Transport of Perth on YouTube has done some reviews of the Bne Metro over the last week. Apparently he flew especially over to review the two new lines/routes.
Not to take the wind out of the sails of people fighting for the project, but everybody assuming there is going to be a big bus turnaround and interchange at Burleigh in the Memorial Park / Justins Park area would be wrong. (Even in the interim phase before GCLR4 happens.) This is going to be managed a somewhat different way, maybe not as obvious to the people drawing lines on maps without looking at things holistically.
Hint hint: Burleigh Heads and Palm Beach Public Transport Improvements - Bitzios Consulting
Does anyone actually use buses at the GC? Do people use the G:link more than the entire GC bus network? If so they have a bus image problem or the GCCCâs bus network is sub-standard.
How do you intend to make a BRT better than an LRT when its been concluded that LRT is the superior option? There is nothing in the report that can back up shortlisting BRT.
Having a fleet of fakemetros and a BRT corridor will be more expensive than LRT. (just ask the BCC how not to build PT projects properly). They will go LRT because it is the only thing keeping the GC Mayor in office, and he wonât roll over for a shitty bus option otherwise the GCCC opposition could just promise LRT and scrap whatever progress the BRT is at.
From TMRâs website -
The preliminary evaluation for Light Rail Stage 4 has been completed and the cost estimate for Light Rail is $4.467 billion. To note, this is a strategic cost estimate only at the early planning stage. The cost range for delivery of the project is estimated between $3.13 billion and $7.60 billion allowing for unknown risks which will be further clarified and updated in the business case."
Amazing how magically the project cost jumped up by $2 billion when blue team enters power! This is roughly the same cost as the DSCL to Caloundra!
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The LRT projects were also flagged to increase as well under the last Labor budget last year. So there were no surprises about project/construction increases this budget.
Yes, plenty of people are using buses on the Gold Coast. 700, 704, 740, 750, 765, and 777 are all quite popular. Possibly more, but these are the ones Iâm familiar with.
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Yesterday night, around 10h30pm, I saw some normal articulated buses running as RM1 and RM2 and yes, you guessed it right: Replacement Metro 1 and 2. That made me think about the silly reasons BCC decided to go for custom built tram-like vehicles that look like trams instead of just buying normal bi-articulated buses. 
The LighTrams arenât a bespoke vehicle at all, they are an off the shelf product offered by bus manufacturer HESS.
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oooh thanks! I stand corrected. 
(still very funny they call it a light tram)
Well, in its trolley-bus form it kind of makes sense in a marketing speak kind of way.
I like to co-opt the Chinese Communist Partyâs âSocialism with Chinese characteristicsâ tag line to describe them:
A bus with (some) tram characteristics.
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Tram with identity crisis
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Steel on steel over rubber on asphalt any day!
Steel on rubber is a French Metro.
No matter how hard they try or how much they spend to imitate trams, its still a bus, and will never compare to a real thing.
Making buses look like trams is the most idiotic transport thing since monorails and Hyperloop.
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I donât think the light rail is the only thing keeping Tom Tate in office by any means. He isnât hanging by a thread or anything, he wins re-election in landslides every time. And Iâm not sure light rail is even one of the top reasons for his success. Iâd put that down to 1. that everyone knows who he is, because he knows how to promote himself and grab news headlines, 2. he keeps rates low, and 3. pandemic aside, the Gold Coast economy has been growing strongly for many years now.
It can be argued the light rail construction is part of what keeps the local economy going, but it also causes significant disruption, so Iâm not sure itâs a huge net vote winner. Actually, I wonder if Tate wins by big margins not because of the light rail, but in spite of it. So I canât see switching to BRT costing Tate much at all politically, and anyway, the opposition to him is not very united.
I think sometimes that we foamers can get a bit of tunnel vision over the importance of public transport to elections. Itâs not an insignificant issue, but itâs not the biggest one either.
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Tateâs more likely to use his polticial fortunes to cause a headache for the LNP if they try for BRT instead of LRT.
Yeah I definitely see Tate trying to make life impossible for the state government if they choose to build anything else than a tram extension.
Even without issues caused by LR3 construction buses around the southern parts of the city were running late or being cancelled. It looks like Kinetic has managed to solve the latter with more staff but the former is still an issue.
The city has been very blunt at saying that they want more development along the GC Highway, and all planning made by them is based on the assumption that LR4 will get built.
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Just heard from a friend, Brisbane Metro will be stopping at Woolloongabba from 5:40 onwards.
Had a ride on the M2 today, first time for me. All good!
Had to travel to RBWH from Roma St, and a later return.
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The frequency is good isnât it?
Although the GPS is still out for the audio announcements as well as the boarding and alighting chimes at some stops.
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Yes, the next stop information tended to lag a bit on the onboard PIDs. But I wasnât sure if that was the usual or not. Frequency is very good. We didnât wait long for the M2 at all. The driver was kind enough to hold the bi-artic for us at platform 1 RBWH on the way back, so zero time wait!
After arrival at RBWH
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The PID info lag seems to be most noticeable when going through the tunnel from Roma Street to Victoria Bridge, at least in my experience. For example, it was announcing arrival at KGS as we were passing into the QSBS connection tunnel, but it seemed to update before we hit cultural centre. Does anyone else find that to be the case too?
I was wondering whether something in the system uses a mobile connection, and a loss of connection might be to blame?
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