For the hub and spoke system, I would think that its efficiency
depends on how its implemented here.
Hub and spoke system may require large amount of space at train
stations to bring commuters to their homes, the station acts as a
'hub'. Spokes are whereby buses bring commuters to their
doorstep/close to their home.
Hong Kong don't really have a comprehensive hub-spoke system.
Long distance bus services still dominate the infrastructure and is
necessary because rail lines are slow in progressing.
I have chosen a town area in Tokyo called Kasai (葛西) for
comparison of its spoke (bus) system. Its hub is Kasai Station
(葛西駅) of the Tokyo Metro Tosai Line (東京メトロ 東西線), 97118 passengers
per day. One long distance service to Akihabara and others are
feeder services, lets take a look at the frequency.
Akihabara 26, to Akihabara Station (JR Yamanote/Chuo/Tsukuba
Express), 14.661 km.
秋２６
秋葉原駅前行
平日
05:
06: 15 25 36 47 55
07: 03W 10 17 24W 31
39W 47 55
08: 06 22 39 56
09: 13W 29 47
10: 08 31
11: 00W 30W 59
12: 24 49
13: 14W 34W 54
14: 18W 40
15: 01 19 39 55W
16: 08 21 34 49W
17: 02W 17 32 47
18: 03 21W 40 58
19: 23W 49
20: 15W 45
21:
22:
23:
The left column indicates hour, right minutes. Numbers with W
indicates WAB bus.
Now, a feeder service to Nagisa New Town, a short distance
away.
Kasai 24, to Nagisa New Town, 2.690 km.
葛西２４
なぎさニュータウン行
05:
06: 44 59
07: 15 29 33 47
55
08: 03 08 18 25
35 43 48
09: 02 19 32 48
10: 04 15 28 43
53
11: 08 25 43
12: 02 27 48
13: 12 37 59
14: 25 47
15: 04 18 34 47
16: 00 16 31 45
57
17: 10 22 33 45
57
18: 11 25 39 56
19: 08 20 37 51
20: 05 26 48
21: 10 31 55
22: 23 50
23:
Almost every other bus in this service is WAB so I leave the W
out.
So what does this show? Feeder and trunk services have to be
planned efficiently to avoid clogging up, plus, timings need to be
accurate (as promoted, timings may be more accurate if bus services
are short, we shall see to that). Townspeople in Japan do not fret
when they see timings like above, because they are sure the bus
will arrive, if not, apologies from the staff and a note for their
employers that their are late because of a bus not appearing,
practices that do not exist locally.
One additional practice that Japan uses when it comes to
train/bus frequency is called utilization. I doubt
many here have thought of this when you cry for more trains and
buses. For some peak hour trains yes we can see it being utilized
fully, cramming on trains, hitting LTA rated capacity (which is
about 250 - 280 percent capacity in Japan urban transport context).
Buses wise there are slots in some services that can be reduced,
time and money channeled to more useful areas and especially peak
periods. One less empty/little utilized bus in off-peak translates
to one more bus useful in peak hours. Money is not infinite and
hence service needs to be adjusted.
Oh, and you have not see one service from the same town I
mentioned earlier, that has the most sparse frequency (and shows
effectively the spirit of utilization), a bus service from the
train station to the town's hospital (Tokyo Rinkai Hospital).
Shinshyu 30, branch line to Tokyo Rinkai Hospital, total route
12.958 km.
新小３０
東京臨海病院前行
平日
05:
06:
07:
08:
09: 14W
10: 13
11: 10W
12: 03W 35
13: 11
14:
15:
16: 17W
17: 04W
18:
19:
20:
21:
22:
23:
