fishinajar wrote:A few mentions of busses down the Parade in addition to trams. I would think that if they do put the tramline along The Parade to the Proposed UniSA Magill terminus, bus services would be adjusted accordingly. A couple would probably be removed altogether with the remainder going down Magill or Kensington Roads.
Ie: No buses along The Parade as well as buses.
Maybe some of these lines could cross over from either the the Magill or Kensington Roads corridors to the other along Osmond Terrace. This would provided a service transfer point/people could walk to most spots along the Fullarton to Portrush section from there?
Also,
rubberman wrote:nutty center island stops.
Rubberman...why the hate on centre stops?
Simply because if you have centre island stops you can't run buses on the tram lane. The buses don't have doors that side.
Why is that a problem? Well, if you look at standard European practice, buses often run in the tram reservations in narrow streets. That means that long suffering motorists don't have to deal with losing a lane to trams PLUS having to deal with buses as well. It also means much more efficient use of the tram corridor. For example if we look at the tram extension to the entertainment centre, motorists lost a lane down North Terrace up to the Adam St intersection. However, they still get held up by buses stopping at bus stops, changing lanes etc. The buses in turn are slowed by the loss of a lane to the trams. That tram lane, even at peak hours is underutilised.
Had those centre island stops been bog standard tram stops, that lane could be utilised by buses. That would not have interfered with the trams, would have hugely sped up the speed of the buses in Nth Tce and down to the Entertainment Centre, and also freed up that stretch for motorists.
Furthermore, imagine if the next generation of trams is even a few meters longer. How do you extend a centre island stop without digging up the track curves? On every.single.stop. It's not just a matter of digging up the track either. The whole subgrade under tram track has to be dug up and reinforced. Whereas a bog standard tram stop, just lengthen the stop if future new trams are longer. No trackwork required, no special subgrade preparation required, no interruption to service required.
It's worse than nutty, it's a gross waste of public money that will cost millions to fix if ever longer trams are required, and precludes efficient use of an extremely expensive corridor to the detriment of bus and car users along that stretch of road. There's a reason why tram stops have been the way they are for over 100 years.
Use of standard tram stops and allowing buses to use the corridor in the Parade, could see buses being taken FROM Magill Rd etc and making it easier for motorists as well as tram travellers. But who cares about taxpayers anyway? It's not as if it matters if they are gouged unnecessarily plus being inconvenienced as well. Those islands look nice. That's what's important.
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