News & Discussion: O-Bahn

[cmet]

O-Bahn partially closed as a bus has come off the track.

[adelaide transport]

It has been closed between Klemzig Interchange and Paradise Interchange since Monday mornings incident. The damage to the bus is quite extensive.
Repairs are currently being carried out to the track.

[ChillyPhilly]

The AEC SA branch has called out the Liberals for deliberately misleading the community regarding the possible O-Bahn extension.

[Brucetiki]

The AEC SA branch has called out the Liberals for deliberately misleading the community regarding the possible O-Bahn extension.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-11/ ... /100061606

The Libs tried to claim that Labor were considering an expansion that would destroy dozens of homes - and advertised this to houses in the area. The electoral commission found the claims misleading.

[SBD]

The AEC SA branch has called out the Liberals for deliberately misleading the community regarding the possible O-Bahn extension.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-11/ ... /100061606

The Libs tried to claim that Labor were considering an expansion that would destroy dozens of homes - and advertised this to houses in the area. The electoral commission found the claims misleading.

I feel like the "retraction" will be along the lines of "we told you that Labor had a plan to extend the O-Bahn. WE WERE WRONG. Labor has NO PLANS to improve public transport in the northeastern suburbs.

Small print could extend that with quotes from Messrs Koutsantonis and Malinauskas to the effect that they have "...indicated it would look into options for extending the O-Bahn, there were no current plans to do so." and that they have not ruled out acquiring houses to do so.

I'm not sure how much Labor has won by this action.

[ChillyPhilly]

I could be mistaken, but that could also be misleading as this project was first mooted by Labor from memory.

[SBD]

I could be mistaken, but that could also be misleading as this project was first mooted by Labor from memory.

I think you could be right, so forcing Liberal to release a new leaflet that confirms that Labor DOES NOT HAVE A PLAN feels like a mis-step by Labor to me.

I wonder if the electoral commission worked faster than Labor expected. It would have been much better for Labor if the Liberal-funded flyers could have been forced to say "Labor DOES have a plan to do XYZ, and will not destroy any homes to do it".

[Bob]

One of the options being considered is the possibility of running Bus Lanes in the Centre of Grenfell & Currie Streets with Super Stops east of Frome St, near Gawler Pl, immediately west of KW St and potentially one immediately west of Light Square. Each Super Stop would have platforms on each side, the rebuild of the roadway would include wider footpaths and increased street tree numbers along with street furniture, indented parking bays for Taxi Ranks & Loading Zones to fit within the scope of the Greening Adelaide City Masterplan.

Potential obstacles include the political sell that street parking will be reduced, right hand turns banned, and the cost of the redevelopment, which the ACC is not prepared to undertake alone, it already paid for Rundle Mall and the half-baked (far from finished) Victoria Square. With no Federal or State funds allocated the ACC will leave Grenfell – Currie Street untouched until Government funds in the future are allocated. In reality this translates to ‘expect nothing in the near future with this corridor outside a standard re asphalting of the surface which will be required in the next 2-3 years for safety reasons’.
The ongoing debate and differences of opinion between the State Government and the ACC is strangling what potentially could be a win-win solution, especially considering the unofficial expected passenger numbers using the OBahn will pass 10M annually within 3 years from the City Access Project completion. Chances are this number is conservative, once patrons discover peak travel time savings will exceed the ‘average 3.5 minutes per trip saving as part of the projects initial appeal’, in all likelihood peak hour savings away from the CBD between 1700 & 1800 will be 5- 8 minutes savings off current times. For comparison the Adelaide Railway Station today handles about 8-9M passengers annually.

Ignoring the obvious increased traffic congestion points about to unfold from the end of this year will not take the issue away, that issue being Governments at all levels will need to cooperate and agree upon the final plan and funding for the main east –west bus corridor through the city.

This will be further exasperated if Bus services from Norwood, Kensington & Burnside districts all use the same city corridor once the old RAH closes.

Taking the task head on now instead of the backroom chatter currently taking place, is the only way to sensibly tackle what is going to be a big project in the middle of the CBD sooner or later. He said, she said, is not a professional way to agree, plan and fund this critical transport corridor.

Since I wrote the above mid last year, it is time to take a snapshot of how the City Access project has changed travel times & patronage.

Adelaide Metro have acknowledged recently that the time savings are greater than originally anticipated and as such have released new timetables allowing for consistent quicker times, for example off peak is 11 minutes and peak is 12 minutes scheduled from Klemzig to Grenfell St (stop closest to KW St cnr). To put into perspective, the average 3.5 minutes savings originally put forward and mocked heavily in The Advertiser, has in reality become over 10 minutes in savings during peak and 4 minutes in non-peak. Some additional scheduled services have been snuck into the new timetables and by all reports patronage has increased on the route BUT neither The Advertise or the Libs have released the figures unfortunately - it would be positive story for PT infrastructure spending. And time savings alone is only part of the story how this project has improved the situation.

This brings us back to the cooperation required between the Adelaide City Council & the new State Govt to plan, design and upgrade Grenfell /Currie Street properly for the long term, a plan than can cope with an increasing volume of buses and passengers. Despite what some commentators said over the last year or two that the O'Bahn is at capacity, that is simply not true, there is still significant potential to provide a lot more services on the route and add more buses into the CBD corridor.

The political task now has to start from scratch again...a long term attractive plan for the CBD PT corridor needs to be agreed and implemented preferably within 5 years

I apologise in advance for quoting an old post of mine but needed to bring today's post into context.

In today’s Advertiser there is an article on a Flinders Uni transport study that concludes with buses running down the middle of key main roads with ‘platforms’ in the middle of these roads claiming it would be cheaper and better than extending light rail etc.

I don’t have member access to The Advertiser, but if someone does, could you please post the article here? I am sure it will trigger off another round of discussion.

[Saltwater]

Here's the article. Personally I don't have an issue with adding high frequency bus routes, which are much more effective than building gold-plated light or heavy rail lines. What the proposal doesn't mention is what happens to existing vehicle traffic along Henley Beach Roat et al if the route is expected to cater for priority bus lanes as well as covered platforms. Much of HBR through Mile End and Torrensville is only two lanes in each direction.

Fast bus network not light rail the answer to Adelaide’s traffic woes, study finds

A fast bus system using lanes in the middle of major roads would be cheaper and more effective than extending light rail, a study has found.

A seemingly simple road rules quiz from the Department of Transport has lead to some opinionated online debate.

A rapid public bus system that services passengers using dedicated lanes and platforms in the middle of major roads would be a cheaper and more effective alternative to extending light rail in Adelaide, a study has found.

Flinders University researcher Michael McGreevy has suggested that Adelaide adopt a “Bus Rapid Transit” system – modelled on one in the Brazilian city of Curitiba – to build on the existing bus fleet, which carries three-quarters of the city’s public transport passengers.

Under Curitiba’s BRT network, buses use 60km of priority lanes separated from commuter traffic. Passengers wait for buses in covered platforms in the middle of streets.

Dr McGreevy compared running BRT, heavy rail and trams on Adelaide’s east-west corridor, from Rosslyn Park to Henley Beach through the city via The Parade and Henley Beach Rd. He also analysed the potential to operate feeder roots along perpendicular roads, such as Portrush Rd, and to Adelaide Airport.

His research argues that Adelaide’s inner and middle suburbs are better suited for a “cost-effective” Curitiba-style bus system, which would be more reliable and convenient for passengers.

He said the cost of an “arterial-based BRT” ranged from $1m to $10m per kilometre, “one-seventh” the cost of the cheapest light rail being built in Australia.

“An additional advantage they have over rail, particularly in low-density areas, is the ability of vehicles to leave and return to right-of-way lanes at multiple points along a route,” he said.

“In the case study area, the low cost of BRT and their ­vehicles’ ability to leave right-of-way corridors mean they are able to connect more ­people with more places and produced a networked subsystem which minimises the need for interchanges.”

He said by using existing infrastructure, the transition could happen “comparatively quickly” within a “matter of years”. The new network would build on the success of Adelaide’s O-Bahn, which is the busiest public transport corridor in Adelaide.

“ … BRT can be expanded metropolitan-wide, using existing road infrastructure and vehicles,” Dr McGreevy said.

He said that a new bus ­network could be connected to rail and tram routes at multiple points, “creating a metropolitan-wide, networked, public transport system at a fraction of the cost of rail-based alternatives”.

“In the case of Adelaide, BRT produces a system able to maximise connection, coverage, convenience, speed and reliability in an area with low residential densities, a strong CBD, concentrated employment and walkable streets.”

[PeFe]

I would rather see future transport funds directed towards an upgrade of the the entire Adelaide rail network.....grade separations, station upgrades, a master plan for each line with connecting bus services.

The O-Bahn should be converted to light rail with Grenfell/Currie becoming a transit corridor.

Also support tram extensions to North Adelaide and the Airport.....can't see any other destinations that warrant trams, nor BRT. Adelaide's population density is just too low and the roads are already quite wide allowing travelling space for buses.

[Norman]

Trams or BRT, people will still complain because a lane or on street parking is being taken away from them.

[Saltwater]

Removing one lane from our main thoroughfares is one thing, but if suddenly major roads like Henley Beach Road or The Parade are completely closed to traffic to accommodate bus lanes & shelters, that's something else entirely. Cars, trucks and other traffic would just end up rat-running through local streets instead.

I'm newish to Adelaide so wasn't here when the Obahn was being built. I'm guessing it proceeded the Linear Trail, because nowadays it just doesn't seem possible any type of transport corridor would be allowed along the river. And thus I've presented what an Obhan West could look like, to avoid removing any lanes from HBR, and if the same consent to build along the river existed today as it did when the Obahn towards the north east was planned and constructed. As a regular user of the linear trail through the western suburbs I must clarify this is not intended to be a serious proposal.

[Joelmark]

Well, we’ve only been waiting 40 years or so for the Adelaide City Council and the State Government to jointly commit to turning Currie-Grenfell into a transit mall so maybe this is the year. Ironically, the original late 1970s LRT proposal up the Torrens would have used King William St and then through North Adelaide via Mackinnon Parade- with King William becoming a transit mall predominantly for buses and trams. So even back then, the idea was that a major artery given over primarily for one use of public transport should become one oriented for other public transport uses.

[Nort]

I'm newish to Adelaide so wasn't here when the Obahn was being built. I'm guessing it proceeded the Linear Trail, because nowadays it just doesn't seem possible any type of transport corridor would be allowed along the river.

Nowadays absolutely not, but if you don't know about it check out the MATS plan for the direction Adelaide almost went: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropoli ... port_Study

Among the many suggestions of a 1960's plan almost put into effect, what is now the Obahn route would have been a freeway with parts of the river actually moved to accommodate it.

Well, we’ve only been waiting 40 years or so for the Adelaide City Council and the State Government to jointly commit to turning Currie-Grenfell into a transit mall so maybe this is the year. Ironically, the original late 1970s LRT proposal up the Torrens would have used King William St and then through North Adelaide via Mackinnon Parade- with King William becoming a transit mall predominantly for buses and trams. So even back then, the idea was that a major artery given over primarily for one use of public transport should become one oriented for other public transport uses.

Is there any documentation on this idea?

[Bob]

Working out how to best manage the sheer volume of buses using the Grenfell/Currie Streets PT corridor is always going to be a challenge, IF the one central bus lane in each direction was implemented it is still not clear how to prevent continual bus to bus blockages without bus overtaking lanes at ‘platforms in the middle’ or ‘super stops’, and that is not practical. Its going to take a smart solution to work it out – a thousand plus buses a day down the strip all needing several stops each along this section between East and West Terraces.