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

["Bradley Torr" <btorr@bigpond.nospam.com>]

Barry Campbell wrote in message ...

>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.

I think this has much to do with the fact that the vast bulk of Wollongong's
development has occurred since the end of World War Two. Most of the
fixed-rail or government-run bus services in this country date from the
hey-day of public transport - the first half of the century. I think
Wollongong's population in the 1920's was something like 30,000 - certainly
not enough to have warranted a tram system of its own..... also most people
lived within walking distance of their work, or caught special industrial
buses to the factories and the steelworks and the like.

>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?

Well, Wollongong has a large underclass, an ageing population in many parts,
and a high rate of unemployment. Come catch a bus down here and you'll see
what I mean. :-) There is a significant proportion of the population that is
completely dependent on public transport, despite the fact that Wollongong
is a very car-oriented city, with heaps of downtown parking and good
expressways and arterials.

The main thing I don't like about public transport down here is the complete
lack of integration between the local bus services and intercity train
services. Thousands of people commute to Sydney each day on the intercity
trains, but how do they get to the station? Drive of course.....

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

What exactly do you mean by this?

Regards,
Bradley.