Re: Brisbane Light Rail,Briztram - questions

[qldspeed-spamisevil@geocities.com (qldspeed)]

On Sun, 7 Mar 1999 08:06:39 +1100, "David Bennetts"
<davibenn@pcug.org.au> wrote:
>
>Light rail is a modern, flexible solution - being installed in cities
>throughout North America and Britain.

Oh yeah?

Read this and weep....

"Capital projects: Experience has demonstrated that there is no more
expensive way to improve transit than urban rail. Virtually all new
rail systems have attracted so few drivers from automobiles that it
would have been less expensive to lease each a new automobile every
two years. In spending more than necessary to implement urban rail,
opportunities for more effective improvement are forgone, to the
detriment of the greater number of new riders who would be served. Too
often urban rail is driven by a desire to become a "world class city,"
a civic pride that manifests itself in construction of publicly
financed convention centers, domed stadia and urban rail. To put it in
Freudian terms, urban rail in America has more to do with
"infrastructure envy" than transportation. "

from:
http://www.publicpurpose.com/21stcent.htm

This is exactly what Brisbane has been sucked into.