Re: throwing out perfectly good trains and trams

["Johann Fan" <jyf@optusnet.com.au>]

"Vaughan Williams" <ender2000@my-deja.com> wrote in message
news:8i44sa$2lc$1@nnrp1.deja.com...
>
> > Their (Toronto) subway runs with guards in the middle of the train.
> Their
> > stops are shorter (ie, during off peak, the doors open, 5 seconds
> max, doors
> > close) so journey time is decreased, announcements are made in advance
> > (although not always understandable!) and frequency (I don't think
> there is
> > a public timetable)... also, getting people off the roads by having
> huge
> > carparks to 'park and ride'... this is one technique not tried here
> yet....
> > especially with the tolling of the Tulla and South-Eastern... uhh..
> > Monash... freeways....
>
> This is actually a bit of an urban myth which Paul Mees covers in "A
> Very Public Solution". Although Toronto has larger carparks than
> Melbourne at stations, it has fewer stations, and fewer of them have
> carparks.
>
> Even at the station with the largest carpark, the car is a minor access
> mode. around 70% of people still reach the station by bus.
>
Yeah, I realise that but it is not likely that better bus services are going
to eventuate in Melbourne for some time, unless a completely new system is
drawn up. So the fact remains to get people to stop driving to the work
first. The fact that the Toronto bus system's minimum frequency during the
day (can't remember which route no) is 22 minutes, better than most of
Melbourne.

Also another thought is that on EPA smog alert days (like today, tues.) they
(train/tram companies) should do greater promotion, maybe a discount or
something to entice people to try out the service, etc...

Getting kinda back on topic, this has nothing to do with the age of the
vehicles, its how you promote the service.

cheers
Johann