Re: New form of rail transportation

[amorton@mullian.ee.mu.oz.au (Anthony Morton)]

Peter Berrett <pberrett@optushome.com.au> wrote:

>But people don't like buses. The like roomy, comfortable, fast express
>trains with their own dedicated carriageway. I've travelled on the O-Bahn in
>Adeliade and whilst it is marginally better than a normal bus - it is still
>a bus!

I used to believe the same thing: people don't like buses and won't travel on
a bus in a pink fit.  Yet in Toronto, three-quarters of the passengers on the
rail system arrive at the station by bus.  If there weren't those feeder buses,
the rail system (which carries more passengers than Melbourne's despite being
a fraction of the size) wouldn't be nearly so successful.

Now that I go to Monash Uni regularly and rely on the buses to get there, I
find that the newer buses aren't nearly as off-putting as the old rattletraps.
In their level of comfort they come close to trams.  I took one of these all
the way to Blackburn recently and it was a far from uncomfortable experience
(though I would have appreciated the bus having some priority over the other
traffic).

Of course buses have their limitations, which is why you don't base a high-
capacity long-distance service on buses.  You provide trains where there are
lots of people travelling long distances (which in Melbourne is primarily for
the radial trips) and buses for short local trips and cross-suburban trips
where there aren't the passenger numbers to justify trains.

Regards,
Tony M.

Public Transport Users Association      http://www.vicnet.net.au/~ptua/