Re: RE: Sydney Light Rail (CSELR) Now GC Riders prefer buses.
  Richard Youl

It would be very interesting to know who was questioned and what they were asked.

I believe that I am capable of objectively comparing modes of transport even if I have a liking for one over another.

Today I went to Southport via bicycle, bus and tram.

The bus from here and the tram from the hospital terminus were both on time..

Along the way I checked the seats of each mode, and the degree of padding and comfort was very much the same, about an inch of foam padding which was adequate.

On the tram, unless the track brakes are used in an emergency (never experienced here) it is possible to ride the tram standing without holding on, but leg bracing is needed due to rapid but smooth acceleration. It is dangerous to stand on a bus while it is moving even when holding on firmly.

While the tram service heading home around 3.30pm was running to schedule, the hourly 714 from the hospital to Helensvale Station due at 3.44pm did not arrive until 3.59pm, just one stop after leaving the terminus. It left at 4.01pm.

Due to peak slow traffic, it was 20 minutes late when I got of at 4.15 pm. Thus it would have missed the Brisbane bound train it was due to connect with by at least 15 minutes if no more heavy traffic were encountered. Trains run half hourly.

That in my eyes is a fail, by no means a rare event for the 714 and 715 which also is scheduled to meet trains.

Whenever I see or ride either of these I take note of punctuality and far too often I judge them as fails for meeting the train. I now refuse to catch the bus if I need to travel to Brisbane. Southbound trains are almost certain to connect.

Just about all the GC stations have bus connections, so there would be other routes which from time to time fail to get to the station before the train.

Incidentally buses do not wait for trains at all late.

So how do you these points fail to be noticed by bus passengers?

Perhaps other factors come into play.

There are still plenty here who call the tram a white elephant. Presumably these are people who live in the wrong place and so see no benefit in it. And plenty of others mistakenly believe that the tram is impacting unfavourably on their council rates.

Additionally when the trunk bus service between Broadbeach and Southport ran, council subsidised free bus rides for seniors ceased to exist in that corridor as tram rides are not free. No doubt some are still beefing over that.

I daresay that others see the tram unfavourably for all sorts of other reasons with which I would probably disagree.

Regards,

On 15 Aug 2017, at 8:02 pm,prescottt@... mailto:prescottt@ymail.com [TramsDownUnder] TramsDownUnder@... mailto:TramsDownUnder@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

> Richard you'd have to ask Translink if they know the details of why their Gold Coast users find the buses more comfortable than the trams, but I think it boils down to the general public having different priorities from transport enthusiasts. I think users don't generally care what the mode is, as long as it gets them where they want to go quickest and most conveniently. The reason for trams is a need for higher capacity on specific corridors.

>

> There are also significant differences in the quality of bus services in various cities in Australia. From the surveys though it looks like Gold Coast is now lucky to have good-quality service from both buses and trams. I understand that Translink put a lot of work into having a quality integrated system after the tram opened.

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> Tony P

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