Public Transport, Commonwealth Games, real gaming, crazy links

[tcpip]

A couple of weeks ago The Age raised possibility of free public transport (paid through rates) as a means to relieve congestion adn pollution, Prosper Australia have asked me to write a an article on said topic. Anyone have some clever ideas on how to break this proposal? (special kudos to severina_242 for some good ideas). On a related matter I've discovered that two previous articles on a similar theme have made their way to the School of Cooperative Individualism library. Prosper Australia have also approached me to do more public relations work for them.

All systems go for the Ballarat Install Fest. I've written general public and IT literate press releases and have started some modest distributions. This weekend will see it crank up a couple of notches with training on Sunday. The event itself is all happening during the Commonwealth games, which look like they'll be a bit of non-event, with the exception of the graffiti event (hat-tip to adricongirl and the StolenWealth games. Interesting reference to previous paragraph - what will be the net loss of the Commonwealth games? Will it be more than the $340 million required to provide free public transport for a year?

Three gaming events since my last post; Outbreak of Heresy last Sunday has led the party to Wallachia after escaping the castle of the lich of Vlad Tepes (hey, the body was never found!), last night was Dogs in the Vineyard which involved convincing the local Steward to let two "Mountain People" (read: Amerindians) marry and pray with rest of the faithful as his refusual was allowing demonic influences into the town (very cool narrativism), and finally, I've started composing a RuneQuest II module for RetroCon. Adventures continue on Sunday with GURPS Australian Noir. Hell that's a lot of dice-rolling and cooperative storytelling.

Want to go on SBS's Insight program? Register here. Ten worst dictators (hat-tip artbroken. Death of a Liberal Party Nazi. Korea calls for a Linux city. The USA really is going theocratic.

Comments

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

The estimates are that free public transport would lead to at least a 30% increase; and the price is a problem - Melbourne has one of the highest prices in the world.

You're probably right about the buses; as much as I love them aesthetically, trams are a financial drain.

[kremmen.livejournal.com]

Trams are, with the current stupid design, doomed to become an accessibility nightmare. The vehicles themselves aren't wheelchair accessible and therefore require every stop in Melbourne to be turned into one of the inane traffic-flow-wrecking stops that we have towards Box Hill, at an astronomical cost of around $250,000 per pair of stops, or a fully platformed stop like on the East Burwood extension. If the government doesn't retrofit the current trams to make them accessible, the conversion of stops will cost a fortune and halve traffic capacity of roads on tram routes during peak periods.

[greylock.livejournal.com]

Wouldn't it be better for the Government to subsidise taxis for those few who are wheelchair bound capped at a certain amount?

[kremmen.livejournal.com]

That depends what you mean by "better". It might be cheaper, but having inaccessible trams certainly doesn't count as providing fair and equal access for the disabled and providing taxis for short trips instead is extremely inefficient: Trams can be caught much more quickly and predictably in some areas than taxis. Taxis have to be booked, then they take quite some time to load and tie down the wheelchair and again to unload. The time-wasting overhead is enormous for short trips.

Consequently, according to the Department of Infrastructure, "The Victorian Action Plan aims to achieve full compliance under the Federal Disability Standards" and then goes on to say that includes 90 per cent compliance 2017 and 100% by 2032.

If they'd fitted the latest trams with lifts or ramps, they could have achieved those figures within a few years. Instead, they are planning on spending astronomical amounts to remove both parking and traffic lanes from major arterial roads to do it in 30 years.

[greylock.livejournal.com]

Obviously you have ne at a disadvantage since not onlyu do I come from the Land Without Trams (or light rail), but you obviously care more about the issue than I do, and probably have a greater understanding of the issues.

Where I live, public transport is very much bus-based, and even on the four arterial train lines it is fairly rare to see the wheelchair-bound travelling.

I'm also less concerned with providing "fair and equal access" to existing infrastructure, although I do tend to agree that where possible new infrastructure should strive to achieve those lofty aims of "fair and equal access", and that light rail should be rolled out far more than it is.

(Of course, I'm one of those people who gets really annoyed when they build zig-zag, wheelchair-friendly ramps instead of up-and-down, direct stairs.)

[kremmen.livejournal.com]

I had no idea where you were from, since your bio doesn't say. Since you bothered to mention Geoff Gallop recently, I guess you're from Perth. I just got back on Thursday, having been over there for Swancon last weekend.

I don't see equal access as being terribly lofty an aim in public transport. Vehicles get replaced and can be replaced with accessible vehicles with minimal extra cost. (Buses that kneel and have extending or flip out ramps are pretty common.) Since the US has had anti-discrimination legislation for longer than most places, there are some cities there (eg. Seattle) in which all buses are accessible. Perth is pretty poor for disabled transportation, except in the city itself. Even the public bus from the airport and the shuttle bus from the airport (unless you specifically book it in advance) aren't wheelchair accessible.

I can understand you not seeing many people in wheelchairs on your trains. Many people will get to the train by catching a bus and get to the bus by going along the road. Most Perth bus lines seem to be randomly accessible and then some of your suburbs don't have footpaths on some of their streets at all, making it rather hard and/or dangerous to get to the train by wheelchair in the first place.

FWIW, I find zig-zag ramps are often a lazy way out when a better solution could have been found. I guess more architects need to be tied into a wheelchair for a few days.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

From what little research I've seen on the subject, that is what the wheelchair bound would prefer.

[cjander.livejournal.com]

The Victorian Government does this already at the moment. Its called the Multi Purpose Taxi Program

[darkstardeity.livejournal.com]

You do not want buses - Sydney's PT plans have for years revolved around them, and now they are contributing to the problem (via congestion in the city) more than they are solving it. The debate goes 'round and 'round about it, but most people seem to favour expanding the (currently miniscule) role of light-rail in the PT equation.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Sydney's tranport is a problem regardless what option is taken. Wrong sized city in the wrong place. I'm pretty sure lightrail would be much worse than bus congestion. Think of the space it takes up for starters, and the lack of maneuverability, and what happens when a single tram breaks down on the St Kilda Rd route etc etc.

[darkstardeity.livejournal.com]

We have all of those problems with the buses anyway (George St is effectively one lane each direction in parts, as are the streets on either side). Part of Sydney's problem is something someone mentioned below - the lack of radial routes. Everyone is forced to go into the city (or into one of the sub-cities like Parramatta and Blacktown) even if that is not their final destination, causing unnecessary congestion.

Light rail subways have been suggested which would probably work well for Sydney. The existing light rail was routed along disused goods lines, which was also a good solution. Being a bit creative with it could pull us through, but one thing is clear - we cannot improve the situation in Sydney with more buses, because the roads in the city centre are already at maximum capacity.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Radial routes seems to be a common problem in both Melbourne and Sydney. They've tried to fix the problem in Melbourne throught bus services, but the private companies can't seem to get a consistent line or timetable happening (some exceptions; the 246 from Elsternwick to Clifton Hill through to La Trobe University which has been running for at least 10 years).

I must confess I'm a little surprised that light rail has been suggested as a plausible option in Sydney. I would have thought the place too hilly.