I don’t have a blog post for you today, but head over to The Age to read my opinion piece there:
We can afford better public transport – if we stop building freeways
Hopefully it gets some people thinking and talking.
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Go read this piece in The Age
6 replies on “Go read this piece in The Age”
Daniel
A very positive article
great that you got such comprehensive coverage for your message.
Top of the website! Before all the clickbait!
@Philip, what if it *was* the clickbait??
Excellent article, well reasoned and argued. There’s a lot of inertia to overcome but all of the points were logical and strong. Hopefully people start looking more clearly and rationally at how we’re designing and investing in transport, and in how we shape the future.
We have this bizarre situation where MEL has the biggest tram network on the planet but the trams are not allowed to control the traffic lights – unlike trains. Maybe things have changed on the Plenty Rd tram since I last tried using it (sometime between 2011 and 2015).
I think you should post a photo of both a train and a tram with the caption, “why should only one of these be given green lights?”
A reform to buses that can immediately be made is banning drivers from playing Triple M loudly on the bus. Actually, drivers should be completely banned from playing that radio station. Trains never have radio stations playing and I do not remember trams playing FM radio either.
The crash in lithium ion battery prices means electric bicycles can be a viable way of getting around – provided there is a cycleway.
Why not build a cycleway under the massive power lines parallel to Morang Dr, Mill Park? There is so much land available!
Another cycleway could be built from 151 Childs Rd, Mill Park to Findon Rd. Heck, you could build one in the median of Childs Rd. Good for the obesity crisis and good for getting cars off the road.
Loved the article Daniel
While the North-East Link is essential I feel that LX should be prioritised alongside the NE Link. The WestGate tunnel was needed 5 years ago when it is opened it will be overwhelmed and we will have another bottleneck on our hands. LX will increase safety and improve travel around many communities.
Airport line going via Maribyrnong at a cost of 10 bil plus is obscene. A line via Albion stopping at just Sunshine will take 25 minutes if done properly with dedicated tracks and platforms. Using the existing Vline fleet is fine and then running onto Clarkefield/Kalkallo. It separates the Seymour line and Bendigo line from their respective lines and adds much needed additional capacity. It delivers regional passengers a quicker connection to the airport while not hampering metropolitan users.
As long as the tunnel between the branch point, Keilor East and airport is designed to accomodate diesel trains, then the issue of fumes should not be an issue. Heck the line could run alongside the empty Melrose drive and then into a tunnel to the airport. Platform screening doors could be used GoA2 and the system would be smooth.
The tunnels don’t need to extend to their lines, the line can become ground level at Oaklands junction and branch off to Seymour/Bendigo. The whole thing would cost around 6 billion and the rest can be allocated to the much anticipated metro2 which should be a 22 Billion project and include the Doncaster line via the freeway (busway is a poor option) and the extension to Wollert via Lalor.
And as for the whole two extra tunnels, including Metro3 that’s a separate issue that shouldn’t be on the agenda until 2030.
Aaron