18 Feb 2023: Vancouver's Olympic Advice - Get Moving Now

[ozbob]

Vancouver's Olympic Advice - Get Moving Now

18 February 2023

The Council of Mayors SEQ recently spent 4 days in Vancouver, Canada. They have returned to Brisbane briefed with Metro Vancouver's 10-year transport priorities. Vancouver plans to double rapid bus services, add train lines and bikeways over a decade. It's a blueprint for how Brisbane can prepare for the 2032 Olympics.

Vancouver's plans are also an urgent wake up call for both Brisbane City Council (BCC). the Council of Mayors SEQ, and the Queensland Government. Brisbane's active and public transport share of trips is very low by global standards. Our current plans for both active and public transport are also well behind cities like Vancouver.

RAIL Back On Track's 'Target 400' campaign aims to double public transport use by 2032 but even then SEQ would still be way behind the pack (Target 400 https://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?board=96.0).

If Brisbane is to emulate Vancouver's success, major changes are needed to our region's transport and city plans. Unlike BCC's 'Metro' which is actually bus rapid transit, SkyTrain is a genuine high-capacity rail-based driverless metro capable of moving around 18,000 people per hour per direction (pphpd). BCC's bus-based 'metro' can only move around 6,000 pphpd maximum on a line which leaves little room for the additional Brisbane 'Metro' routes to the Brisbane Airport and/or Cleveland and which is why BUZ and most conventional bus routes cannot be turned into feeder services or cross-city routes and instead have to run in between Metro services.

Busways have been very successful in Brisbane but buses have capacity limits. Brisbane Metro buses ultimately do not change this reality. It is acknowledged that with the Adelaide Street bus tunnel and improvements at the Cultural Centre and Victoria Bridge, there will be a bit less bus congestion and improved reliability, but as far as capacity goes, little change.

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) can play a major role on arterial roads, but our existing busways themselves need to be converted into a higher-capacity driverless technology like Vancouver's SkyTrain.

Off the busways, Translink and Brisbane City Council urgently need to remove high levels of bus route duplication and slow, indirect bus routing. We need more BUZ routes on more of Brisbane's arterial roads with Light Rail-like stations and dedicated lanes.

Finally, BCC needs to follow Vancouver's lead in investing in on-road separated bike lanes, "living streets" and updating City Plans to create 15-minute neighbourhoods where every suburb is transit oriented. The SEQ Council of Mayors visit to Vancouver needs to result in major policy changes before the 2032 Olympics. Our low active and public transport levels are proof that we are a long long way off the mark.


References

SEQ Council of Mayors North America Trip Itinerary
https://www.noosa.qld.gov.au/downloads/file/4088/2023-02-01-special-meeting-agenda

Target 400 Campaign https://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?board=96.0

Brisbane Metro theoretical capacity calculation:
30 buses per hour is a bus every 2 minutes.
Therefore- 150 pax in normal mode x 30 buses/hr = 4500 pphpd
170 pax in event mode x 30 buses/hr = 5100 pphpd

TransLink Vancouver Skytrain https://www.translink.ca/about-us/about-translink/operating-companies/british-columbia-rapid-transit-company#quick-facts

Ottawa Conversion of Busway to Light Rail https://www.rtands.com/track-construction/ottawa-converts-bus-rapid-transit-into-light-rail-line/

Brisbane Times: SEQ Mayors Get Canadian Blueprint for Olympics https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/seq-mayors-get-canadian-blueprint-for-olympic-transport-20230213-p5ck34.html

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org
RAIL Back On Track https://backontrack.org

[ozbob]

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