Re: New form of rail transportation

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

Are we comparing apples with apples here? Is Toronto's transport system
genuinely comparable with Melbourne's?. There could be cultural issues as
well.

cheers Peter

cheers Peter
Anthony Morton <amorton@mullian.ee.mu.oz.au> wrote in message
8uq50j$a15$1@mulga.cs.mu.OZ.AU">news:8uq50j$a15$1@mulga.cs.mu.OZ.AU...
> 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/
>