Re: New form of rail transportation

["Peter Berrett" <pberrett@optushome.com.au>]

>
> Correct. With its own lane and traffic light priority, the bus along
> Springvale Rd would compete favourably with the car time-wise, bearing
> in mind most people would only catch it a relatively short distance and
> many would be using it to access the train.

But it would not run express through traffic lights - it would still have to
stop for short periods of time. Passengers want a service that is express
between stations.

>
> > The reason why I selected Springvale road as an example was that it
> crosses the Dandenong line, passes the terminus of the GlenWaverley
> line, crosses the Lilydale/Belgrave line and will eventually cross the
> East Burwood tram if it is extended. Public transportation along this
> route would not only service the areas along this road but also provide
> a means of cutting across the suburbs and removing the necessity to
> travel into the city to get to areas across town.
>
> Correct. Springvale Rd is one of many such routes. By combining the
> three passenger flows (local, feeder, and cross-suburban) enough
> passengers can be generated for a high quality service. There is very
> little cross-suburban travel.

The reason there is very little cross suburban travel is

(a) cross suburban travel is serviced by buses and people don't like buses

(b) buses are slowed down by traffic

If there was a premium quality cross suburban public transport service ie
train it would get used. There are plenty of people who have to travel
across the suburbs to get to work. It is just that they won't use a
sub-standard and slow service to do so.

For example I live in Boronia. To get to work I would have to catch a bus to
Boronia station then train to Box Hill. The slowness of the bus, infrequency
of service and the fact that it stops often turns me off using it. It takes
me twice as long (and longer) to get to work using public transport as it
does by car.

My ideal public transport solution would be

Walk to local Suspended Railway station (Skytrain). Catch Skytrain to
Bayswater station. Frequency of service = every 15 minutes, 1 stop to
Bayswater. Catch train (using same ticket) to Box Hill, with train running
express Ringwood to Box Hill again Frequency of service = every 15 minutes.

Better still would be a Skytrain that has wheels on the bottom of the
carriages. When it arrives at Bayswater it no longer uses the suspended
railway but uses usual railway tracks. Thus there would be no need to change
modes of public trasnpor ie catch Skytrain at my local station - arrive Box
Hill 25 minutes later.

Now THAT is a public transport solution.

cheers Peter









>
> > Melbourne's train system is crying out for some form of ring railway
> or a form of public transportation to cut across town.Eventually this
> may to some extent be facilitated by an express bus service running
> along the ring road and Scoresby freeway but this would not be an
> optimal solution.
>
> Nonsense - there is so little cross suburban travel that an ordinary
> bus can cater for it (and it doesn't matter if they all use cars anyway
> because there aren't many of them). A bus along the ring road as you
> say wouldn't be very helpful because there aren't any destinations
> along the ring road - the bus would have to deviate off the freeway to
> serve the destinations and thereby lose its speed advantage.
>
> > The prinicipal issue (as usual) is cost and one of the principal
> costs is land. A suspended railway avoids much of this cost
> > by using existing rights of way - eg roads.
>
> And an ordinary bus avoids the need for a suspended railway.
>
> > You mention that a bus service along Sprinvale Road could have
> traffic light priority. This would play havoc with traffic diring peak
> periods and still not provide a smooth express service. An optimal
> service has to have its own right of way.
>
> It wouldn't play havoc with traffic - not to the extent that the level
> crossings do (which should be removed). The bottom line is that people
> who are driving in peak hour need to accept that public transport has
> priority. A bus with 50 people shouldn't be held up so that 20 cars
> with one person each can go first.
>
> > It might be an idea to redesign trains or buses so that they can use
> the overhead suspension system as well as existing railways or roads.
> Eg One might travel by train to Nunawading station at which point the
> train would hook up to the overhead suspension system, lift off the
> ground and continue suspended down to Springvale. It could then
> continue down to Cranbourne using the rail line. Alternatively I could
> catch a bus in Donvale. It would then continue to Nuawading where it
> would switch to the suspension system and then run swiftly down to
> Springvale.
>
> How about a nuclear powered monorail while youre at it. Do you know how
> many people travel from Nunawading to Cranbourne?
>
> > It is even conceivable that both trams and buses could share an
> overhead suspension system. It would take some redesigning though.
>
> Sounds like infrastructure fetishism gone mad to me.
>
> Vaughan
>
>
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