Re: Slow Melbourne trams

These are all common practice in Europe.

southernhealth2001 wrote:

Below is an interesting article from yesterday's Herald-Sun.

Brian Weedon

Our trams slowest in world

19may02

TRAM priority over cars, a new system of one-way streets and roadside
parking bans are being mooted as part of a Melbourne transport
revolution.

Melbourne's tram system has become one of the slowest in the world
because of years of neglect, Yarra Trams chief, Hubert Guyot, said
yesterday.
Mr Guyot called on the State Government and other key decision-makers
to show "courage" to redesign Melbourne's roads and reverse the "car
culture" that he said threatened trams and the city's long-term
sustainability.

The total separation of trams and motor vehicles was essential
wherever conceivably possible, Mr Guyot said.

Where that was not an option, busy trams must be given priority, he
said and a review of the whole network was needed with a range of
potential changes considered on a case-by-case basis.

Options include:

THE separation of cars and trams with physical barriers on
Melbourne's wider streets.

ONE-WAY systems in some streets to reduce conflict between cars and
trams.

PARKING BANS along problem stretches of four-lane roads, to allow
private vehicles uninterrupted travel in the outside lanes and give
trams exclusive use of inside lanes.

TOTAL priority for busy trams at intersections, through hi-tech
traffic light systems, with maximum waiting times of about 20
seconds.

INTERSECTION redesigns wherever possible to ensure trams' priority,
including right-turn bans or longer right-turn lanes.

MOVING many tram stops back from intersections, to speed up the
service.

A REVIEW of all stops, based on demand, with unnecessary stops, very
close to others, scrapped.

HIGHER-PROFILE, safer platform-style stops, with traffic signals or
new road markings to make sure cars stop.

STRICTER policing of clearways.

"I was disappointed to find in Melbourne the public transport system
has been a little bit neglected and there is a car culture," said Mr
Guyot, who has worked for 20 years building and running public
transport systems across Europe. "Tram users have been treated like
second-class citizens.

"The number of cars in Melbourne is increasing by more than 2 per
cent a year. There is a limit. If you think of the long-term future
you have to have a balance between the usage of cars and that of
public transport.

"But we can not create a shift to public transport if it takes three
times longer to travel from A to B in Melbourne by tram compared to
car.

"The average speed of a car is close to 40km/h. When the car is along
a tram route the average is 25km/h.

"The average speed of the passenger in the tram is 14km/h. In the
suburbs it is close to 17km/h and in the city it is 9km/h. That is
very slow."

Mr Guyot said in most tramway systems in the world, it was much
higher. In all the large cities in the world with trams, such as
Berlin, St Petersburg and Brussels, the average speed was 20-25km/h.

"We have to redesign the share of the road between the tram and the
car," he said. "At the moment one tram is considered as one vehicle
and one car is considered as one vehicle.

"I'm sorry, but one tram is up to 200 people and one car is up to
four people -- but it is usually less than two.

"We have to give absolute priority to trams with 100 to 200 people.
This is what exists everywhere in the world, but there's no priority
here in Melbourne.

"I'm not here to impose solutions. I just raise the issue and say
these are some solutions."

As an example, Mr Guyot said a lot of streets in cities across the
world, including Sydney, were one-way.

"Why don't we implement such solutions in Melbourne where there are
trams and cars?" he asked.

"Why is it so important to have cars everywhere in Melbourne?

"Why is it so important parking on all the streets? This is terrible.
We can find off-street parking. The roads were not built for parking,
I'm sorry."

Yarra Trams' 36 new low-floor vehicles, to make up nearly a fifth of
its fleet will help enhance passenger comfort and reduce loading
times, he said.

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