Re: New Melbourne trams have fewer seats than the old ones but they're longer!

[David McLoughlin <davemclNOSPAM@iprolink.co.nz>]

Daniel Bowen wrote:
> 
> "David McLoughlin" <davemclNOSPAM@iprolink.co.nz> wrote in message
> 399E22D2.422A@iprolink.co.nz">news:399E22D2.422A@iprolink.co.nz...
> > My point was that the Combinos are European trams designed and built in
> > Europe for short-distant European tram trips (where most people are
> > happy to stand for the short distances they travel) , not Melbourne
> > trams designed and built in Melbourne for the longer average journeys
> > where long-distance passengers expect to sit for their trip.
> 
> The routes might be longer... are there figures on how long the average
> trips are? Sure, the 75 and 86 are long routes... but how many people travel
> their entire length?


Hardly any. But the average distance travelled by tram passengers in
low-density Melbourne is much less than the average distance travelled
in high-density European cities.

For example, tram lines in say Zurich, Basel and Bern are maybe three or
four kms long on average, but ones in Melbourne are 8 km long on
average. 

Transit passengers in sprawling, car-rich cities like Melbourne are much
less inclined to stand in a tram for an 8-km ride than passngers in a
compact city like Basel or Bern or Zurich where they have to stand for
half the distance and time.

David McLoughlin
Auckland New Zealand