Re: Light rail gradients (and my fantasy Wollongong light rail system)

["Barry Campbell" <campblbm@ozemail.com.au>]

Bradley Torr wrote in message <396712c3@pink.one.net.au>...
>I doubt that such a system will be viable though. Public transport is quite
>poor down here, and patronage is low. The only way you could have a viable
>light-rail system is either as a tourist's toy, or some radical changes in
>the transport habits of Wollongonians, which would probably mean detonating
>all the parking lots in Wollongong's CBD or having BHP lay off another
5,000
>workers so they can't afford upkeep on their cars anymore and have to sell
>their car and use PT instead.....


Wollongong is a good demonstration of the trend that has been in existence
for about the last 80 years. Public transport has become less and less
relevant in bigger and bigger communities because car travel has become
easier. Wollongong is an extremely easy city to commute in by car, much
easier than it was when I first went there in 1967. It has a convenient
network of freeways which are relatively uncrowded. Why would anyone bother
with public transport?

BTW, poor people can't afford public transport, they can only afford cars.


Barry Campbell