CircleRoute

The CircleRoute is a pair of circular Transperth bus routes through Perth's suburbs.

998 / 999
Overview
SystemTransperth
Route
StartFremantle station
ViaMurdoch station
Curtin University bus station
Oats Street station
Bayswater station
Stirling station
Shenton Park station
University of WA
EndFremantle station
Length84 kilometres
Service
LevelDaily
Journey time3 hours 30 minutes

History
Volgren bodied Volvo B8RLE on route 998
Volgren bodied Mercedes-Benz OC 500 LE on route 999

The CircleRoute was introduced in two stages. On 16 February 1998, the first stage of the CircleRoute commenced operating between Fremantle and Oats Street stations via Murdoch station.[1][2] It was operated by Swan Transit with Mercedes-Benz O305 buses in a special livery with purple bands blended into the green blocks of the standard colour scheme, with an elliptical shaped logo featuring two arrows in white.[3][4]

On 22 February 1999, the route was extended to become a 133 stop, 84 kilometre circular route.[5][6] All four Perth contractors; Path Transit, Perth Bus, Southern Coast Transit and Swan Transit, operated services.[7][8] In December 2000, the services began operating daily with the introduction of a Sunday service.[9]

Prior to the CircleRoute's introduction, Perth had limited cross-suburban routes, with most of the network focused on transporting people towards the Perth central business district, and to a lesser extent, regional centres such as Fremantle. Projected patronage on the CircleRoute before its introduction indicated significant patronage over most of its route, aside from the section through Belmont, which had only modest predicted patronage.[10]

The CircleRoute was designed so that for each section of the route, the route distance is less than 10% over the shortest road distance between two points. The CircleRoute is a limited stops route, meaning it does not stop at every bus stop along its route. The average stop spacing is 500 metres (1,600 ft).[10]

The routes were renumbered from 98 and 99 to 998 and 999 on 31 January 2016, as to signify being a part of Transperth's premium, high-frequency services.[11][12]

From April 2016 to March 2017, each direction of the CircleRoute had two million to three million yearly boardings, making the CircleRoute the second and third most used Transperth bus route, after the 950 bus route from Morley bus station to QEII Medical Centre.[13]

As of 31 March 2023, the CircleRoute operates on a temporary alignment to serve Meltham Station[14] whilst awaiting the completion of the new Bayswater Station.

Fares

Since 25 November 2007, fares have been determined according to the same Transperth zonal system used by other bus routes and trains in the region; prior to that date, the CircleRoute used its own distinct zones.[15].Since 2021 all fares have been capped at 2 zones.

Major bus stops
Location Zone Serving suburbs Route direction Transfers
998 999
CircleRoute
Fremantle station 2 Fremantle ↓ Bus transfers,      Fremantle line
Stock Road 2 O'Connor, Samson ↑ ↓
Murdoch University 2 Murdoch ↑ ↓
Murdoch station 2 Murdoch ↑ ↓ Bus transfers,      Mandurah line
Southlands Boulevarde 2 Willetton ↑ ↓
Curtin University bus station 1 Bentley ↑ ↓ Bus transfers
Oats Street station 1 Carlisle, East Victoria Park ↑ ↓      Armadale line,      Thornlie line
Belmont Forum 1 Belmont, Cloverdale ↑ ↓
Ascot Racecourse 1 Ascot ↑ ↓
Bayswater station[14] 1 Bayswater ↑ ↓ Bus transfers,

     Midland line

Morley bus station 1 Morley ↑ ↓ Bus transfers
Dianella Plaza 1 Dianella ↑ ↓
Stirling station 2 Stirling ↑ ↓ Bus transfers,      Joondalup line
Churchlands Green 1 Churchlands, Herdsman ↑ ↓
Shenton Park station 1 Shenton Park ↑ ↓      Fremantle line
QEII Medical Centre 1 Nedlands ↑ ↓
University of WA 1 Crawley ↑ ↓
Methodist Ladies College, Claremont 2 Claremont ↑ ↓
Fremantle station 2 Fremantle ↑ Bus transfers,      Fremantle line

See also

References
  1. Launch of first stage of Transperth Circle Route bus service at Murdoch Uni Minister for Transport 16 February 1998
  2. Figures show new Circle Route bus service is an outstanding success Minister for Transport 18 March 1998
  3. Transperth News Rattler issue 307 March 1998 page 8
  4. Freo-Oats St stn commenced 16/2/98 Australian Bus Panorama issue 13/6 June 1998 page 33
  5. Official inauguration of 50km extension to popular Circleroute for buses Minister for Transport 22 February 1999
  6. New cross suburban Circle Route bus service gains popularity Minister for Transport 16 April 1999
  7. Services Transit Australia April 1999 page 95
  8. 4 operators, 1 route = success Australasian Bus & Coach June 2000 pages 36-40
  9. Western Australia Fleetline issue 270 January 2001 page 8
  10. Better public transport : ten-year plan for Transperth 1998-2007. Transperth. 1998. pp. 25–26. ISBN 073072400X.
  11. Transperth. "Bus, Train and Ferry - Major Timetable Changes". Government of Western Australia. Archived from the original on 7 January 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  12. Transperth News Rattler issue 341 January 2001 page 7
  13. "Planning and Management of Bus Services" (PDF). Office of the Auditor General. November 2017. p. 33. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 March 2019. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
  14. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 April 2023. Retrieved 11 April 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  15. Transperth Zone Boundary changes Transperth
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