Headway Services

[swtt]

Out of curiosity, are routes 500X, 120 (and 100/144/160X) headway services rather than timetabled services?

I recall there was talk before that Route 333 and B1 are headway services, where the bus depot could send additional buses on the road on to these routes if incidents on the road caused significant service gaps.

Whereas with a timetabled service, it'd just be left to its own devices and significant bunching could occur without cancelling services and turning buses around to commence its next (shortened) trip.

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[Stu]

^ Those routes could very well become headway services as implementing headway services will become a contractual requirement in the new contracts for regions 7, 8 & 9 as is the case in Region 6.

STA route 379 is also a headway.

[swtt]

^ Those routes could very well become headway services as implementing headway services will become a contractual requirement in the new contracts for regions 7, 8 & 9 as is the case in Region 6.

So if there is a major delay on Parramatta Road per se, then there are spare buses to send out from either L, B or T depots to cover for service gaps on say 461X?

STA route 379 is also a headway.

Whilst it's not the most infrequent service, neither is it that frequent... so headway service doesn't necessarily tie in with being "frequent" (in the way TfNSW brands it)?

[stupid_girl]

STA route 379 is also a headway.

Whilst it's not the most infrequent service, neither is it that frequent... so headway service doesn't necessarily tie in with being "frequent" (in the way TfNSW brands it)?

For most of the day, 379 has the 10 minute frequency to be qualified as "frequent". I suspect a separate treatment may apply to late evening and weekend morning.

[swtt]

Most interesting "reading" is the actual contract for Region 6 and how any service which runs predominantly at headways of 15 minutes or less, must be operated as a Headway Service. (2019)

Plus there seems to have been a stack of interesting commericial in confidence stuff that has been redacted


https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q ... JwMzx8orp-

[Stu]

I've noticed some buses from Leichhardt have an 'H' decal on the lower right of the windscreen, looks like headway will be starting soon. Region 3 commenced headway at the end of last year.

[Fleet Lists]

Reading through the pdf mentioned above the definition of a Headway service is one that is operated in addition to timetabled services on that route. So I dont think that any route becomes a headway route but that any timetables route may have additional headway trips.

[HHH]

Instead of operating to a specific published timetable, the service is advertised as an expected frequency which means customers no longer need to rely on a timetable - ‘turn up and go’.

TfNSW will be measuring the on time running for headway managed services based on the Estimated Wait Time, which is calculated from the waiting time measured between services. Estimated Wait Time is the average time any customer would have to wait for the next bus to arrive after they arrive to the bus stop.

The individual trip on time running performance is measured against the other trips on the route and not against a public timetable.

Region 3 are currently using headway management for route T80 and Region 6 will apply headway to routes 389 & 504 mid February and routes 470 and 438x in the not to distant future.

[Fleet Lists]

In the pdf page 17
"Headway Trips means Trips that are not scheduled to a public timetable"
In the case of route T80 there is a fixed timetable except between 6.20 and 20.00 Monday to Fridays when a headway timetable applies. see https://transportnsw.info/documents/tim ... 201223.pdf
Note this timetable has a 36 prefix to the route description while normal region 3 timetables have a 79 prefix. Routes like B1 and 333 also have this 36 prefix.

[swtt]

In the pdf page 17
"Headway Trips means Trips that are not scheduled to a public timetable"
In the case of route T80 there is a fixed timetable except between 6.20 and 20.00 Monday to Fridays when a headway timetable applies. see https://transportnsw.info/documents/tim ... 201223.pdf
Note this timetable has a 36 prefix to the route description while normal region 3 timetables have a 79 prefix. Routes like B1 and 333 also have this 36 prefix.

Interesting - but on Saturday and Sundays, whilst it has a 5/15 frequency depending on when the short runners are slotted in, that's not a headway service on those days.

[boronia]

"Every 10 minutes until..." is a long used format in printed timetables to avoid the need to show every individual service in that period. Its use long predates the concept of headway services.

[swtt]

"Every 10 minutes until..." is a long used format in printed timetables to avoid the need to show every individual service in that period. Its use long predates the concept of headway services.

I think this form of wording on a PDF timetable now indicates headway services as opposed to just for convenience?

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[boronia]

In the pdf page 17
"Headway Trips means Trips that are not scheduled to a public timetable"

But these "every 10 minutes" trips are scheduled in the public timetable, just not shown individually.

My take on the quote is that "headway trips" would be additional to those in the timetable, to meet demand. I have usually encountered "headway" to mean the same as "frequency". Additional services are referred to as "head-offs".

[Fleet Lists]

Those "10 minutes" trips which are not shown by individual trips in the timetable, are required so that the trip finder can use the route but are NOT actual scheduled trips. That is where the complications come in as the information in the trip finder can not be 100% correct as what is used in the trip finder is not the actual scheduled information which does not exist.

In the past yes "headway" meant the same as frequency but under the new "headway trips" system that is no longer the case.

As the timetable states "* Frequency based service, times are a guide only"

[tonyp]

The main problem with focussing on headways rather than on the timetable is that, if you've planned the trip using the journey planner, it's pretty critical that each vehicle turns up at or very close to the time shown in the timetable. With the trend to interchange, resulting in journeys on multiple modes, running to timetable assumes even more significance.

I can see the virtue in headway management though, as I've often mentioned how bad inner city bus services were years ago when a ten minute headway would dissolve into three buses turning up in a bunch after half an hour.

Out of interest, does anybody have trouble getting on a bus nowadays or are there still buses going past full? This was the problem in the post-tramway years when about 1/3 of system capacity was lost when buses replaced trams. It was still the case in the 1980s when I finally gave up using inner city buses because of unreliability and being constantly passed by full buses. The bus fleet (STA + region 6) is probably twice the size now, so I assume that's overcome that issue(?).

[Fleet Lists]

Just to confuse a bit, in the 333 and B1 timetables every trip every day of the week, has the Frequency service footnote which would indicate that it is a headway service at "all" times while the T80 timetable only has the footnote on the trip on either side of the range trips which would indicate the headway trips only apply to that period Mondays to Fridays.

[Linto63]

The main problem with focussing on headways rather than on the timetable is that, if you've planned the trip using the journey planner, it's pretty critical that each vehicle turns up at or very close to the time shown in the timetable. With the trend to interchange, resulting in journeys on multiple modes, running to timetable assumes even more significance.

But if it gets to a stage where the timetable becomes almost meaningless, as often does happen with region 6 services where traffic conditions can fluctuate widely, tight connections will often be missed anyway, so a headway service can be the lesser of two evils.

I can see the virtue in headway management though, as I've often mentioned how bad inner city bus services were years ago when a ten minute headway would dissolve into three buses turning up in a bunch after half an hour.

It's the old why do buses come in three scenario. With GPS tracking it is at least now possible for somebody at mission control to look at the overall picture and regulate the service by holding back services or turning them short.

Out of interest, does anybody have trouble getting on a bus nowadays or are there still buses going past full? This was the problem in the post-tramway years when about 1/3 of system capacity was lost when buses replaced trams. It was still the case in the 1980s when I finally gave up using inner city buses because of unreliability and being constantly passed by full buses. The bus fleet (STA + region 6) is probably twice the size now, so I assume that's overcome that issue(?).

With Covid capacity restrictions, region 6 buses often arrive at stops at capacity. But even pre Covid, it happened. With demand ebbing and flowing for no one reason, short of providing a huge amount of excess capacity, can never be totally eliminated.

[tonyp]

With Covid capacity restrictions, region 6 buses often arrive at stops at capacity. But even pre Covid, it happened. With demand ebbing and flowing for no one reason, short of providing a huge amount of excess capacity, can never be totally eliminated.

I should have qualified my question as pre-covid because the latter is not a typical normal situation in the long term picture. So it's interesting to know that buses can be packed nowadays (when there are supposed to be more buses on the road and less people on each bus) as much as they were pre-covid. The efficient solution would be bigger buses rather than more buses.

[Linto63]

Overall buses now will be carrying lower average loads than they were 12 months ago, but that doesn't mean overcrowding doesn't occur. Bigger buses still have a higher operating cost than normal buses and it is often only for relatively small part of the journey that a bus is full. For example, if a bus pulls up outside Sydney University at knock off time, then it will fill up for the journey to Railway Square, but for the rest of the journey it may be relatively empty.

[tonyp]

When you look at it from the passenger's perspective of not being able to get on board, the solutions present differently.

[Linto63]

You could double the number of buses and still the problem would happen. But as long as it is only happening on corridors where there are regular services, not really a problem.

[tonyp]

You could double the number of buses and still the problem would happen. But as long as it is only happening on corridors where there are regular services, not really a problem.

If you doubled the number of buses, the problem would cease to exist unless there was some sudden huge rise in demand. I've lived through the experience of it happening on major corridors with regular services. It is a problem. Unlike trains, trams and ferries where they make a decent effort to meet and exceed demand, capacity is a perennial issue in the NSW bus sector. For the last sixty years or so, provision of adequate capacity on buses is something that seems to be perpetually done under sufferance.

[Linto63]

If you double the number of buses, you double the cost and still no guarantee that it won't happen. It's ultimately a balancing act, and from my observations, not a huge problem. In region 6, it happens on busy corridors such as Broadway, City Road and Parramatta Road where there are alternative buses. Can be a bit of pain for some one say wanting at Broadway to catch a 440 to Bondi Junction to have a bus arrive full with students from Sydney University who are only travelling to Railway Square. But if you were smart you would just catch the first bus to Railway Square and pick it up there.

[stupid_girl]

If you double the number of buses, you double the cost and still no guarantee that it won't happen. It's ultimately a balancing act, and from my observations, not a huge problem. In region 6, it happens on busy corridors such as Broadway, City Road and Parramatta Road where there are alternative buses. Can be a bit of pain for some one say wanting at Broadway to catch a 440 to Bondi Junction to have a bus arrive full with students from Sydney University who are only travelling to Railway Square. But if you were smart you would just catch the first bus to Railway Square and pick it up there.

I guess TfNSW solution may be just to split the route 440 and force everyone to interchange.

[Linto63]

Probably, just every other cross city service has been chopped in two recently.