East-West Tram Link

[victorious80]

post 2 of 2 with the remaining document parts.

[peas_and_corn]

Part one confuses east with west in the route description. If you start in Norwood and go to the city, you're heading west.

[Ho Really]

I have several choices. Starting at Portrush Road at Norwood we go down The Parade (which means goodbye Ironbarks), Flinders Street (Kent Town), Bartels Road, Pirie Street, Waymouth Street, right into Light Square and then left into Currie Street and onto Glover Avenue, straight down Henley Beach Road and then onto HMAS Australia Road (Henley Beach South) and then Military Road up to Henley Beach or even Grange (to hook up with the rail line to Woodville).

There are other variations where instead of Flinders Street, Kent Town, it is The Parade West and Rundle Street (Kent Town) then Rundle Road. Or even Rundle Street, Kent Town and then through Rymill Park (on the embankment where the original tram line used to run) to the Grenfell Street-East Terrace intersection and then left into the small park adjacent Tandanya and then right into Pirie Street at the Red Cross. Also instead of turning into Light Square and into Currie Street, the line could go right to the end of Waymouth Street then turn north into West Terrace before Glover Avenue.

The Bartels Road option is the more direct route. The Clipsal 500 could still be run, but they'd have the option of using the longer circuit used during the Aussie F1 GP (which included East Terrace and Rundle Road). The Criterium run before the Tour Down Under could use Hutt Street and Wakefield Road instead of Bartels Road. It would be a longer circuit, but you'd get a much longer sprint when they come down Dequetteville Terrace before Rundle Road.

I have other variations as well, but these should do for starters on this topic.

My option for the Airport is still the one that I suggested in the appropriate thread so there is no need for the Norwood-Henley Beach tram to take that diversion. That is a separate line.

Cheers

[rhino]

With regard to the Henley Beach end of your route, Ho, I would suggest East Tce rather than Military Road, then maybe Beach St and Military Road to get to the Grange Station, if that's necessary. East Tce is much broader than Military Road, has a bigger drawing area for commuters, and is still close enough to Henley Square at Main St for it to be a viable option for travel to/from the Square. I realise that in the past a train ran along the edge of Military Road, but there is a lot more traffic using the road now.

[HeapsGood]

Love this design victorious, something like this would be really awesome for the city.

[fishinajar]

Nice vision victorious. Good to see people considering a rundle/parade west route to the parade, opens up options for taking a spur up fullarton to payneham and magill whilst avoiding that pesky tight spot at the botanic intersection.

The mini spur to Adelaide airport would create a bit of a timetabling headache however. You wouldn't want to sent all trams in and out of there etc. Heading in [andy thomas] and out [rather nastily through the air-freight/business area] could work well if a little forethought had been used in the new business park area but could still be possible. This way all trams would would run past the airport without impacting on travel times.

On this note, placing an east-west line before completing a city loop could make better sense also. A pure loop would require a small fleet of trams running loops-ie circles, and whilst might enjoy good ridership would not necessarily equate to high fares (as I would assume and hope a city loop would be free.

Also to consider (and don't get me wrong I love trams), are trams for airport passengers necessarily the best option considering luggage and destinations etc. Would good [or bad] old airport buses with luggage storage space be more appropriate.

[victorious80]

yeah the airport spur could be a problem. it is approx 600m each way from Sir Donald Bradman to the airport, with one station at the end. so if the tram runs at approx 40km/h it would take approx 1 minute travel time each way and approx 3mins at the stop = 5mins. so i would think that all trams could stop at the airport, depending on demand. note the spur is two-way so trams can travel in each direction along the spur.

good point about the luggage. trams have limited room in the standing section for people with a lot of luggage. but those buses with trailers certainly have more room. i wonder what sort of passengers would be most likely to catch the tram from airport to city. would it be interstate business people wanting to get to the city for work (with limited luggage)? or maybe backpackers heading to city for accomodation?

interestingly, when I spoke to the Minister for Transport's office about the idea they told me that the airport is already very well serviced by buses. personally i have never caught the bus to the airport, nor do i know anyone who has, so i dont know the level of service. but it would seem to me that the lack of space for luggage would put people off these buses. would love to hear from someone who has used the service. also, as has been mentioned in this forum before, i believe that tourists (and people here on business) are more likely to catch a tram to the city, as the route (and possibly travel time) would be clearly shown on a map and there are less perceived variables. however with buses, the routes are not usually marked on maps, travel times are more dependent on traffic, and there may be a perception of them being less reliable than a tram or train system.

[[Shuz]]

Having caught the AdelMetro buses back to the city with a 20kg bag of luggage is no easy feat. There is limited, if no room for it at all if you get stuck on one of the old 1980s era buses, and if you are on a new one, sure, you can set it down in the wheelchair zone, but what if a disabled/elderly person needed the space, let alone, competing with other travellers who might also have big suitcases onboard.

The trams could work, but they would have to be predominatedly standing area only. It could work, using our Citadis trams as an example, with 5 sections; the two end sections reserved for seating and the 3 middle sections for standing only (no seats whatsover).

[Omicron]

I'd be very, very surprised if any company sending employees interstate on business would only pay for a tram ticket instead of a taxi.

[fishinajar]

Having caught the AdelMetro buses back to the city with a 20kg bag of luggage is no easy feat. There is limited, if no room for it at all if you get stuck on one of the old 1980s era buses, and if you are on a new one, sure, you can set it down in the wheelchair zone, but what if a disabled/elderly person needed the space, let alone, competing with other travellers who might also have big suitcases onboard.

The trams could work, but they would have to be predominatedly standing area only. It could work, using our Citadis trams as an example, with 5 sections; the two end sections reserved for seating and the 3 middle sections for standing only (no seats whatsover).

I've also caught AdelaideMetro to and from the airport in the past and yes, they are just standard buses-no extra luggage room. My earlier statement asking if buses would be better referred to airport customised buses such as in Melbourne with seats on one side and racks on the other, or a trailer as Shuz suggests.

As for dedicated trams with less seating? Shuz, really? Having said that, any of our standard trams, and yes certainly the new red wagons have much more floor space than our buses.

[peas_and_corn]

I thought the issue with buses that are customised for use as airport buses is that they are used for cross city routes, and thus anyone using it for the stretch between the city and TTP would have half the bus not available to use, which would be difficult during busy periods (I'm assuming they're customised as detailed above).

[Aidan]

I thought the issue with buses that are customised for use as airport buses is that they are used for cross city routes, and thus anyone using it for the stretch between the city and TTP would have half the bus not available to use, which would be difficult during busy periods (I'm assuming they're customised as detailed above).

There are other ways to customize buses for airport route use. One option is to have multiple layers of shelves above the front wheels.

[dbl96]

Your stops are a very long way apart. THey are more the distance you would want for heavy rail, not trams. If you look at the distance tram stops are placed on the Glenelg- Entertainement center line, you will see they are a lot closer. People are lazy and you need to be able to compete with busses which have stops placed much closer together. Especially in places like norwood, stop density should be as much as three or four times what you have. This is all a matter of convenience.