Optimising Melbourne's bus routes for real-life travel patterns

Abstract

This study investigates whether faster overall public transport times could be achieved if a given set of bus resources were configured in a simple but sparse network of direct and frequent services, when compared to the same level of resources currently deployed in routes that lack those characteristics. Melbourne, Australia is used as a case study. Two strands of literature are reviewed: (1) literature on public transport network design, noting that principles such as direct, simple and frequent routes are well-articulated, but that there is comparatively little quantitative academic literature applying those principles to real-world transport networks on a whole-of-city basis; and (2) studies of public transport accessibility, noting that they often focus on access to employment centres or journeys to work, rather than trips made for other purposes. Network analysis tools are used to model and compare public transport travel times under the existing Melbourne public transport network, and under a new network where bus routes are reconfigured on a basis more consistent with network design principles identified in the literature, using a set of trip patterns disclosed by a government survey of household travel activity. The results show that the reconfigured network, using existing resources, could reduce average travel times in the interpeak period across the study area by 5.30 min (12.67%), with the greatest benefits accruing to outer suburban areas.