My Adelaide Light Rail Vision

[monotonehell]

Why run a service all around the edges of the city when you'd cover more occupied area by running a service a block or two in from the Parklands? That way it's a shorter walk for all instead of a long walk for those further from the edge. (And who visits the Southern Parklands that much anyway )

When I had a similar idea a few years ago I chose to cut across via Hutt and Halifax Streets as they're quite wide and have residential on both sides of it.

[Aidan]

CITY LOOP TRAMLINE

- The City Loop Tramline route will use the existing track along North Terrace between the West End and King William Street/King William Road intersection, then head east to the Royal Adelaide Hospital, south along East Terrace & Hutt Street,

That would conflict with our street circuit. I'd expect tram rails to be quite hazardous to racing cars!

And what do you propose doing at the junction of South Terrace and Glen Osmond Road?

- The City Loop tram will use the existing tram stops on North Terrace between West Terrace and the King William Street intersection then the new tram stops will be located close to these intersections - Gawler Place, Frome Street, Grenfell Street, Wakefield Street, Halifax Street, Hutt Road/South Terrace, Pulteney Street, King William Road/Peacock Road, Morphett Street, Sturt Street, Grote Street and Currie Street.

- The City Loop tram service will run at a maximum frequency of around 7 and half minutes during the day and 15 minutes at night. Most of all the service will be free.

But what will the advantage be over using buses? It's going to cost a lot to construct, but if the service is free then none of that money is going to be recouped, and being entirely within the City means it's not going to produce a modal shift away from cars.

Sorry, I just don't see the point.

[Straze]

Aidan wrote:

That would conflict with our street circuit. I'd expect tram rails to be quite hazardous to racing cars!

And what do you propose doing at the junction of South Terrace and Glen Osmond Road?

The Clipsal 500 race only runs for 4 days of the year hardly a big issue. The trams can still run along North Terrace, West Terrace and South Terrace when Hutt Street is closed due to the race. South Terrace i found was the best way to go from east to west and serve the southern part because Wakefield Street & Grote Street is wide but still leaves out the southern part of the city and all the other streets south of that are not wide enough to fit a tramline down. The Adelaide City Council does run a free service in the southern part but the frequency and capacity isn't good enough to transport people around the CBD.

Aidan wrote:

But what will the advantage be over using buses? It's going to cost a lot to construct, but if the service is free then none of that money is going to be recouped, and being entirely within the City means it's not going to produce a modal shift away from cars.

Sorry, I just don't see the point.

The advantage of using trams rather than buses is they can provide more capacity, allow for smooth traffic flow as the tram is not going to weave in and out of lanes. Any new public transport infrastructure is going to cost money to build but once the City Loop is complete it will help in generating more tourist dollars for our city and encourage more development close by to the route. Although it is a City Loop there are options to connect the line up with the existing Entertainment Centre and Glenelg Lines, this could encourage more people to catch the tram from areas where the current tramline doesnt serve rather than driving the car.

[Aidan]

Aidan wrote:

That would conflict with our street circuit. I'd expect tram rails to be quite hazardous to racing cars!

And what do you propose doing at the junction of South Terrace and Glen Osmond Road?

The Clipsal 500 race only runs for 4 days of the year hardly a big issue. The trams can still run along North Terrace, West Terrace and South Terrace when Hutt Street is closed due to the race.

Never mind the Clipsal's effect on the tramway, what about the tramway's effect on the Clipsal? I don't think it's good for a racetrack to have rails along it.

South Terrace i found was the best way to go from east to west and serve the southern part because Wakefield Street & Grote Street is wide but still leaves out the southern part of the city and all the other streets south of that are not wide enough to fit a tramline down. The Adelaide City Council does run a free service in the southern part but the frequency and capacity isn't good enough to transport people around the CBD.

Have you considered cannonhilling? Trams could run eastbound along Wright and Carrington Streets, and westbound along Halifax and Sturt Streets.

But the option I prefer is Angas Street, which is wide enough for two way trams. This would enable trams to use Frome Street, avoiding any conflicts with racing cars. Gouger Street isn't wide enough, but using Grote Street instead means there's scope for easy interchange with the existing tramway in Victoria Square.

Aidan wrote:

But what will the advantage be over using buses? It's going to cost a lot to construct, but if the service is free then none of that money is going to be recouped, and being entirely within the City means it's not going to produce a modal shift away from cars.

Sorry, I just don't see the point.

The advantage of using trams rather than buses is they can provide more capacity, allow for smooth traffic flow as the tram is not going to weave in and out of lanes. Any new public transport infrastructure is going to cost money to build but once the City Loop is complete it will help in generating more tourist dollars for our city and encourage more development close by to the route. Although it is a City Loop there are options to connect the line up with the existing Entertainment Centre and Glenelg Lines, this could encourage more people to catch the tram from areas where the current tramline doesnt serve rather than driving the car.

But there isn't the demand for more capacity than buses can provide on a City Loop. And turning traffic lanes into tram lanes is far far more disruptive to traffic flow than buses are. Tramways to the suburbs make a lot more sense.

[Straze]

Here is the link to the map that i created on Google Maps. Note that i have changed the route slightly so that it doesn't conflict with the Clipsal 500 race - the route will now travel North Terrace, East Terrace, Grenfell Street, Pulteney Street, South Terrace, Morphett Street, Currie Street & West Terrace. By the way i am not asking this to be now but i think it should be looked at in the next 5 to 10 years. http://maps.google.com.au/maps/ms?ie=UT ... d&t=h&z=15

[monotonehell]

Repeating my previous point, you'd be better off on the wide Halifax and Sturt streets. In that way you serve more of the housing in that part of Adelaide, instead of running along on the half dead edge of the parklands.

I'm not sure about using Grenfell and Currie Streets either... hrmz

[Aidan]

Here is the link to the map that i created on Google Maps. Note that i have changed the route slightly so that it doesn't conflict with the Clipsal 500 race - the route will now travel North Terrace, East Terrace, Grenfell Street, Pulteney Street, South Terrace, Morphett Street, Currie Street & West Terrace. By the way i am not asking this to be now but i think it should be looked at in the next 5 to 10 years. http://maps.google.com.au/maps/ms?ie=UT ... d&t=h&z=15

So passengers going from North Terrace to South Terrace would have to detour either to West Terrace or East Terrace just for one extra stop? It's annoying enough on the existing City Loop buses, but they at least have several stops on the detour!

I've been pro tram since long before it was fashionable, but if if I had a choice between a tram on your route and a bus going directly down Morphett Street / Pultney Street, I'd definitely take the bus!

And while your route avoids the Clipsal circuit, we should try to get the Grand Prix back, and that follows East Terrace all the way to Rundle.