News & Discussion: O-Bahn

[[Shuz]]

You're correct JK, but so is Rev. Montague Road is essentially an extension of the proposed Dry Creek Expressway (now the Port River Expressway).

The Modbury Freeway route follows the O-Bahn track to Hope Valley, and would have followed on to what is now McIntyre Road.

[ChillyPhilly]

You're correct JK, but so is Rev. Montague Road is essentially an extension of the proposed Dry Creek Expressway (now the Port River Expressway).

The Modbury Freeway route follows the O-Bahn track to Hope Valley, and would have followed on to what is now McIntyre Road.

Just did this one minute job on Paint to illustrate it.

The Modbury Freeway would have continued northwards to Main North Road, where it would have joined at what is now the intersection with Black Top Road.

[rhino]

why cant there be both.

Because we're not in Old El Paso?

[Norman]

Updated video has been posted.

[Patrick_27]

I can't help but laugh at the group trying to fight these plans. The government amended their plans; the tunnel will still go ahead, Rundle Road will remain which is not what they wanted, and no amount of parkland will be returned to the area. That's what you get for screwing around with the transport department, absolutely nothing in return. I much preferred the last proposal, but who knows... Perhaps when all the elderly citizens fronting this group have passed on the government of the time might revisit the new roadway/closure of Rundle Road.

[Nathan]

There's still one woman who's out there with signs every morning, either at Dequetteville Tce or on the corner where the Stag is. Nuts.

[[Shuz]]

Actually I kind of support her. The latest plan is terrible.

Either scrap the damn project, or revert back to the previous plan.

[Nathan]

Actually I kind of support her. The latest plan is terrible.

Either scrap the damn project, or revert back to the previous plan.

I agree, the latest plan isn't good. But it's because of people like her that we got the compromised plan we have now.

[Tonsley213]

Why didn't they just scrap the road component of the plan but leave the option for the tram to run through instead? Makes no sense to me.

[Norman]

The Project Impact Report has been released for this project.

http://dpti.sa.gov.au/infrastructure/pu ... on_updates

[The Scooter Guy]

Garden of Unearthly Delights will still be business as usual during these works!

[PeFe]

More on the O-Bahn tunnel from the 'Tiser

30 more buses an hour to leave CBD via busy Grenfell St once O-Bahn tunnel is extended to city

ALMOST 30 more buses an hour will leave the CBD via busy Grenfell St in the afternoon peak period once the O-Bahn tunnel is extended to the city thoroughfare, a State Government report shows.

The extra passengers are expected to generate more foot traffic and commercial activity in the area. However, the change in route will mean far fewer buses travelling along East Tce, tipped to please cafe-goers and outdoor diners.

Full article : http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/sout ... 7500405912

[stumpjumper]

Leaving aside sniping about vested interests and so on, I have a few concerns about this project relating to cost and benefits.

I'm not aware of any published cost benefit study for the project, nor have I been able to find if one has been done.

My major concern is to do with the particular scheduling dynamics of guided busways. O-Bahn buses must be separated by a minimum distance for safety. The distance between buses has to allow a bus to stop for whatever reason and disembark its passengers.

Extra capacity cannot be added to any bus (unlike a train or tram which can haul additional carriages), so maximum capacity occurs when buses are trtavelling at the minimum distance apart. I understand that this maximum capacity has already been reached for peak morning and afternoon periods. In other words, cutting a few minutes off the journey time will not add one more seat to an already overcrowded service.

In fact, the service is already overloaded in realtion to parking. At Paradise Interchange, the parking lot is full early in the morning, and O-Bahn users have to park along Darley Road, for example. I caught the O-Bahn from Paradise Interchange a few weeks ago, and asked passengers how the service could be improved. No-one suggest a shorter journey time. Most people were concerned about inadequate parking and the discomfort of the jerky, swaying ride. No-one suggested a shorter journey time.

So if we are to spend $160 million shortening the journey time by a few minutes, why can't we spend a few million building better parking facilities at Paradise Interchange?

But overall, if the system is already at capacity and that capacity can't be increased, why is spending money on the O-Bahn a priority at all?

[Torrens_5022]

I doubt it's at capacity buses can run 20 seconds apart, or 3 a minute, 180 an hour. Currently it's a bus every 1 to 2 min, so say 30 to 50 buses in peak hour. The tunnel will funnel these buses into the city. The problem is not just parking but the need for better feeding services outside of peak, there's room to add more buses in peak and to add capacity by using only articulated buses.

[stumpjumper]

Good point about using only articulated buses. That seems to be the only way to increase seating capacity per vehicle.

I'd like some good information about the maximum frequency of buses on the track. I'm not a transport engineer, and my information came from a driver who told me that safety regulations require enough distance between buses not only to allow time for passengers to embark/disembark, but to ensure that if a bus stops on the track for any reason, there is time to get everyone off the bus and to a safe location alongside the track before another bus arrives. He said that in his opinion this distance should be at least ten minutes' worth. If that's correct, that's the spacing that sets the maximum number of buses on the track at any time.

There's not much information available - that I can find anyway - about the constraints on scheduling of these buses. It seems crucial to any consideration of spending more money on the service.