Sydney light rail...surely the biggest joke of the decade.

www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/sydney-light-rail-opening-delayed-another-two-months-to-may-2020-20181004-p507nx.html
www.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-18/nsw-government-was-denied-light-rail-money-by-funding-body/10263830

For $2b you can buy a lot of buses, and if you want to be emission free in the city, simply make them electric trolley buses and all you need to do is put the wires in the air. Why go to all the trouble of putting tracks down and making something inflexible when it can be done so much cheaper and quicker?

www.sfmta.com/getting-around/muni/munis-electric-trolley-buses

I like how Sydney had light rail, spent $$$ scrapping it to then invest in monorail,.. very Simpsons!!! Only now to spend more $$ to have what they had in the 60's. Bahahaha, so NSW!!

No jokes in Adelaide.


The O-bahn allows buses to go 80kph mostly unimpeded by commuters who must use motor cars.

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Gazuki said..
I like how Sydney had light rail, spent $$$ scrapping it to then invest in monorail,.. very Simpsons!!! Only now to spend more $$ to have what they had in the 60's. Bahahaha, so NSW!!

No that's very Australia

Selling off the family silver, no statesmanship and short term feel-good projects to get re-elected.
The worst is an inability to look at what has worked elsewhere and we know better than conventional wisdom leading to lots of failures with utilities and public transport projects.

eg: Perth got trains that can't stop when we get a cold night. FFS, Europe manages.....

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Ian K said..
No jokes in Adelaide.

The O-bahn allows buses to go 80kph mostly unimpeded by commuters who must use motor cars.

This looks more expensive to build than a road....and there are still drivers. What's the idea, why not just have a dedicated bus road if that is what you want??

Might be comparable in cost? The track sections are prefabricated, doesn't need to be as wide. Adelaide seems to be the only place that has one?

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O-Bahn_Busway

It really is such a massive load of crap.

The one at Surfers, which is the only complete one I have seen, serves only as a statement as to how advanced we are and is practical as an impediment to traffic only.

What the F^ck is wrong with buses? They're cheap. They serve the same purpose. They can be got rid of in a flash or multiplied in a flash. And they are not limited to running on F^cking rails!

Why is it that public figures are so intent in using the tax payers money to create monuments to their stupidity and their egos?

Agreed electric buses are the go.

As for politicians...

Here's a monument to ego...

What tosser has that trophy?

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Mark _australia said..

Gazuki said..
I like how Sydney had light rail, spent $$$ scrapping it to then invest in monorail,.. very Simpsons!!! Only now to spend more $$ to have what they had in the 60's. Bahahaha, so NSW!!

No that's very Australia

Selling off the family silver, no statesmanship and short term feel-good projects to get re-elected.
The worst is an inability to look at what has worked elsewhere and we know better than conventional wisdom leading to lots of failures with utilities and public transport projects.

eg: Perth got trains that can't stop when we get a cold night. FFS, Europe manages.....

Melbourne has trains that don't go when it's hot.......

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Harrow said..

Ian K said..
No jokes in Adelaide.

The O-bahn allows buses to go 80kph mostly unimpeded by commuters who must use motor cars.

This looks more expensive to build than a road....and there are still drivers. What's the idea, why not just have a dedicated bus road if that is what you want??

First section went in in the eighties from NE running in (Salisbury- i think) poor road infra-structure grid-lock rush-hour - this was gold for the commute. From memory went down "green corridor!!" . very popular.. probably still is. The driver is hands-off - it has feeler wheels for steering. thats probably why the car stuffed it. So journey starts on road does pick-up circuit then hot-foots it down bus-track no stops till other end then joins bus Rd network again at other end.
I used to use the Glenelg tram which is to SW side, but after living in Melbourne the trams coming in to inner suburbs like Richmond were always an awkward mix with rush hour traffic - in the middle of the road - stopping level with the tramstop and having to cross one lane of traffic which should always stop.. they were making mini-stepoff islands in places... I liked using them though.
The network of wires around junctions for trams - numbing maintenance - quiet often the pick-up jumped the cable and bang - all-stop whilst driver / conductor lined the bits up again..- v.Victorian (era not state!!) The current trend is to have batteries and get rid of the wires around complex zones - built in charging network over the rest of it.
Car free cities mean higher density living - not obvious in OZ, but CBD zones should be a goer... Certainly Melbourne has a few, and Brisbane is getting semi-serious - but only likely to drop the speed limit to 40 KPH for time being.
Although slow compared to bus even in rush hour I really enjoy the City-Cats - but there is no moving the river!!
Cheers
AP