CPH2025 using Tapatalk

[stupid_girl]

Another last minute change - route 115 was previously advertised as terminating at Australia Square, Pitt St. It's now shown as terminating in Bridge St and then outward trips using the Cahill Expressway. Looks like buses will actually layover in Bridge St and not Gresham. Feels like a loop service, but with a rest between trips!

It's been a while since any outbound service has used the Cahill - perhaps the 200 was the last one.

It's basically in the opposite direction of 202,207,208.

[Ray]

I always assumed the reason those routes didn't use the Cahill outbound was that the corkscrew onto the bridge would make the trip longer - not a bid deal for the individual trip, but adds to the operator mileage over the year. That, and the difficulty of making a right hand turn into Bridge St .

[stupid_girl]

I always assumed the reason those routes didn't use the Cahill outbound was that the corkscrew onto the bridge would make the trip longer - not a bid deal for the individual trip, but adds to the operator mileage over the year. That, and the difficulty of making a right hand turn into Bridge St .

I don't think the extra mileage actually matters when there are some very circuitous routes in various suburbs.

[Xplorer]

The new 500X terminus at West Ryde is a bit disappointing. No fanfare in welcoming such a frequent route. Not to mention, still the old yellow bus stop.

I would've thought the new hop style bus stop would've been at least, more fitting.

Sent from my CPH2025 using Tapatalk

should've given the stops the same fanfare as the 160x, special tag on each express stop

[Fleet Lists]

No timetable on Transport Info today for route 458. Maybe waiting on the new version for tomorrow mentioned a few days ago.

[tonyp]

Victoria Rd is awash with artics today. I assume it's beach traffic.

[Linto63]

Victoria Rd is awash with artics today. I assume it's beach traffic.

More likely that much like routes B1, 100 and 333, it is planned to use higher capacity buses on trunk route 500X that is likely to have higher demand. No Victoria Road services have gone near the coast since the M50 was abolished in October.

[tonyp]

More than I've noticed during the week. People would be interchanging in the city to a beach bus route.

[Linto63]

Being the first day of a new route structure, it's not surprising that the allocation compared to last week will be quite different. The artics appear to be operating most 500X services, but nothing else. May need to wait until Wednesday to get a clearer picture.

While a hot day may bring about some increase in beach bound traffic on the Victoria Road corridor, probably offset by others deciding to stay indoors. Either way won't cause the same spike as on those routes that directly serve beaches.

[hugh45]

I went to catch a route 144 bus at Crows Nest heading in the direction of Manly and noticed their was not a timetable at the bus stop but a note that route 144 was now a high frequency service. I waited 12 minutes for the bus and was lucky to get a seat as the bus was then full. This route would be one where a articulated bus was needed to handle the number of beach travellers. I assume that a high frequency service is a bus every 10 minutes. The bus I caught could have been delayed by the number of passengers on this bus.

[tonyp]

I went to catch a route 144 bus at Crows Nest heading in the direction of Manly and noticed their was not a timetable at the bus stop but a note that route 144 was now a high frequency service. I waited 12 minutes for the bus and was lucky to get a seat as the bus was then full. This route would be one where a articulated bus was needed to handle the number of beach travellers. I assume that a high frequency service is a bus every 10 minutes. The bus I caught could have been delayed by the number of passengers on this bus.

A few artics running on 144 today.