As I've mentioned in another topic, state governments (whose responsibility
this is, not operators) in Victoria have generally been neglectful about
improving the operating environment of the tram system, particularly in
respect of priority. Exacerbating this seems to be undue authority given to
local councils who can apparently force tramways to share with traffic by
not eliminating parking along tram routes, something state governments seem
either unwilling or unable to overrule. I suspect the same neglect applies
to the bus system in Melbourne compared to other cities where there are
often priority lanes through congested areas. It needs a lot of lobbying -
and I suspect on a bipartisan basis, as both political sides seem to be as
bad as each other. I suspect that Melbourne has not yet advanced as much
into the post car-culture era as many other cities which means there's
still an institutionalised issue to overcome.

The lack of kerbside tracks in Melbourne I would attribute to historical
reasons and need. The system was laid down a very long time ago in quite
wide streets where the logical place to run the tracks at the time was in
the centre and there has probably been little need to do otherwise. Sydney
had (and has) difference issues of geography, geometry, topography and
other issues that govern optimum alignment of tracks. You can see this very
much on CSELR where tracks are laid on the side of the road that is optimum
in terms of access to stops, avoiding traffic lights, not affecting
property access etc. Kerbside is very good, for example, in crossing the
head of a T intersection where the trams can continue sailing through,
avoiding the need to stop at the traffic lights. A good example of this on
the old Sydney system was the kerbside line along City Road, off Broadway.

Tony P

On Tuesday, 5 January 2021 at 19:17:55 UTC+11espe...@... wrote:

> Well it is simple (in my opinion) we don't have a public caring management

> anymore. We just have private companies that get entrusted with the system

> and are given a set of instructions that they must adhere to ----- no more,

> no less.

>

> On Tue, 5 Jan 2021 at 18:18, Robbie Smith zoqa...@...> wrote:

>

>> I had to go out to Highpoint today, and on the tram I was wondering why

>> Melbourne doesn't have more kerbside or dedicated track that isn't shared

>> with cars. A lot of European cities (particularly in Germany and the Czech

>> Republic) have gone to great lengths to segregate trams and cars, but

>> Melbourne hasn't. It'd definitely reduce delays from congestion.

>>

>>

>> cheers and best wishes,

> David in Avenel.au,

> [Before you change anything, learn why it is the way it is.]

>

>

>

>