Re: Brisbane Light Rail,Briztram - questions

[Colin Weaver <colingw@my-dejanews.com>]

> I take it that the objections were from the genteel burghers of St Lucia
> to the folk of South Brisbane and West End being able to use the tram to
> visit their treelined boulevards, rather than the other way round?

Not so - when the previous government conducted an opinion poll of residents
along the proposed BrizTram route, the peak levels of support (> 90%) were
found in St Lucia and New Farm, both of which have now been dropped from
the light rail scheme.  IMHO the reason why the St Lucia line has been
dropped is entirely due to opposition to the scheme by the Labor member
for South Brisbane / West End.  The whole Brisbane Light Rail - BrizTram
saga reflects the sad realities of public transport planning, where
politics and pay-back have more to do with planning than actual public
need.  The end result is that we're ending up with half a light rail
system, which neatly avoids the residential areas and university which
it was originally intended to serve.  As far as I'm concerned, not
crossing the river to St Lucia will come to be seen as the major flaw
in the Brisbane Light Rail scheme - anyone who has ever struggled through
peak hour traffic to the university will know what I mean.

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