40%Apr 25, 2012
VOTE NOW! Light Rail for Canberra in 2012
A Civic-Gungahlin transit study draft has been released, stating a cost estimate for both Light Rail and Bus Rapid Transport options. This looks like a re-run of the same old argument for Canberra: ”Light Rail is the best option for our city. But we can’t find a way to make it happen.”
All you need to do to make your voice heard to get Light Rail for Canberra is jump onto the consultation survey and vote! We need your vote!
Vote now for Smarter Transport: Vote Light Rail
You can also head along to your local shopping centre and have your say in coming weeks:
- Dickson Group Centre, near Woolworths
- 11am to 2pm on Friday 27 April; and
- 11am to 2pm on Saturday 28 April.
- Canberra Centre, Ground Floor near Supabarn
- 11am to 2pm on Friday 4 May; and
- 11am to 2pm on Saturday 5 May.
- The Market Place Shopping Centre, Gungahlin near Woolworths
- 11am to 2pm on Friday 11 May; and
- 11am to 2pm on Saturday 12 May.
Or write a submission to tell our leaders why Light Rail is the Smarter choice.
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Why Light Rail is the Smarter Transport choice and why it’s time we Just Build It!
Why Light Rail is the Smarter Transport choice and why it’s time we Just Build It!
As stated in the Government report, Light Rail is the best option for Canberra.
Vote now for Smarter Transport: Vote Light Rail
Light Rail transforms cities. Light Rail stimulates transport oriented development along the route, allowing new housing to benefit from close proximity to public transport, and new stations to be great places for new small businesses. Bus transit does not stimulate this sort of transformation where it has been undertaken in other places.
Light Rail is clean, quiet and comfortable. Light rail can run on renewable electricity, reducing our emissions and smog. Investing in renewable technology also protects our public transport from diesel price rises. In addition, the Government report does not include the price of new buses in the BRT option, meaning we’ll be using the same old uncomfortable buses.
Light Rail can be paid for in many ways. Light Rail is a significant investment for our city that attracts a range of investment opportunities (note: the current figures in the Government report for Light Rail are very questionable and are well in excess of other similar projects). Public Private Partnerships have been undertaken in other cities where businesses co-invest in the development. The ACT Government has already been successful in securing Commonwealth co-funding for the Majura Parkway. It’s time funding was committed to the first stage of light rail to prove that we are serious to Infrastructure Australia and seek co-funding. If we are going to invest in our city, why would we choose bus transit and build an option that needs much more spending in the future? It would be like completing the Gungahlin Drive extension with one lane, and having so much traffic we send the bulldozers back to start building the second lane a few years later (and we know how silly that would be!!).
Light Rail is transit that makes good cities work. Investing now means we are supporting our city to grow in a way that doesn’t force us to live in our cars. Connecting Canberra with Light Rail will mean we can get from one side of the city to the other quickly, opening up all parts of Canberra to all Canberrans. Starting the first stage of Light Rail now, kicks off this future, and shows that we’re serious about public transport. We can avoid the growth of a city like Sydney where the importance of public transport was ignored and the cost made impossible. We are capable of financing a Light Rail system, and we need to start now to prepare for future growth.
Vote now for Smarter Transport: Vote Light Rail
The 2012 election can be the turning point for Canberra, the year we finally committed to connecting Canberra with a public transport system that works. And it’s one solution to a crucial part of reducing our greenhouse gas emissions for the long term.
Every election, Light Rail is raised by political parties scoring points. This is because Light Rail is a smart option for Canberra’s future. Canberrans want to see it happen, and our leaders know it. But promises have never turned to action. Until now.
We can be the difference in making this year the first step in a public transport system that connects Canberra. It will give us the ability to leave our cars at home, get where we need to go, and have a low emissions trip on renewable electricity powered rail. Until we get serious about a real option for commuters to get to work, and all Canberrans to get around without a car, we won’t be able to meet our emissions reductions targets from transport.
We all know public transport is at the heart of a liveable city. New roads bring more cars, causing the need for new roads. It’s time we invested in the option that sets our city on track.
It’s time to take on big changes to start a shift in our city. We are able to create a Canberra of zero emissions by 2060, by starting now.
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I completely understand the appeal of light rail in Canberra and understand why people would prefer that over the mostly appauling bus services which currently exist. However, I’m from Brisbane and bus rapid transit (BRT) can and does work brilliantly, and there are plenty of examples world-wide. The benefits? Beside the ‘trunk infrastructure’ it is amazingly flexible and can reach a whole lot more people, so having to hop in your car to get to a station is less likely, because chances are, the service can start near where you live. As examples show overseas, light rail and BRT technologies are becoming so integrated, it’s hard to tell what’s what. Some BRT use electric trolley buses with overhead wiring, guide wheels and raised platforms for passenger comfort and ease and some are triple-articulated (which basically means they have three ‘carriages’). I think we need to be super careful about just ruling one or the other out. Either way, money will need to be spent. As Brisbane proved, the secret is in having very high quality infrastructure, excellent technology (such as real-time tracking and BRT prioritisation at lights) and appropriately designed vehicles. It’s these things (and not one mode or the other) that people should be putting the hard questions to the ACT about.
Me again! Just thought I’d let you know that the International Energy Agency has just released a database on Bus Rapid Transit Systems (BRT) globally in partnership with with EMBARQ, a division of the World Resources Institute, a think tank based in Washington D.C.
According to the database, BRT systems carry over 22 million passengers per day in 137 countries across the globe. More info can be found at: http://www.iea.org/index_info.asp?id=2417
While the rail buffs are screaming ‘just build it’, I wonder what they mean. Do they mean a boutique line as currently under discussion, or do they mean a Canberra-Qbn wide system? The boutique line is just a reflection of poor planning for Gungahlin, likely to be repeated in Molonglo. No effort is being made there by this group for light rail…I wonder why.
As for Canberra being designed for light rail, that’s crap. The draft plans for Canberra showed a line along Constitution Avenue, but I think that was the sum total of it.
Having worked in heavy rail, let me say that light rail down Northbourne would be an eyesore, be unmanageable at intersections, and shower adjacent building with fine steel particles that in turn rust, as happens to properties adjacent wherever steel wheel runs on steel rail.
As a resident of Tuggeranong I can’t conceive of a situation where I would be able to take advantage of a Gungahlin to Civic light rail system. Yet I have no doubt that I, along with all other Canberra residents, will share in the cost. Therefore, I find the current discussions that leap to conclusions about one option or the other while stepping around or clouding cost details somewhat distressing. Let’s have less scare mongering about what is best for the future and more clarity about what we can aford.
Thanks Monica. We agree there are great examples of BRT around the world (including Brisbane), but it’s worth noting the options currently being put forward by the Government are proposing to use the existing buses, not BRT style buses and the costs are not proposing to replace these buses. In contrast, the Government report has included costs for new LRT carriages along with their replacement in fifteen years time. The comparison is therefore not like-with-like and not proposing the types of BRT technologies you note.
We think the idea of a light rail system for Canberra as a whole is a great idea! Martin – why not send a letter to Simon Corbell and let him know you want Tuggeranong included?
As a former Adelaide resident, I’ve seen the results of the Obahn bus line, and the tram extension through Adelaide city centre.
The Obahn runs on its own dedicated tracks.
Buses travel at high speeds with dedicated terminals. Bus routes extend from the end of the Obahn in Modbury, to many suburban routes.
It’s a service that thousands of people use daily.
.
In comparison the Adelaide tram extension was like tearing the heart out of the city.
Two main boulevards had all trees, street parking, and central green strips removed.
Overhead electric lines were installed.
The inroduction of more traffic lights and the rail lines meant that all traffic is now almost in gridlock. The driving conditions are now much harder, combined with pedestrians running across busy roads from the tram stations.
Traffic is hence now more congested and moves slower.
The tram is subject to the same traffic lights as cars, so they also move slowly.
I am sure that Northbourne Avenue would be implemented the same way. My impression is
that it would change from a flowing boulevard to
a concrete station line.
There are some advantages to introducing light rail to Canberra, however I find the proposed advantages for Canberra 40% to be highly contestable.