I previously made a post about minimum frequency standards, but I will revise them now.
IDEAL MINIMUM FREQUENCY STANDARDS
Definitions
MONDAY TO THURSDAY -
Early Morning - 4am to 5am
Daytime - 5am to 10pm (excluding peak)
Peak - 6am to 10 am and 3pm to 7pm
Evening - 10pm to 12 am
Night(after) - 12am to 4am
FRIDAY -
Early Morning - 4am to 5am
Daytime - 5am to 10pm (excluding peak)
Peak - 6am to 10 am and 3pm to 7pm
Evening - 10pm to 2 am
Night - 2am to 4am
SATURDAY -
Early Morning - 5am to 6am
Daytime - 6am to 8pm
Evening - 8pm to 2 am
Night - 2am to 5am
SUNDAY
Daytime - 6am to 8pm
Evening - 8pm to 12 am
Early Morning - 5am to 6am
Night - 2am to 5am
I will provide some examples of service standards. Most routes should fit into these, but some may need special standards.
BRONZE
Every 15 minutes during peak, 30 minutes during (the rest of the) daytime and 60 minutes during evenings and early mornings.
SILVER
Every 7.5 minutes during peak, 15 minutes during the daytime, 30 minutes during evenings and early mornings, and 60 minutes at night.
GOLD
Greater service than Silver.
As a result, most areas will get TUAG (every 15 minutes or more)service during the peak, and main routes (along most main roads) will receive TUAG from 5am to 10pm, and some kind of service 24/7. This trunk service could be depended on, and would make it possible to live comfortably in many parts of Perth without a car.
Particularly like the idea of a TUAG peak network - as long as this applies to trains as well as buses to maintain connectivity (perhaps Silver on Midland-Fremantle and Clarkson-Mandurah, and gold for Whitfords-Cockburn. Armadale/Thornlie is more of a problem due to track capacity.) I'd also like to see more half-hourly feeders and upgraded TUAG zones on weekends.
ReplyDeleteBut alas it all depends on how much $$$ the government are willing to spend.
As an aside there are some interesting changes coming up early next month for which timetables have now been released. A few cutbacks, but mostly positive overall.
Yes, the standards should apply to both buses and trains, as it could help increase patronage on frequent bus routes, by showing that buses can be just as frequent as trains. Homes could be advertised as being near a Silver or Gold line, and a maps of Silver and Gold, and Gold routes (it would basically be a marketing spin for 'frequent service map'). Also, a 20 minute frequency on non-express stops on the Midland and Fremantle lines is unacceptable, especially if we want to make use of older areas for housing rather than pushing more people onto the Joondalup and Mandurah lines. Yes, the Midland line is congested too, but it wouldn't be if it had similar service levels to the Joondalup and Mandurah lines; someday Transperth needs to look at augmenting or replacing the A sets.
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