Re: Brisbane Light Rail,Briztram - questions

[neumannc <neumannc@ozemail.com.au>]

qldspeed wrote:
> 
> 
> 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.

Oh dear! Here is someone who thinks that extreme right wing American
paid lobbyists have credibility.  Consider the following points:

1. "publicpurpose" is funded by the fuel, highway building and
automobile lobbies in the US.
2. The Americans are so far behind the Europeans in sustainable (and
practical) cities and their transport needs (ie quality of life) it is
not funny.
3."qldspeed" has no understanding of the political process in the US and
its inherent "how do we get maximum federal dollars for employment (not
practical development) in our town/state".
4. Like most of the right wing extremists in the US he cannot let facts
get in the way of a good story.

L:ook at what is being done in Australia and what we could achieve if we
followed European best practice and weep!  Meanwhile let's congratulate
the Queensland Government for showing more forethought and civic
responsibility than their big brothers in NSW and Victoria.

Chris