News & Discussion: Public Transport Contracts, Service & Policy

[Norman]

Torrens Transit
http://www.torrenstransit.com.au/tt/default.asp

SouthLink
http://www.southlink.com.au

TransitPlus
http://www.transitplus.com.au

[Norman]

Some photos I took today at the new Mount Barker Park and Ride at the old Mount Barker Station. The opening day is on Sunday (I doubt there will be a ceremony).

Outside View


Covered-Up Sign


Entrance Way


Car Parking




Station Shelter






Bike Storage


Timetable Holder


New TransitPlus Depot


New TransitPlus Administration Centre


Bus Going Through New Bus Wash

[bdm]

Could have gone for a design / colour scheme that blends in with the location. The postmodern stuff just looks out of place.

Good photos though -- this place will see MB continue to grow.

[muzzamo]

You should add at least of these images to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Bark ... _Australia

[shaun]

Nice photos Norman

I go past this nearly everyday and its good to finally see this complete (it was meant to be finished last year), I think it looks fantastic and its good to finally see Mt Barker will have a decent Park n Ride/Interchange compared to the current one next to the swimming pool which is a huge joke especially in wet and windy weather.

I have just realised that this is going to be great for tourism, because people from Adelaide wanting to go on the Steamranger, can easily now just jump on a bus and arrive right at the train station. Though there was once talk of the Park N Ride being built on the land on the cnr of Adelaide Road & Dumas Street, which would of been a much better location because its right smack bang in the town centre and metres away from the cinema and Library/TAFE campus. While the new facility is on the outskirts of the town centre, however all bus routes will run through the main shopping precinct of Mt Barker.

With the opening of the new interchange tomorrow, the new timetables come into the force and I'm expecting it be a nightmare next week especially because the new timetables are the opposite to the old ones.

Changing the topic slightly, I think us Adelaide Hills residents (including myself) take our PT system to much for granted when we are probably have one of the best networks in Adelaide (bus wise). Like there is really good frequency to the city (such as express services from Mt Barker), suburban weekday/saturday services and now a fantastic Park N Ride. When you gotta remember Mt Barker has a population only around 10,000 and growing fast (excluding Narine & Littlehampton).

Though because so many hills people work, study and play in the city aswell as rising petrol prices, peak-hour services need to be increased even more.

[Norman]

Yes, I drove through the hills on the buses today... the Hills are absolutely fantastic, especially in Winter. Reminds me of Germany a bit (or maybe even Canberra).

There's also a heap of developments at Littlehampton, Lobethal and Nairne, which is good to see.

[Cruise]

Mr. Norman! you certainly get around!

[shaun]

Yes, I drove through the hills on the buses today... the Hills are absolutely fantastic, especially in Winter. Reminds me of Germany a bit (or maybe even Canberra).

Yeah its beautiful in winter with the lush green rolling hills, definitely going to miss that

There's also a heap of developments at Littlehampton, Lobethal and Nairne, which is good to see.

By far the largest development in the region is the 835-lot Bluestone development on the southern edge of Mt Barker. The new street lights there look like they belong on a major road rather a suburban street. However they are really nice and modern, would be good if Transport SA would use those lights or even the Harbourtown ones! instead of the current typical ugly street lights along major roads in SA.

[Norman]

By far the largest development in the region is the 835-lot Bluestone development on the southern edge of Mt Barker. The new street lights there look like they belong on a major road rather a suburban street. However they are really nice and modern, would be good if Transport SA would use those lights or even the Harbourtown ones! instead of the current typical ugly street lights along major roads in SA.

Yeah, I saw them as I went past on the 838

Hills roads are shoking though. So many freaking potholes.

[shaun]

By far the largest development in the region is the 835-lot Bluestone development on the southern edge of Mt Barker. The new street lights there look like they belong on a major road rather a suburban street. However they are really nice and modern, would be good if Transport SA would use those lights or even the Harbourtown ones! instead of the current typical ugly street lights along major roads in SA.

Yeah, I saw them as I went past on the 838

Hills roads are shoking though. So many freaking potholes.

Ha! thats the bus I catch

Yeah the hills has some of the worst roads I have ever seen, especially the narrow pieces of shit around Mt Barker and the hills.

[Will409]

I have just realised that this is going to be great for tourism, because people from Adelaide wanting to go on the Steamranger, can easily now just jump on a bus and arrive right at the train station.

I have already made such a transition back at the end of May (headed for Victor Harbor) and I can say that the current arrangement was garbage. I got off at stop 64 which had shifted from where it was previously so I had a fair walk along a small river and almost got myself lost initially. This is sure to make travel to Victor Harbor without using a car somewhat easier as well as giving Steamranger some extra traffic to Strathalbyn and Victor Harbor.

[cleverick]

Maximus,
It morphed into a debate on population density because that and public transport are so closely intertwined. Frankfurt, a German city of around 650,000 can afford a frequent, late, subterranean train service because it has the density to make it practicable, and people's transport expenditure is skewed away from their cars and towards taxes which provide public transport.
I am not, in the short term, advocating the compulsory acquisition of whole suburbs anywhere. I am saying that over time, the government should begin to concentrate its projected population growth into certain areas, and then outsource the costs of providing services to people who live outside a shrinking urban boundry. (This is no different from the government's outsourcing of transportation costs to people who live in the outer suburbs anyway- no buses means the government expects them to get around in cars without compensation.) At some point, the cost of building and maintaining roads, electricity transmission lines, water, sewerage and gas pipes, telephone lines, garbage disposal services and so on and so forth will become so great they find it worthwhile moving into the urban boundary, leaving the land available for farmland or wilderness.
I strenuously deny that in saying that the government has outsourced travel without compensation (Salisbury-ites pay tax too, but don't get the PT to go with it) I am saying the government should do the above without compensation. The loss in land value, the re-direction of funds away from supplying services to these people towards other, more worthy and sustainable expenditures of course require compensation. And in the long term, it will have been well worth it. But for now, let's halt the urban boundary, concentrate on urban in-fill and building up, not out. Then we too can have a PT system like Frankfurt- which has just over half our population.

[Maximus]

Maximus,
It morphed into a debate on population density because that and public transport are so closely intertwined.

Yep, I know. I just really enjoyed reading the entire thing and observing how the debate gradually changed and evolved.

But for now, let's halt the urban boundary, concentrate on urban in-fill and building up, not out. Then we too can have a PT system like Frankfurt- which has just over half our population.

Absolutely. I totally agree. I've been against expanding the urban boundary ever since I learnt 'urban consolidation' in year 10 geography. Sure, urban consolidation might be more difficult in the short term, but the costs of rampant urban sprawl are likely to be much geater in the long term. I would love for Adelaide to have a comprehensive, efficient and modern public transport system that includes a network of underground lines and I completely agree that sufficient urban density is a prerequisite for this to happen.

[Shuz]

Whatever happened to the 'outer parklands ring' of the urban boundaries plan which were first implemented back in the 1950's/1960's? There is evidence of this being implemented (buffer zone between southern and southeastern suburbs - Hills Face Zone) and out north as well. The situtation is disgraceful at the moment - I'm pretty sure it costs something like $2b just to construct a new suburb (to fund the infrastructure for it) and because of the timeframe, economic returns aren't as efficient. Urban rejuvenation would come at the same cost, but the economic returns are justified immediately, because of the existing infrastructure and services already in place. Is this not a far more sustainable approach to implement, given the multitude of other benefits of urban rejuvenation?

[SRW]

Then we too can have a PT system like Frankfurt- which has just over half our population.

Apples and oranges.

You can't compare the population of an Australian city (taken always as metropolitan) to an American or European "city", which is many times smaller in area. You have to compare them by metropolitan areas. In this instance, Frankfurt has a metropolitan area approaching 5.5 million people. Even simply its urban area is in excess of 2 million.