Last month I explored the idea of a bus route typology; sorting buses into either buses we choose to catch or buses we have to catch. Sydney is rife with places where this antagonism plays out in weird and wonderful ways, but my personal favourite is in the checkered history of the 445 through Leichhardt.
The history of the ‘Balmain to Canterbury line’, as it was once known, is intrinsically tied in to the history of trams in Sydney. The service commenced as a tram in the 1920s until it was closed and replaced by the 445 bus on the 21st of November 1954. The service continued to operate, albeit on rubber instead of steel, for another 46 years until the return of trams to Sydney’s streets precipitated a change to the service.
In August 2000 the light rail was extended to a new terminus at Lilyfield and the 445 was diverted, for the first time in its history, to provide an interchange. This diversion substantially slowed the bus route and made it a much less attractive option for users. So painful was the detour that in the late-2000s a facebook group celebrating the infamous ‘Loop’ appeared, in much the same vein as ‘The universe would cease to exist if the 370 bus came on time‘. The page has since disappeared and if anyone has knowledge of its whereabouts, I’d love to know!
Then, in 2009, realising that the diversion made the 445 all but useless and no one was interchanging to the light rail anyway, State Transit proposed to restore the direct bus route. Obviously something went awry in the community consultation phase (you may recall the days when we had these) because when the bus changes were implemented the deviation continued. Only now it was supplemented with an additional deviation to Marketplace, and a new direct route 444. Both routes were extended to Campsie.
In 2014 the extension of the light rail saw a new station open at Leichhardt North that provided an interchange with the 444, thus completely negating the original justification for the route deviation back in 2000.
Curious as to why the deviation was still in place four years later, I contacted Transport for NSW in September 2018 who advised me that “the route path taken by Route 445 was retained to provide Lilyfield residents continuing direct access to shopping at Leichhardt Market Place and Norton Street, as well as provide interchange opportunities with the Light Rail.”
It seems that the deviation now had a small but vocal constituency who were loathe to have their service taken away. Who can blame them? On the other hand the suggestion that the 445 somehow provided a better light rail connection than the 444 by driving one kilometre down the road is nonsense.
A transport agency that doesn’t know what it wants
When I first started this article in September (I know…) it was business as usual. The 444 and 445 were operating different routes at different times of day as they had since 2009.
It was complicated. And that mere fact that it was complicated isn’t good. As anyone who’s tried to catch public transport outside of their regular commute can attest, simplicity is one of the most important principles of good network design.
In an effort to provide an efficient through service as per the original tram (and then bus) route, as well as please local users of the modified 445, Transport for NSW had opted to run both services, but at different times of day.
Basically, the 445 ran through Leichhardt in ‘shopping hours’, between roughly 9am and 4pm, 7 days a week. The 444 operated everyday before and after this period.
Travel times vary a lot due to traffic conditions, but you were looking at least an additional 8 minutes travel time by taking the 445. Not to mention exposure to some serious traffic congestion and delays turning on and off City West Link.
16 minutes onto your daily commute is significant. But more than that, sitting on the bus while it leaves the usual route to wind around in back streets and sit at traffic lights is extremely frustrating. It makes passengers aware of the fact that this service is not designed to get them anywhere quickly.
Where are we now?
Then, in November 2018, Transport for NSW announced a round of minor network changes starting on December 2nd. These occurred without the community consultation we saw in 2009. The 444 turned out to be short lived (vale 444), the 445 detour to Lilyfield light rail station was removed (they must have gotten my memo), the detour to Marketplace was retained, the service was annexed at Gladstone Park instead of Balmain East Wharf and a new bus route 447 between Lilyfield and Marketplace was introduced.
All in all, it’s not the worst compromise. The loss of the ferry interchange is disappointing, but I suspect it was poorly used anyway. Through Leichhardt, peak hour and evening riders will suffer a 3 minute penalty due to the loss of the 444. Daytime riders will enjoy a 5 minute quicker journey thanks to the removal of ‘the loop’. The thing is though, everyone could enjoy a quicker journey by removing the unnecessary deviation to Marketplace. A high frequency bus corridor down Marion Street already connects Marketplace to Norton St and the light rail. All someone wanting to get from the 445 route on Norton Street to Marketplace would have to do is get off at Leichhardt Town Hall and take a 370, 436, 438 or 439 down the hill.
Perhaps it’s a gesture to Sydneysiders’ disinclination towards interchanging. It harks back to a less reliable age; a time of costly double dipping of traveltens, a time before metrobuses, opal cards and real time bus tracking.
The inclusion of the 447 is an interesting one and I’ll be keen to see how it goes. The route has an extremely limited function, taking residents of a small part of Lilyfield to Marketplace. It seems that the same residents that managed to keep the 445 deviation in 2009 have secured themselves a direct hourly service. At least now it operates in its own ecosystem and doesn’t impact on the operation of the 445.
With hourly frequency and operating only in daylight hours the 447 isn’t exactly a bus we choose to take. Then again with the 370, 445 and light rail all running frequent nearby services, it’s not a bus that anyone will have to take either. As far as pleasing constituents while minimising the impact on the rest of the transport system, I guess it does the job.
For older and less mobile people one seat rides from home to local destinations are going to be favourable. But at what price? Clearly we can’t have frequent services connecting everyone’s house to everywhere they might need to go. On-demand transport has a role to play here, and Transport for NSW are experimenting enthusiastically.
Interestingly the December 2nd timetable changes largely sought to encourage interchanging in the southern suburbs, so why not in Leichhardt?
Navigating Norton Street
The new 445 timetable simplifies operation by providing a single bus route that runs at a decent frequency all day with service continuing at night. Unfortunately it seems that Transport for NSW lack the confidence in riders’ willingness to interchange and so it suffers an unnecessary 3 minute detour.
Imagine you were trying to get from somewhere on the Inner West Line, say Ashfield, to Rozelle. The sad fact of the matter is that you’d probably just end up taking the train to Town Hall and taking a bus from there. This increases demand for busy CBD-bound services by funneling people unnecessarily through the city. A problem we’re currently in the process of building our way out of, at great expense. If you were driving or cycling on this route there’s no way you would go anywhere near the CBD.
Until our cross-town bus services run with the frequency, reliability and directness that our radial CBD services do; detouring to Central, Town Hall or Wynyard for a cross-town trip will remain de rigeur.
The Canterbury-Balmain corridor has been an important cross-town link for almost 100 years. It connects 2 train lines, 2 high frequency bus corridors, countless local bus routes, 2 light rail stations, a ferry wharf, two hospitals and an almost continual stream of shopping strips. The most recent timetable changes are an improvement in regards to ease of use and frequency, but adding a deviation for morning and evening riders is a step in the wrong direction. In order to be a bus we choose catch the 445 needs to be not only frequent, reliable and easy to use, but also direct.