Off-Peak Operation

There are some interesting possibilities for operating the busway off-peak -- particularly in the periods of lowest demand, such as weekends and after 7:30pm on weekdays.

Rather than have express buses (which serve suburbs but don't stop on the busway) and rail-replacement buses (which serve all busway stations), why not combine the two? Buses would stop at all stations and continue to Johnsonville West, Churton Park etc.

While this would result in longer journey times for J'Ville West etc, it would give better service frequency to most areas. And, it could be more cost effective than the existing arrangement of separate rail and bus services.

Imagine something like this, every off-peak hour:

• One route 53 (J'Ville West), stopping at all busway stations
• One route 59 (Middleton Rd), stopping at all busway stations
• Two route 54s (Churton Park), stopping at all busway stations

That allows a 15-minute off-peak frequency to all the existing rail stations. In other words, instead of off-peak trains running once or twice per hour, you'd have buses running every 15 minutes instead. That's arguably better then the current peak rail frequency! (Which is mostly 13 minutes, sometimes 26, and therefore harder to understand that a once-every-15-minutes bus service).

As for passengers beyond the end of the busway, it's a big improvement for route 53 passengers, since they currently have no off-peak service at all! For route 54 passengers, this option would result in a slightly slower journey.  54's currently run half-hourly off-peak, except for after 8pm, when there's only one per hour.  So it's not a big change for route 54 passengers. As for route 59 passengers, they too have no off-peak service at present (but they might need one).

By the way, in this example I'm assuming Newlands buses (55, 56 and 57) will use the motorway off-peak. In reality, those destined for the Northern part of the greater Newlands area might use the busway too, and then leave J'Ville via Helston road. Like the other off-peak busway buses, these could also serve all busway stations.

Personally, I believe a good off-peak service encourages higher on-peak use. Taking the bus to work becomes more attractive if you know you'll be able to get home even if you have to work (or party) late.