Week from Hell on Queensland Roads

[Jonno]

Is it just me but based on the Courier Mail tweets has the past week been an absolute disaster on our roads.  The carnage jus has to stop...and bigger and faster roads is not going to stop it!!

[somebody]

Research showing that freeways are not safer than surburban roads.

http://www.ltrc.lsu.edu/TRB_82/TRB2003-000499.pdf

Added your comments to a more appropriate thread.  It's a very interesting and surprising link.

I'm not posting it here to say that I am supporting the research, I would add.  One has to wonder if there are other factors at work?

[Golliwog]

Research showing that freeways are not safer than surburban roads.

http://www.ltrc.lsu.edu/TRB_82/TRB2003-000499.pdf

I'm in the middle of reading that now, but that research has nothing to do with suburban roads. Its comparing freeways with parkways, which are both different types of highway.

[somebody]

Research showing that freeways are not safer than surburban roads.

http://www.ltrc.lsu.edu/TRB_82/TRB2003-000499.pdf

I'm in the middle of reading that now, but that research has nothing to do with suburban roads. Its comparing freeways with parkways, which are both different types of highway.

I would have thought a Parkway was something like Mains Rd?

[SurfRail]

I would have thought a Parkway was something like Mains Rd?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I tend to think it is more like the principal roads around Springfield (eg Sinnathamby Boulevard, Augusta Parkway, and to an extent the Centenary Highway extension with its roundabouts).  80km absolute top speed, gently winding, usually no more than 2 lanes, limited amounts of traffic signals.

[somebody]

I would have thought a Parkway was something like Mains Rd?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I tend to think it is more like the principal roads around Springfield (eg Sinnathamby Boulevard, Augusta Parkway, and to an extent the Centenary Highway extension with its roundabouts).  80km absolute top speed, gently winding, usually no more than 2 lanes, limited amounts of traffic signals.

The difference being a bias to roundabouts rather than traffic signals?

Epping Rd in Sydney would be a better example of what I am thinking of, but Mains Rd is as near as I could come OTOH.  Perhaps Gympie Rd from Webster Rd to Carseldine.

[Golliwog]

What came to mind from their description of parkway in the document was the Bruce Highway north of Caboolture.

The report also seemed to want to compare like with like so when it paired a freeway with a parkway, they had to be serving the same origin+destination, similar set up (no. of lanes, speed, etc) be roughly parallel. They don't talk about intersection though, or at least I don't remember them doing so.

[somebody]

What came to mind from their description of parkway in the document was the Bruce Highway north of Caboolture.

The report also seemed to want to compare like with like so when it paired a freeway with a parkway, they had to be serving the same origin+destination, similar set up (no. of lanes, speed, etc) be roughly parallel. They don't talk about intersection though, or at least I don't remember them doing so.

Indeed, looking up the Grand Central Pkwy in Google Earth shows a fully limited access road.  So, what they are talking about is "freeway quality" rather than freeway vs trunk road.

[Jonno]

What came to mind from their description of parkway in the document was the Bruce Highway north of Caboolture.

The report also seemed to want to compare like with like so when it paired a freeway with a parkway, they had to be serving the same origin+destination, similar set up (no. of lanes, speed, etc) be roughly parallel. They don't talk about intersection though, or at least I don't remember them doing so.

Indeed, looking up the Grand Central Pkwy in Google Earth shows a fully limited access road.  So, what they are talking about is "freeway quality" rather than freeway vs trunk road.

Simon you are spot on but we need to remember that we have the RACQ/Road Lobby campaigning on the basis that the only truly safe road is an 3-4 lane concrete walled motorway but there is research suggesting that this not the case.  For me the key research in the "Week from Hell on Queensland Roads" is the safety comparison between rail and the motor vehicle (www.vtpi.org/mohan.pdf) plus the research that the design of our urban roads can also reduce the risk to pedestrians, cyclist and motor vehicle occupants (www.naturewithin.info/Talks/GA_Dumbaugh_Street%20Trees.pdf and http://www.urbanstreet.info/2nd_sym_proceedings/Volume%202/Huang.pdf). Finally there is also research that removing urban freeways has massive benefits to a city. http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/docs/ump/06%20SEATTLE%20Case%20studies%20in%20urban%20freeway%20removal.pdf. There are also the fallacies of the 'We Can Out Build Congestion" transport planning and Peak Oil but that is well covered in other threads

This all adds up for me (and I assume/hope many other RBOT members) that our current transport network is killing many, many more people that it needs to, is destroying the urban environment/fabric around freeways and major arterials and is about to face a user revolt as the price of petrol hits $2 a litre. Yet our governments soldier on with a "road-centric" transport plan and our planning mechanisms ensure a "road-centric" city is created.

[ozbob]

And it continues .. RIP

Courier Mail --> Eight die in horror 24 hours on Queensland roads

[somebody]

I hate to be in poor taste, but I did laugh when I saw the campaign for "Fatality Free Friday" yesterday.

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Eight dead in horror weekend on state's roads

Eight dead in horror weekend on state's roads
May 28, 2011 - 4:56PM

Queensland police have pleaded with drivers to concentrate behind the wheel after eight people died on the state's roads in less than 12 hours ...

Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/eight-dead-in-horror-weekend-on-states-roads-20110528-1f96l.html#ixzz1Nd4vR4NK

[ozbob]

From the Brisbanetimes click here!

Drivers told to slow up after horror night

Drivers told to slow up after horror night
Ellen Lutton
May 29, 2011

EIGHT people, including two members of a rock band returning in triumph from a music competition, have been killed on Queensland roads in 11 hours.

In the worst night on the state's roads in memory, the deaths occurred the day after Queensland Police held Fatality Free Friday, an awareness campaign aimed at reducing the road toll.

Among the dead were members of the Brisbane band Flannelette, an up-and-coming rock group who had been playing in the Loud Fest competition at the Beenleigh Tavern on Friday night. The four-member all-male group had won their semi-final and were scheduled to compete in the final at Burleigh on June 12.

It is understood they were on their way home from Beenleigh when their Bedford van lost power on the Pacific Motorway. After pulling over to use an emergency telephone, their van and a semi-trailer collided about 2.44am.

Two of the passengers, aged 24 and 30 and both from Camp Hill, died at the scene and a female passenger, 33, died later in hospital. The driver, also from Camp Hill, was treated for minor injuries.

The Deputy Police Commissioner, Ross Barnett, was almost lost for words as he tried to describe the carnage which occurred between midnight and 11am yesterday. "We can't remember a day in the past that we've had such a horrific day. Even in an Easter campaign we've never lost more than six people - and that runs for five days," he said.

"Eight families will never be the same. They will never get over this. Yesterday we had 1500 pairs of shoes laid out to signify how many people die on Australian roads every year for Fatality Free Friday. I can't believe later that night we have eight people killed on the road."

In a bizarre tragedy a 79-year-old pedestrian was killed while walking home from a shop at 6.20am.

Police said a utility slammed into a power pole on Anzac Avenue at Kallangur, causing the pole to fall. The elderly man was struck by the pole. He was transported to the Royal Brisbane Hospital but died a short time later.

Mr Barnett said it was "incredibly frustrating" for police to have to keep repeating the same message.

"Slow down tonight, tomorrow and always. When you switch the engine on, switch your brain on," he said. "You're at risk and the people who are on the road with you are at risk. They don't deserve to die because of your stupidity."

The road horror had begun six hours earlier in the Gladstone district about midnight, when a 34-year-old woman failed to negotiate a bend on Gorge Road, Rosedale. The car rolled several times, killing the woman and injuring her passenger.

Only 25 minutes later on Chambers Flat Road, Logan Reserve, south of Brisbane, two young men lost their lives.

Police said the high-performance vehicle hit a driveway and flipped several times, instantly killing the 26-year-old driver and his 34-year-old passenger. The passenger was not wearing a seatbelt and was thrown from the car.

And at 10.47am yesterday in north Queensland, a 29-year-old woman died and three others were injured when their four-wheel-drive ran into a culvert and rolled several times outside Chillagoe. The woman died at the scene. The driver, a 31-year-old man, and a 25-year-old male passenger, were both seriously injured and flown to Cairns Base Hospital.

A fourth person in the vehicle, a 25-year-old woman, was transported to Mareeba Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. All four were believed to be residents from the Cairns area. The deaths lifted Queensland's annual road toll to 102, which Mr Barnett described as "absolutely horrific".

"While all of these accidents are different, the thing that is common to them all is driver error. There is also no doubt that speed was a factor in some of them," he said.

Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/drivers-told-to-slow-up-after-horror-night-20110528-1fa0h.html#ixzz1NffXaQ3c

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

29th May 2011

Road safety 101

Greetings,

From  http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/drivers-told-to-slow-up-after-horror-night-20110528-1fa0h.html

" In the worst night on the state's roads in memory, the deaths occurred the day after Queensland Police held Fatality Free Friday, an awareness campaign aimed at reducing the road toll  "

Enough of the 'p%ssing into the wind'.  The road safety campaigns are a sham.   You know when I venture out onto the Ipswich Highway in my horseless carriage I do so with much apprehension.  The speed limit on sections I travel on are variously 80 km/h, sometimes 90 km/h, other times 40 km/h (construction).  I travel at safe speeds generally on or less than the speed limits.  My vehicle and myself are nearly crushed by speeding trucks and other abominations such as 4wds and motor sedans.

Very few actually bother to follow the speed limits.

Lets get real.  If these idiots speed take their licences away, please.  If they hit level crossings put them off the road.  If they drive around boom gates suspend them for life.

Why is it Governments and media are reluctant to come down on the road lobby?  It is costing the nation massively in direct and indirect costs and massive flow-on social disruption.

Road transport is unsafe. With the disaster that is road transport why hasn't it been closed down?  (Rhetorical question, any other transport mode with such a history of devastation and grief certainly would have been.)

Time to move to safe sustainable transport systems.

Last year I wrote a short opinion piece "Road trauma is breaking the nation" --> http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?action=articles;sa=view;article=3

Copy below.

We have had enough.  It is time gutless Governments acted, and media actually got the story right.

Best wishes
Robert

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org

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

http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?action=articles;sa=view;article=3

Road trauma is breaking the nation

There are few Australians that have not felt the grief, the loss, the hopelessness, of the ongoing tragedy of the consequences of road trauma. Every day the media chronicles the sad litany.  A recent study commissioned by the Australasian Railway Association on the cost of road crashes has revealed the cost in blunt economic terms (1).  Previous estimates have been conservative underestimates; this latest rigorous systematic study has revealed the costs of road fatalities and trauma to be in the order of at least thirty five billion dollars annually.  This figure is going to increase rapidly as the road injury management costs continue to climb.  There is a much wider social cost to be added but for now let us just consider the economic impact of the road trauma.

This road trauma cost is a drain on our economy.  It is not sustainable.  It is now clear that as a nation we must move to safe sustainable transport systems for people and bulk freight.  Investment in safe public transport through infrastructure and operating subsidies actually saves money.  This is a lesson transport planners and governments everywhere must heed.  The massive expenditure on roads is leading to unmanageable cost impacts.  Investment in safe transport systems is actually saving money.  Next time you are held up at a railway crossing as a packed peak hour commuter train passes, give out three cheers.  Those passengers are saving you and Australia ultimately a lot of pain.

Rail is approximately 40 times safer than travel by car.  Travel by bus is about 10 times safer than travel by car.  It is clear that we need to start maximizing use of our rail networks, and support those networks with bus transport to feed rail stations where possible.  A major project such as the Cross River Rail Tunnel for Brisbane is actually going to return huge savings.  The tunnel is equivalent to a 30 lane road highway in terms of passenger capacity.  Why haven't we started the actual digging?

The rail network in south east Queensland is underutilised.  It is time to increase train frequency on all the major lines.  Ideally no less frequent than 15 minutes in off peak periods during the day, peak times more frequent as loadings demand.  Weekends, holidays and after 9pm at night no less frequent than 20 minutes.  Properly support the increased rail frequency with a coordinated feeder bus network.  Make travel by public transport attractive.  The present rail timetable in South East Queensland has one of the worst train frequencies in Australia and for comparable size cities worldwide.  A high frequency rail service makes bus rail connections much more functional and encourages people to get out of their cars and onto safe transport.

The social isolation of cars is something we seldom consider.  In the 1950s, family trips to visit relatives in the country or city were usually by rail, an adventure and sharing an experience with others.  There was a feeling of community and belonging and the opportunity to meet new folk.  Many encounters on public transport have endured as long lasting friendships.   The social isolation of cars is not conducive for a healthy community.  The increasing demand for anti-depressant medications for example is a sign of an increasingly unhappy nation.  Little wonder when one considers the terrifying impact of the road toll.  Regular travel by public transport is a community experience.  There is social contact and a feeling of belonging.  Most journeys by public transport involve an element of active transport, walking or perhaps a bicycle ride to and from the bus or rail stations at departure and end points of the public transport ride.  This active transport leads to healthy outcomes.  There is a reduction in obesity and diabetes, both conditions that are costly for our communities and health care.

We need roads, but we must start to correct the imbalance in funding that is road centric.  There are signs that those in government are starting to hear this message.  Recent commitments for the long overdue Petrie to Kippa-Ring railway in Queensland and the railway from Parramatta to Epping in New South Wales are very welcome. But much more needs to be done.  In south-east Queensland here are some immediate rail priorities:  extend the Gold Coast railway to Coolangatta, duplicate the Sunshine Coast line from Beerburrum to Landsborough and eventually to Nambour, full duplication of the Cleveland line beyond Manly, Coomera to Helensvale duplication, Lawnton to Petrie triplication, Kuraby to Kingston triplication, Darra to Redbank triplication, and electrification from Rosewood to Gatton.  These improvements are needed to provide the backbone of a safe sustainable public transport network for a sustainable future.

To augment the heavy rail network, bus rapid transit and light rail has its role. The Gold Coast light rail is going to herald a change in our thinking.  Modern light rail is a superb people mover.  The loss of the tram system in Brisbane in 1969 can only be described as a disaster.  If the tram system had been kept operational it would have evolved as has the tram network in Melbourne which is now the greatest tram system in the world.  However, in the years to come there will be opportunities to return modern light rail to Brisbane, and it is the Gold Coast light rail that will alert citizens to what is possible.  Continued support for active transport options is also very cost effective.  Expansions of the bicycle path network are sensible, but also improve the amenity for pedestrians, the walkers.

The most important factor in driving public transport uptake is frequency.  The train frequency can be increased very quickly.  The other projects will take a little longer.  Now is the time to start to shake off the economic straight jacket of road trauma.  We must, the costs of road trauma are breaking our nation.

Reference:

1.  Australasian Railway Association Inc  The cost of road crashes: A review of key issues Dr Richard Tooth  http://www.ara.net.au/UserFiles/file/Publications/TheCostofRoadCrashesReport.pdf


Mr Robert Dow is the administrator and founder of RAIL Back On Track http://backontrack.org  a web based community group that advocates for sustainable transport solutions.

Robert is by profession a Medical Scientist, and is a Life member and Fellow of the Australian Institute of Medical Scientists.

[Dean Quick]

Eight fatalities in less than 24 hours. This is the brutal reality of a nation OVERLY RELIANT on roads and road freight transport. How many more fatalities before the AUTHORITIES wake up?
TIME TO PUT FREIGHT BACK ON THE RAILS WHERE IT SHOULD BE!   

[curator49]

And road transport continues to take the ascendency.

It has just been announced that an extra 40 B-Doubles per day will be used to transport raw sugar from the Lucinda Point sugar terminal. near Ingham, to the Townsville sugar terminal. Lucinda Point jetty (which is 5 km long) was damaged during Cyclone Yasi and may not be repaired. Victoria and Macknade mills will still have to transport their raw sugar to the Lucinda Point terminal on their own rail line as neither mill has the capacity to store the quantity of sugar produced or (as yet) have the ability to handle large road trucks at their respective mills.

I am not sure if this news means 40 extra trucks each way (I think it may do - due to the tonnage of sugar produced on the Herbert River) or 20 trucks each way. Whatever, this outcome the Bruce Highway between Townsville and Ingham is one of the more serious blackspots for serious accidents on the Bruce Highway.

Oh! The Queensland Government will most likely fund a major upgrade of this section of highway at no cost to the mills or trucking company and, we, the taxpayer, will pay for it as well as the ongoing essential maintenance that will be required.

[colinw]

Let's face it.  If you tried to bring a new product to market that was as unsafe for its users as road travel, you would never get past the prototype stage before being buried in regulation and litigation.  It simply would not be permitted.

We have become immune to the trauma and carnage as a result of a kind of collective "grandfather clause".  We tolerate it, because it has always been this way.

I am not speaking from an impartial viewpoint. I was a passenger in our family's EH Holden when it was wiped out by a drunk driver on the New England Highway just north of Armidale. The occupants of the other car all died.  We survived, but all of us were injured. My mother's last 40 years of life were marred by chronic pain as a result of the injuries, she never again had a pain free day. My dad, my sisters and I still carry the scars, physical & psychological. For me, waking up in Armidale hospital is the cutoff point of my childhood memories, I remember nothing earlier ...

[somebody]

And road transport continues to take the ascendency.

It has just been announced that an extra 40 B-Doubles per day will be used to transport raw sugar from the Lucinda Point sugar terminal. near Ingham, to the Townsville sugar terminal. Lucinda Point jetty (which is 5 km long) was damaged during Cyclone Yasi and may not be repaired. Victoria and Macknade mills will still have to transport their raw sugar to the Lucinda Point terminal on their own rail line as neither mill has the capacity to store the quantity of sugar produced or (as yet) have the ability to handle large road trucks at their respective mills.

I am not sure if this news means 40 extra trucks each way (I think it may do - due to the tonnage of sugar produced on the Herbert River) or 20 trucks each way. Whatever, this outcome the Bruce Highway between Townsville and Ingham is one of the more serious blackspots for serious accidents on the Bruce Highway.

Oh! The Queensland Government will most likely fund a major upgrade of this section of highway at no cost to the mills or trucking company and, we, the taxpayer, will pay for it as well as the ongoing essential maintenance that will be required.

Are those cane trains which then feed into trucks?  I presume there is some reason why the trains couldn't run all the way.

[colinw]

The cane trains are 2 foot gauge on the mill's own network, so to rail the cane to Townsville would still involve double handling.  Plus I doubt QRN or PNQ has suitable rollingstock & facilities to handle the traffic.

Hang on, what is being transported to Townsville here?  Raw sugar, or cane?

The normal scenario is that the 2 foot gauge network is used to haul the cane harvest to the mills, then sugar is transported to the ports by truck.  I don't believe the 2 foot gauge networks are set up to carry anything other than cane.

QR have in the past been involved with sugar traffic, both in the form of bulk molasses, and some cane haulage around Mackay.  I'm not sure, but I think most of this traffic has now ended.

[HappyTrainGuy]

QRN 2351-2489H have been moving some molasses and grain wagons around on the Rosewood line a few weeks ago although the bulk molasses wagons looked pretty rusty on the tops.

[colinw]

There used to be bulk molasses traffic to a stock feed plant at Kingsthorpe just west of Toowoomba.  Not sure if that traffic has been lost to road or not.

[HappyTrainGuy]

Yeah, I'm the same here. It could have been. It was about 15 wagons and about 3 of them were grain wagons throughout the length of the train.

[colinw]

The Toowoomba Chronicle -> Coal trucks watched through CCTV

...

Transport Minister Annastacia Palaszczuk said the complaints had prompted action from Transport and Main Roads.

"Departmental officers will step-up planned and snap inspections on trucks using the Warrego Highway to get coal to Swanbank," Ms Palaszczuk said.

...

We're transporting coal by road to Swanbank?  What gives?

[HappyTrainGuy]

Don't quote me on this but I think it has to do with damage caused to the rail/loading facilites and contracts then entered into by the mines before/during repairs with force majeure IIRC.

[colinw]

Ah, that makes sense.  The last time I went along the Cunningham Hwy I noticed that the rails on the Swanbank branch didn't look very shiny.

[curator49]

The cane railway to Lucinda Point is 2 ft gauge. All the raw sugar output from Macknade and Victoria Mills is transported to the Lucinda Point Bulk Sugar Terminal by train in sugar boxes each having a capacity of 7 tonnes of raw sugar. From Lucinda Point it is exported overseas by loading into large bulk carriers. The Lucinda Point jetty was rebuilt many years ago and is 5.6 km long so that the biggest ships can load at the jetty. The jetty was supposedly "cyclone proof" but not when Cyclone Yasi hit. I am not sure what the problem is but the jetty apparently may not be repaired. 

This means that the Port of Lucinda may close down and all the raw sugar produced at Victoria and Macknade will travel by road to the Townsville Bulk Sugar Terminal. Victoria and Macknade are big sugar mills.

Victoria Mill processes about 3.7 million tonnes of sugar cane and Macknade about 1.8 million tonnes. It takes about 7 tonnes of sugar cane to make 1 tonne of sugar. That is an awful lot of raw sugar (NOT sugar cane) to send by road. The proposal, at present, is 40 X B Double trucks per day and that will be for most of the year not just the sugar season. The Townsville Bulk Sugar Terminal formerly only dealt with the raw sugar from the Burdekin which travels by rail.

[somebody]

The cane railway to Lucinda Point is 2 ft gauge. All the raw sugar output from Macknade and Victoria Mills is transported to the Lucinda Point Bulk Sugar Terminal by train in sugar boxes each having a capacity of 7 tonnes of raw sugar. From Lucinda Point it is exported overseas by loading into large bulk carriers. The Lucinda Point jetty was rebuilt many years ago and is 5.6 km long so that the biggest ships can load at the jetty. The jetty was supposedly "cyclone proof" but not when Cyclone Yasi hit. I am not sure what the problem is but the jetty apparently may not be repaired. 

This means that the Port of Lucinda may close down and all the raw sugar produced at Victoria and Macknade will travel by road to the Townsville Bulk Sugar Terminal. Victoria and Macknade are big sugar mills.

Victoria Mill processes about 3.7 million tonnes of sugar cane and Macknade about 1.8 million tonnes. It takes about 7 tonnes of sugar cane to make 1 tonne of sugar. That is an awful lot of raw sugar (NOT sugar cane) to send by road. The proposal, at present, is 40 X B Double trucks per day and that will be for most of the year not just the sugar season. The Townsville Bulk Sugar Terminal formerly only dealt with the raw sugar from the Burdekin which travels by rail.

Surely 0.8mtpa justifies rail haulage?  Am I missing something?

[mufreight]

And road transport continues to take the ascendency.

It has just been announced that an extra 40 B-Doubles per day will be used to transport raw sugar from the Lucinda Point sugar terminal. near Ingham, to the Townsville sugar terminal. Lucinda Point jetty (which is 5 km long) was damaged during Cyclone Yasi and may not be repaired. Victoria and Macknade mills will still have to transport their raw sugar to the Lucinda Point terminal on their own rail line as neither mill has the capacity to store the quantity of sugar produced or (as yet) have the ability to handle large road trucks at their respective mills.

I am not sure if this news means 40 extra trucks each way (I think it may do - due to the tonnage of sugar produced on the Herbert River) or 20 trucks each way. Whatever, this outcome the Bruce Highway between Townsville and Ingham is one of the more serious blackspots for serious accidents on the Bruce Highway.

Oh! The Queensland Government will most likely fund a major upgrade of this section of highway at no cost to the mills or trucking company and, we, the taxpayer, will pay for it as well as the ongoing essential maintenance that will be required.

Are those cane trains which then feed into trucks?  I presume there is some reason why the trains couldn't run all the way.

Track gauge

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

31 May 2011

Greetings,

Stunned silence.   Time for action, and I don't mean more meaningless 'spin' campaigns.  Get the IDIOTS off the roads, please!

Your own life is at stake, let alone the community ...

Enjoy the congestion chaos.

Best wishes
Robert

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org

On 29/05/2011 4:11 AM, RAIL Back On Track Admin wrote:
Greetings,

From  http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/drivers-told-to-slow-up-after-horror-night-20110528-1fa0h.html

" In the worst night on the state's roads in memory, the deaths occurred the day after Queensland Police held Fatality Free Friday, an awareness campaign aimed at reducing the road toll  "

Enough of the 'p%ssing into the wind'.  The road safety campaigns are a sham.   You know when I venture out onto the Ipswich Highway in my horseless carriage I do so with much apprehension.  The speed limit on sections I travel on are variously 80 km/h, sometimes 90 km/h, other times 40 km/h (construction).  I travel at safe speeds generally on or less than the speed limits.  My vehicle and myself are nearly crushed by speeding trucks and other abominations such as 4wds and motor sedans.

Very few actually bother to follow the speed limits.

Lets get real.  If these idiots speed take their licences away, please.  If they hit level crossings put them off the road.  If they drive around boom gates suspend them for life.

Why is it Governments and media are reluctant to come down on the road lobby?  It is costing the nation massively in direct and indirect costs and massive flow-on social disruption.
Road transport is unsafe. With the disaster that is road transport why hasn't it been closed down?  (Rhetorical question, any other transport mode with such a history of devastation and grief certainly would have been.)

Time to move to safe sustainable transport systems.

Last year I wrote a short opinion piece "Road trauma is breaking the nation" --http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?action=articles;sa=view;article=3

Copy below.

We have had enough.  It is time gutless Governments acted, and media actually got the story right.

Best wishes
Robert

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org

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

http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?action=articles;sa=view;article=3

Road trauma is breaking the nation

There are few Australians that have not felt the grief, the loss, the hopelessness, of the ongoing tragedy of the consequences of road trauma. Every day the media chronicles the sad litany.  A recent study commissioned by the Australasian Railway Association on the cost of road crashes has revealed the cost in blunt economic terms (1).  Previous estimates have been conservative underestimates; this latest rigorous systematic study has revealed the costs of road fatalities and trauma to be in the order of at least thirty five billion dollars annually.  This figure is going to increase rapidly as the road injury management costs continue to climb.  There is a much wider social cost to be added but for now let us just consider the economic impact of the road trauma.

This road trauma cost is a drain on our economy.  It is not sustainable.  It is now clear that as a nation we must move to safe sustainable transport systems for people and bulk freight.  Investment in safe public transport through infrastructure and operating subsidies actually saves money.  This is a lesson transport planners and governments everywhere must heed.  The massive expenditure on roads is leading to unmanageable cost impacts.  Investment in safe transport systems is actually saving money.  Next time you are held up at a railway crossing as a packed peak hour commuter train passes, give out three cheers.  Those passengers are saving you and Australia ultimately a lot of pain.

Rail is approximately 40 times safer than travel by car.  Travel by bus is about 10 times safer than travel by car.  It is clear that we need to start maximizing use of our rail networks, and support those networks with bus transport to feed rail stations where possible.  A major project such as the Cross River Rail Tunnel for Brisbane is actually going to return huge savings.  The tunnel is equivalent to a 30 lane road highway in terms of passenger capacity.  Why haven't we started the actual digging?

The rail network in south east Queensland is underutilised.  It is time to increase train frequency on all the major lines.  Ideally no less frequent than 15 minutes in off peak periods during the day, peak times more frequent as loadings demand.  Weekends, holidays and after 9pm at night no less frequent than 20 minutes.  Properly support the increased rail frequency with a coordinated feeder bus network.  Make travel by public transport attractive.  The present rail timetable in South East Queensland has one of the worst train frequencies in Australia and for comparable size cities worldwide.  A high frequency rail service makes bus rail connections much more functional and encourages people to get out of their cars and onto safe transport.

The social isolation of cars is something we seldom consider.  In the 1950s, family trips to visit relatives in the country or city were usually by rail, an adventure and sharing an experience with others.  There was a feeling of community and belonging and the opportunity to meet new folk.  Many encounters on public transport have endured as long lasting friendships.   The social isolation of cars is not conducive for a healthy community.  The increasing demand for anti-depressant medications for example is a sign of an increasingly unhappy nation.  Little wonder when one considers the terrifying impact of the road toll.  Regular travel by public transport is a community experience.  There is social contact and a feeling of belonging.  Most journeys by public transport involve an element of active transport, walking or perhaps a bicycle ride to and from the bus or rail stations at departure and end points of the public transport ride.  This active transport leads to healthy outcomes.  There is a reduction in obesity and diabetes, both conditions that are costly for our communities and health care.

We need roads, but we must start to correct the imbalance in funding that is road centric.  There are signs that those in government are starting to hear this message.  Recent commitments for the long overdue Petrie to Kippa-Ring railway in Queensland and the railway from Parramatta to Epping in New South Wales are very welcome. But much more needs to be done.  In south-east Queensland here are some immediate rail priorities:  extend the Gold Coast railway to Coolangatta, duplicate the Sunshine Coast line from Beerburrum to Landsborough and eventually to Nambour, full duplication of the Cleveland line beyond Manly, Coomera to Helensvale duplication, Lawnton to Petrie triplication, Kuraby to Kingston triplication, Darra to Redbank triplication, and electrification from Rosewood to Gatton.  These improvements are needed to provide the backbone of a safe sustainable public transport network for a sustainable future.

To augment the heavy rail network, bus rapid transit and light rail has its role. The Gold Coast light rail is going to herald a change in our thinking.  Modern light rail is a superb people mover.  The loss of the tram system in Brisbane in 1969 can only be described as a disaster.  If the tram system had been kept operational it would have evolved as has the tram network in Melbourne which is now the greatest tram system in the world.  However, in the years to come there will be opportunities to return modern light rail to Brisbane, and it is the Gold Coast light rail that will alert citizens to what is possible.  Continued support for active transport options is also very cost effective.  Expansions of the bicycle path network are sensible, but also improve the amenity for pedestrians, the walkers.

The most important factor in driving public transport uptake is frequency.  The train frequency can be increased very quickly.  The other projects will take a little longer.  Now is the time to start to shake off the economic straight jacket of road trauma.  We must, the costs of road trauma are breaking our nation.

Reference:

1.  Australasian Railway Association Inc  The cost of road crashes: A review of key issues Dr Richard Tooth  http://www.ara.net.au/UserFiles/file/Publications/TheCostofRoadCrashesReport.pdf


Mr Robert Dow is the administrator and founder of RAIL Back On Track http://backontrack.org  a web based community group that advocates for sustainable transport solutions.

Robert is by profession a Medical Scientist, and is a Life member and Fellow of the Australian Institute of Medical Scientists.

[curator49]

There had been a proposal a few years ago to put in a 3 ft 6 ins gauge balloon loop off the North Coast Line to Victoria Mill for the purpose of loading raw sugar for Townsville but for some reason this has not proceeded.

[mufreight]

There had been a proposal a few years ago to put in a 3 ft 6 ins gauge balloon loop off the North Coast Line to Victoria Mill for the purpose of loading raw sugar for Townsville but for some reason this has not proceeded.

Short answer COST, neither the mill nor QR wanted to pay for it at the time no matter how desirable it might now prove to be, so now more trucks on a road that will now require a higher level of maintenence to keep it in a usable condition and upgrading in some sections simply justified by the demands of safety for road users, the question is who will pay, definately not the transport company or the mill.