20 Feb 2012: SEQ: M1 congestion affecting Logan commuters

[ozbob]

Media release 20 February 2012

SEQ: M1 congestion affecting Logan commuters

RAIL Back On Track (http://backontrack.org) a web based community support group for rail and public transport and an advocate for public transport passengers asks for congestion relief measures to be considered for the M1.

"RAIL Back On Track members are concerned to read in the Courier Mail Quest that M1 congestion is impacting on Logan commuters (1). There are a number of potential near-term solutions that could be considered, such as T2 or bus lanes on the M1 placed such that buses can bypass congestion."

"Let's face it - the M1 is on permanent upgrade and billions of dollars have been poured into this congestion causing bottomless money pit, which only has a capacity of 2000 vehicles per lane per hour. Compare this to the South East Busway which has the capacity of 7 lanes of traffic, or approximately 18,000 passengers per direction per hour."

"Introducing a Train Upgrade Zone (TUZ) to the Beenleigh line is also another solution that requires little or no new infrastructure. This would see train services run every 15 minutes all day and cut waiting time (2). Trains in the Beenleigh line are extremely slow stopping at a whopping 27 stations. At two minutes per station, a trip takes around about one and a half hours when waiting time is taken into consideration. Measures to speed up trains such as tiered service operation could be considered along with other possibilities."

"Congestion chaos is only going to get worse, not better. Time to re-balance the wasted road expenditure with investments in public transport services for a sustainable future."

References:

1. Call for busway to help Logan commuters   http://www.couriermail.com.au/questnews/logan/call-for-busway-to-help-logan-commuters/story-fn8m0u8i-1226272045186

2. 18 Feb 2012: SEQ: Core Frequent Network - Beenleigh Line Train Upgrade Zone   http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=7698.0

Contact:

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