Re: Bus Privatization

[David McLoughlin <davemclNOSPAM@iprolink.co.nz>]

Magnus Homann wrote:
\> 
>  Here we also have synched transfers, such that the
> bus waits for the train, and sometimes buses waiting for other buses.
> 
> However, most people prefer a direct connection, and they had to
> re-instate some direct buses that had been removed previously.
> 
> The tram system is also being re-worked and expanded, so as to
> minimize transfers. The goals i max one transfer, whereever you are
> going.

To mention again the Melbourne (Australia) system with which I am most
familiar, Melbourne's tickets are mostly time-based (ie two hours or
all-day) and allow unlimited transfers between tram, train and bus
during the period of availability. Most passengers use day-tickets.

Melbourne's trains and trams mostly run from CBD to suburb (though the
great length of train and tram lines mean both modes also act as
cross-suburban lines as well as city-suburb lines) ((and three tram
routes are solely cross-suburban lines)).

This means that there are many places where you can catch a train or a
tram to the city. The very busy Sydney Rd (route 19) tram and the
equally busy High St Northcote (route 86) trams run for much of their
length less than 100 metres from the train lines. The modes compete for
passengers (and are owned by different companies). There are also
examples of a few bus routes competing for CBD-oriented passengers with
trains or trams (though few bus routes come into the Melbourne CBD as
trams are by far the main form of inner suburban street public transit,
operating 30 routes over 240 km of track and the system is continuously
expanding).

But there is no great attempt at transfers on the rail lines, with the
exception of the many people from the outer suburbs who take trains to
the city and catch a tram in contra-peak flow to their near-CBD
workplaces such as down St Kilda Rd or the university.... these
train-to-tram transfers ensure that the St Kilda Rd trams, for example
(nine routes run down that major thoroughfare) carry almost as many
passengers in the reverse-peak direction as in the peak flow.

Someone said there are not good connections from the bus feeders to
railway stations in Melbourne. That is often true. But passengers can
nonetheless use the same ticket for the train as they used on the bus,
which makes the transfer cost-free.



David McLoughlin
Auckland New Zealand