20 Mar 2010: SEQ: Time to change the transport paradigm

[ozbob]

Media Release 20 March 2010

SEQ:  Time to change the transport paradigm

RAIL Back On Track (http://backontrack.org) a web based community support group for rail and public transport and an advocate for public transport commuters has said the unless there is a dramatic shift to putting in place proper sustainable transport solutions we are looking at a transport crisis.

Robert Dow, Spokesman for RAIL Back On Track said:

"The frenetic attempts to appease the ever hungry auto-mobile and selfish drivers is out of control.  One toll road after another is going to force many captive car users on to an ever decreasing public road network. The bus network is not a long term solution, already we see signs of capacity constraints.  The great cities of the world use rail; light and heavy, because high capacity and sustainability of mass transport can be achieved.  Brisbane done away with its tram network in 1969 and has failed to grasp the opportunities that have been presented since, for example Briztram (1). Contrast that to Melbourne that now has one of the great light rail networks in the world, and pivotal to the inner city revival that is under way in the city (2)."

"Bus is doing a great job in Brisbane, but capacity constraints are already starting to be reached. TransLink is looking at true 'super buses' as a future option (3).  This is just more stop-gap planning that has characterised transport planning in south-east Queensland since the 1960s.  What is needed is a proper light rail network in inner city Brisbane that will provide the capacity, the frequency and the sustainability for the future."

"A failure to properly utilise the existing transport assets is also a sad characteristic of transport operation in south-east Queensland.  Train frequencies that belong in the 1960s, and timetable gaps that positively act as a disincentive for public transport use.  Contrast our rail frequency to other cities, it is pathetic.  We have political promises of more services but promises are seldom delivered either it seems (4)."

"Transport planners in Queensland need to think long and hard, there is much to do, time is running out ..."

References:

1. http://www.lrta.info/Facts/facts104.html

2. http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/residents-reclaim-inner-city-20100319-qm8i.html

3. http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=3589.0

4. http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=3533.0

Contact:

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org

[#Metro]

Interestingly, the Sydney Light Rail service runs without any passenger subsidy.
Its fares are comparable or actually cheaper than the public bus!

You can have your cake and eat it too.

[somebody]

Interestingly, the Sydney Light Rail service runs without any passenger subsidy.
Its fares are comparable or actually cheaper than the public bus!

You can have your cake and eat it twice.

That's true, but it did require a public subsidy to build it in the first place.

[#Metro]

It did, but there is no operating subsidy.
The money saved can go into putting in more services or extending the line, which looks very likely now.

[somebody]

The public bus service is also virtually un-subsidised too.  At least Sydney Buses which is the competing service.  No doubt, the M2 bus services will soon be heavily subsidised with their ticketing changes which are something like a halving of the fares for those services.

Previously, all their buses were very expensive relative to Brisbane except for the very short (1-2 section) trips, which were good for about 2km or so and no transfers.

[#Metro]

I'd be interested in that 
Do you have more info? Send me a PM if you like 

TT

[somebody]

More info on which aspect?

[#Metro]

Long post warning  

Consultancy Report- LECG Draft Report for IPART

I didn't exactly find the subsidy rates (whether is is 70/30 or 75/25) but nonetheless:

Public transport had the following benefits, in order of size (largest to smallest):
1st. Avoided Road Congestion
2nd. Avoided Air Pollution
3rd. Avoided Greenhouse Gases

The main benefit to society was the reduction in on-road congestion.
Rail had about 4x more benefit per pax in reducing road congestion because it takes passengers completely off the road network, while buses still have passengers on the road, who still contribute to congestion (albeit less). Further, the rail network tended to parallel freeways and other high congestion roads. In Brisbane bus and busway does this job.

"Avoided accidents" however were not really a strong justification for public transport use. This is because as vehicles further congest the road, the average vehicle speed drops. In other words, it is really hard to have a fatal accident when you are queuing and moving at 10km/hr in heavy traffic congestion. Insurance also makes most of the costs private ones.

The subsidy level is about right for Sydney buses. However, subsidies really are only a "second best" solution.
The best solution would be to charge road users a road user charge for the distance or time they traveled on each and every trip they made. Think like a taxi with a taxi meter. This is different to a cordon toll or congestion charge, and I think it has advantages. Implementation seems next to impossible though. The fuel excise is a poor way of charging as it isn't quarantined from other uses- such funding can be siphoned off to other areas.

Under this "first best" scenario, people would be charged to drive.
The resulting transfer of road users to public transport could well mean a subsidy was simply not required. If cars don't pay for all the costs they create they are, in effect, receiving a public subsidy. This subsidy to the car causes problems, so the solution currently employed to counteract this is- large subsidies to public transport. So that's two sets of big fat subsidies for 2 groups (so that is just about everybody in Australia) both from the Government resulting from its contradictory policy aims.

I think it would be simpler, fairer and cheaper to just charge the road users for all the congestion and pollution they create.

The other thing that is apparent, is that cyclists are getting a raw deal.
Cyclists reduce congestion, hospital use (through increased fitness) and save money for all concerned but they don't get a subsidy.
More state money for large, grade-separated bikeways and safer lanes would fill this gap.

www.metrotransport.com.au/uploads/files/mts_submission.pdf

[somebody]

My recollection is that the subsidy for Sydney buses is 0.7c/pax/km and for CityRail about 20c/pax/km.  Sydney buses do a service similar to BT.

It's hard to knock Sydney buses unless the no integrated ticketing is their fault, but the idea of BUZ services is probably something they should take on.

[ozbob]

Road trauma is a massive cost.  To be brutal, deaths are not the cost of injuries. The less people drive cars the greater the reduction and savings ..


--> $17billion annual bill for road trauma  2006

[#Metro]

I'm not sure what the figures for BT buses are to compare. Translink should publish them like Perth does!
Didn't like the Sydney Buses actually. The use our secondhand green magnetic card readers, straight from Brisbane too!
Charging by "sections" traveled I thought was a bad, bad idea.

Their trains are very good though.
How does Sydney manage to do it? Is it that more people simply catch their buses?

With regard to road trauma, I think it is too general to link more congestion = more accidents.
I think a lot involve high speed, alcohol, etc which probably occur outside the peak hours.

IMHO, a strong case for free or flat fare Nightlink bus services on friday/satuday nights and increased frequency and more routes. There was a minicab proposal recently too. More services would help.

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/brisbane-revellers-at-risk-from-gypsy-cabs-20100318-qi8u.html
http://www.pta.wa.gov.au/Portals/0/annualreports/2009/service-and-financial-achievements/index.html

[#Metro]

Bring on rail, light, heavy & metro!

If we had light rail or artic buses in the Valley with free or flat fare Nightlink transport, the door would just swing open and 180-300 pax could go home in one hit. Not many drivers like to work that late, it would be better use of the few operators that there are to go around.

[somebody]

No need to invent any new system to get people home at night.  Just expand Nightlink buses.  Also, hourly buses would be better than a single nightlink train.  A couple of other suggestions were in "30 issues..."

I agree that Sydney's ticketting system is poor.  I blame IPART for insisting the new ticketing system had the same fare structure as the old one, and the politicians for failing to overrule them.  Morons.  That was one reason why the ERG ticketing system failed. 

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

3rd April 2010

Greetings,

How much longer do we have to wait for an increase in Citytrain frequency?  A report in the Melbourne Age* highlights the sad reality for Sydney and Melbourne.  Brisbane is so far behind the times in terms of train frequency it doesn't even get a mention.  The Growth Management Summit, the TransLink Tracker, all confirm the need to do something to drive change.  We have an asset - the rail network, time it was used properly.

Best wishes
Robert

* http://www.theage.com.au/national/melbourne-trains-fail-world-metro-test-20100402-rjuu.html

====================================

Media Release 20 March 2010 released 3 April 2010

SEQ:  Time to change the transport paradigm

RAIL Back On Track (http://backontrack.org) a web based community support group for rail and public transport and an advocate for public transport commuters has said the unless there is a dramatic shift to putting in place proper sustainable transport solutions we are looking at a transport crisis.

Robert Dow, Spokesman for RAIL Back On Track said:

"The frenetic attempts to appease the ever hungry auto-mobile and selfish drivers is out of control.  One toll road after another is going to force many captive car users on to an ever decreasing public road network. The bus network is not a long term solution, already we see signs of capacity constraints.  The great cities of the world use rail; light and heavy, because high capacity and sustainability of mass transport can be achieved.  Brisbane done away with its tram network in 1969 and has failed to grasp the opportunities that have been presented since, for example Briztram (1). Contrast that to Melbourne that now has one of the great light rail networks in the world, and pivotal to the inner city revival that is under way in the city (2)."

"Bus is doing a great job in Brisbane, but capacity constraints are already starting to be reached. TransLink is looking at true 'super buses' as a future option (3).  This is just more stop-gap planning that has characterised transport planning in south-east Queensland since the 1960s.  What is needed is a proper light rail network in inner city Brisbane that will provide the capacity, the frequency and the sustainability for the future."

"A failure to properly utilise the existing transport assets is also a sad characteristic of transport operation in south-east Queensland.  Train frequencies that belong in the 1960s, and timetable gaps that positively act as a disincentive for public transport use.  Contrast our rail frequency to other cities, it is pathetic.  We have political promises of more services but promises are seldom delivered either it seems (4)."

"Transport planners in Queensland need to think long and hard, there is much to do, time is running out ..."

References:

1. http://www.lrta.info/Facts/facts104.html

2. http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/residents-reclaim-inner-city-20100319-qm8i.html

3. http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=3589.0

4. http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=3533.0

Contact:

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org

[#Metro]

"Highlighting the government subsidy for fares is only part of the picture.  It fails to capture the broader savings that public transport makes in terms of reduced congestion, reduced environmental impacts and a reduction in health care costs.  Is this an attempt to further justify the recent and projected fare increases?"

Good public transport also tends to increase property values near stations and busways. Every time people go house hunting, public transport is there in the ad or on their checklist.

Good PT can then support businesses and residents to create TODs, such as at Buranda. Its hard to imagine places like South Bank without bikeway, rail, bus and ferry access.

[ozbob]

Wrong thread TT, but a well made point.