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]

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.