What can congested Australian cities learn from Vancouver?

[Jonno]

http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2014-05-28/what-can-congested-australian-cities-learn-from/5483224

[#Metro]

Labor costs are low in Vancouver because the skytrain is Automatic. There isn't a lot of rail infrastructure, but like Toronto, whatever is there is used extraordinarily intensively to wring every bit of efficiency from the system. The result is a farebox ratio double that of Brisbane's.

http://www.humantransit.org/2010/02/driverless-rapid-transit-why-it-matters.html

The moral of the story is that Brisbane needs to phase out the guards on trains and convert them to train drivers.

There is also a nice High Frequency Map
http://www.translink.ca/en/Plans-and-Projects/Frequent-Transit-Network.aspx

You can see also buses connect train stations and then continue across the CBD rather than travel into the CBD, even very close to the CBD itself.

I get a lot of people tell me that 'they support feeder and transfer model' but then when presented with one say 'Oh! you CANNOT do that to route X it is too close to the CBD! No other city does this!' and so on.

Well, here is an image of one, within 5.5 km of the CBD.



Not close enough I hear you say? Here is one WITHIN 2 KM OF THE CBD
So there. Now there IS a city which does connections right on the edge of the CBD. Vancouver.

[#Metro]

And another one, FLIES in the face of the current thinking. 

Better find a new set of excuses....

[ozbob]

Off peak and  counter peak rail services are already quite mediocre on many lines.  This in itself is rather anti-public transport.  The way forward is improved frequency not further reductions or bus replacement.  There is no way buses will manage current off peak loads in a cost effective manner in any case, it actually costs more to replace rail with buses.  The cost of rail placement during track maintenance etc. is much greater than what rail costs. I suspect that there will be moves to make off peak travel even more attractive. Proper network design is what is needed is as well as  frequency improvements.  Running 10 buses ( 10 drivers) to CBD when one train can easily do it is where the real efficiencies are gained.  Had TransLink review gone ahead we would have seen significant pax and network gains already.  Moves to competitive tendering now will see many of the changes proposed then implemented I expect in anycase.

What nonsense about the the NCL and Rosewood etc.  Have you actually used these services? They are very well loaded counter and off peak.  Counter and off peak services are also important from a positioning point of view as well.  Trains need to be moved around the network, makes sense to use them as revenue services not empty running.

Removal of guards will happen down the track I expect.

Have you seen the mess on roads in SEQ lately?  LOL.

Using buses as buses rather than as line transport is where the real efficiencies for the overall network will be gained.  Watch this space RTT ..

[#Metro]

Brisbane's city train stations are off-set to the city and not the most convient along with some of the inner lines by-passing large population centres. With CRR/UBAT coming, there needs to be a new strategy to make the whole PT thing more viable and practical.

This is also true of the busway network. Chermside, Caridale, Indooroopilly are not on the busway but the buses that enter the busway go past these places and then into the busway. My point is that having something on-line is nice to have but there are alternative solutions if this is not the case.

A similar solution would be to have buses go from centres and to the train station, like happens in Toronto, which has fewer train stations than what is in the BCC area.

The Ipswich Line IS on major centres, the Beenleigh line is probably the worst for alignment, but the time saving of BaT (10 min) will equalise it with the busway and be more direct and reliable than the busway (which sends buses via South Bank).