News & Discussion: Adelaide Metro Buses

[1NEEDS2POST]

Hampstead Road is a major freight route - I'm sure Botany Road is not. However, there are many roads in Adelaide that could benefit from this treatment.

Having lived in both Sydney and Adelaide, I would say that Sydney is better at managing traffic on major roads.

Firstly, there is very little on-street parking on major roads in Sydney. You generally don’t have to weave around parked cars on major roads. If parking is allowed, the clearways are like 6-10am and 3-7pm.

Secondly, right-hand turns are strictly controlled on major Sydney roads. You won’t find cars stopped in the right-hand lane waiting to turn right into a side street. You turn right at signalised intersections, which usually give you a very long right-turn green arrow so you are not waiting for many cycle changes before you can turn right.

I think DPTI could learn a lot by how Sydney manages its major road network to keep traffic flowing. I think they do it very well considering the traffic volumes they experience.

If you try removing parking on main roads in Adelaide, suddenly all you hear are complaints. How does Sydney silence the whingers?

[1NEEDS2POST]

International public transport guru, Jarrett Walker, wrote about the bus network redesign failure.

https://humantransit.org/2020/07/adelai ... fails.html

• If you are using the redesign to cut service, there should be a clearly understood reason, like the pandemic and related budget crises. Service cuts due to crisis can be a good time to do redesign — if that helps reduce the overall damage of the cuts — but it means that you have to deal with anger about the cuts at the same time that you deal with anger about the redesign.
• Minimize the number of controversies you are having at once. Network redesign is controversial enough when the public is allowed to focus on it; it gets much harder when the public confuses it with other issues happening at the same time. Don’t try to reform contracts with operating companies, or introduce new companies, at the same time. Don’t raise fares at the same time.
• Don’t propose magical outcomes. The government used the language of trying to “reduce subsidies” while improving service, due to some alchemy that was supposed to happen inside the operating companies. This is not how it works. Setting impossible expectations is a guarantee of failure.
• Provide very clear information in lots of formats, with good before-and-after analysis tools. We provide before-and-after trip planners, maps of how access (where you can get to in a reasonable time) changes, and lots of other ways for people to engage with how the plan affects their lives as well as how it affects the city.
• Go to the public with options, or at least a draft, with a clear message that the plan will be revised in response to comment.

[adelaide transport]

A down to earth article about the failure-thanks for posting.

[adelaide transport]

Perhaps you should send this article to both the Premier and the Transport Minister.

[PeFe]

Perhaps you should send this article to both the Premier and the Transport Minister.

Send it to their advisers....they are the ones pulling the strings behind the scenes.

I doubt whether Knoll is even slightly interested in public transport....

[Spotto]

[*]Go to the public with options, or at least a draft, with a clear message that the plan will be revised in response to comment.[/list]

The simplest, easiest mistake that they made. If the public likes X change but not Y change, then keep X change and rework or drop Y change. Approaches to public transport, or any public service, needs to be flexible.

[PeFe]

Here's an overlay of the current network (grey) and the cancelled proposal (colour) so you can see where service was removed or rerouted.

https://www.skyscrapercity.com/attachme ... pg.358793/

This map was created by Gazza2 and posted on the OzScrapers transport forum.

[adelaide transport]

Here's an overlay of the current network (grey) and the cancelled proposal (colour) so you can see where service was removed or rerouted.

https://www.skyscrapercity.com/attachme ... pg.358793/

This map was created by Gazza2 and posted on the OzScrapers transport forum.

Do you have a link to this forum please.

[PeFe]

Here's an overlay of the current network (grey) and the cancelled proposal (colour) so you can see where service was removed or rerouted.

https://www.skyscrapercity.com/attachme ... pg.358793/

This map was created by Gazza2 and posted on the OzScrapers transport forum.

Do you have a link to this forum please.

https://www.skyscrapercity.com/threads/ ... 2/page-165

[adelaide transport]

Thanks for that.

[Norman]

Grenfell and Currie streets in Adelaide CBD could become ‘public transport boulevard’, change planned for Hindley St
Matt Smith, The Advertiser
September 12, 2020 12:02pm

A major CBD thoroughfare could become a permanent public transport corridor.

The State Government is looking at the viability of turning Currie and Grenfell streets, running east to west through the city, into a “public transport boulevard” as one of a raft of new planning suggestions.

Another review will look at making the popular Hindley Street nightclub strip more pedestrian-friendly.

Infrastructure Minister Corey Wingard has suggested Hindley Street could be in line for an overhaul as he spruiked the benefits of reduced traffic on the main street.

Currie and Grenfell streets have dedicated bus lanes but the government has confirmed “a new study will investigate the transformation of the corridor into a public transport boulevard … with a focus on creating a more customer-friendly and service-focused environment.”

Adelaide City Council Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor said such a boulevard would make easy access for buses a priority, from “accessing bus stops to moving easily along the corridor”.

“Such a corridor would also create a safe and welcoming environment for pedestrians that would make the Currie- Grenfell corridor more than just a street to catch a bus,” Ms Verschoor said.

“It would be more of a destination in its own right.

“Achieving this will require careful consideration, however, as the Currie and Grenfell corridor serves a multitude of uses, with high pedestrian volumes, local access, loading and taxis all needing to be accommodated.”

Mr Wingard said that the government was keen to promote Adelaide’s status as one of the most liveable cities in the world. “It’s vibrant, accessible, safe and affordable,” he said.

“We’ll see how these planning studies unfold and then explore the options before making a decision.

“We do know that during Fringe, when Rundle Street is opened up to accommodate festival-goers, it works extremely well and provides far greater opportunities for local businesses.”

Opposition Transport spokesman Tom Koutsantonis said he had some concerns about a potential public transport boulevard.

“In 2014, the Liberals promised to remove dedicated bus lanes in Grenfell and Currie streets,” Mr Koutsantonis said.

“I don’t think Mr Wingard has thought this through and has forgotten the challenges commuters and businesses face in the CBD.

“COVID has hit retailers and city businesses hard and any changes must take into account their concerns.”

https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/sou ... 5596744855

[PeFe]

Finally another one of those "simple and obvious ways to make public transport better in Adelaide" ideas has made it through to the top tiers of government.
(The other and most obvious example of this is the Flinders train line, first proposed in 1969......reality in 2020)

Let me take a guess how this will proceed....
2021.......more detailed proposal between from the SA government
2022.......consultation with the Adelaide City Council re costs and timetable
2023.......becomes official government policy, opposition agrees in principle
2024.......election promise by both sides
2025.......part of future transport budget
2026.......delayed because of costs blowouts and budgetary constraints (a covid hangover)
2027.......reinstated as an urgent project (because it just makes bloody sense)
2028.......starts construction (at a lot higher cost than if they had done it 3 years earlier)
2029.......Grenfell/Currie transit corridor opens....everybody says "Fantastic! Why didn"t the government build it earlier! These streets look a thousand
times better!"

The South Australian infrastructure process at work.....

[1NEEDS2POST]

It needs to happen. If Currie/Grenfell St changes to a bus only street, it would only need to be two lanes each way, so the footpaths could be widened.

[ml69]

It needs to happen. If Currie/Grenfell St changes to a bus only street, it would only need to be two lanes each way, so the footpaths could be widened.

And plant trees on both widened footpaths, and plant a row of trees down the middle of the street to soak up bus noise and fumes. Really green it up. Currie and Grenfell St barely have any street trees.

[NTRabbit]

Finally another one of those "simple and obvious ways to make public transport better in Adelaide" ideas has made it through to the top tiers of government.
(The other and most obvious example of this is the Flinders train line, first proposed in 1969......reality in 2020)

Let me take a guess how this will proceed....
2021.......more detailed proposal between from the SA government
2022.......consultation with the Adelaide City Council re costs and timetable
2023.......becomes official government policy, opposition agrees in principle
2024.......election promise by both sides
2025.......part of future transport budget
2026.......delayed because of costs blowouts and budgetary constraints (a covid hangover)
2027.......reinstated as an urgent project (because it just makes bloody sense)
2028.......starts construction (at a lot higher cost than if they had done it 3 years earlier)
2029.......Grenfell/Currie transit corridor opens....everybody says "Fantastic! Why didn"t the government build it earlier! These streets look a thousand
times better!"

The South Australian infrastructure process at work.....

You're missing the part where Team Adelaide alternates the route between Currie-Grenfell and Franklin-Flinders due to city trader concerns every 2 years for a decade.