As a regular public transport user, I meet the cry of “more
buses” as a solution to Canberra’s long term transport future with rolled eyes,
a sigh and the odd scream. Sure, buses are a serviceable part of public transport
system, but once you reach a certain population and size, they cannot be the
only solution.
For a bus system to potentially service a population of just
shy of half a million people, we’re looking at building supporting
infrastructure and changes to business and staffing models and the costs
incurred with these changes. Providing a rapid bus service does not simply mean
buying a couple more bendy buses, whacking a logo on the side, and letting them
fang down Northbourne Avenue or Adelaide Avenue in a way that would make Daniel
Ricciardo proud.
To enable rapid bus services we would need to see changes to
Northbourne (such as less stops, raised platforms, priority lanes and
specialised vehicles) that are already happening for light rail that people seem
to have such a problem with, and yet apparently it would be okay if we did all
that for buses?
First let’s understand the difference between buses and
light rail and what they’re meant for in city public transport.
Light rail provides a backbone to public transport. Light
rail is not intended to be flexible, meander through suburbs like a big maxi
van and stop at your door. In fact, you’ll be hard pressed to find a bus
service in a city the size of Canberra that does this.
The purpose of light rail
is to service major arterial roads on a regular basis, connecting town centres
in the most efficient and reliable way. From the start and end points of light
rail services, buses take up the service of suburbs. Stage One of light rail
will free up hundreds of bus hours, making them more useful in the suburbs than
they ever will be trapped behind dozens of cars on Northbourne Avenue.
There are drawbacks to buses that people who don’t take them
regularly won’t understand:
- they are subject to the flow of traffic,
- they aren’t very roomy,
- there aren’t as many seats as you think there are,
- they can (and do) break down, and
- rides can often be jerky and uncomfortable.
In peak
hour, buses are filled very quickly (for those who say you’ll never get a seat
on the light rail, try taking a 200 series Rapid Bus in peak hour), and reliability and adhering
to timetables is reliant not only on traffic but also the behaviour of the
passengers, particularly where suburban routes turn into arterial routes such
as the 259 and where multi modal travel wins over a single route that lasts an
hour and provides more opportunities for delays.
Light rail, by comparison, will effectively have its own
lane and its progress along the route will not be hampered by what motorised
traffic is doing. Unless there’s a car crash right on the light rail track, a
dingle on Northbourne Avenue will make no never mind to the light rail.
Passengers who don’t have their MyWay card out of the wallet and ready to go
when the service arrives also won’t hinder the progress of light rail – when
light rail pauses along its way at each stop, there is a pre-determined amount
of time for passengers to get on and off, passengers have a bit more time to
tap on and off with ticket facilities at stops as well as on the light rail vehicles,
and if you have a question, you won’t be holding everyone up by taking up the
driver’s time.
The driver is separate from the passengers and instead customer
service officers at stops and on the light rail will field questions and
concerns so the driver can get on with driving and keeping the service on time.
Many people who don’t use public transport don’t realise that it’s often
passengers who can hold up the service along its route.
“More buses” screams nothing but “more traffic” along routes
that are already congested and slow particularly in peak times. Without
dedicated bus lanes – which would either require road widening or taking a lane
off current traffic – more buses is not a long term solution. “More buses” also
comes at a cost. More vehicle purchasing costs (which have to be paid immediately,
as opposed to the light rail PPP model), more drivers, more maintenance, bigger
depots, not to mention massive infrastructure changes that are required to make
additional buses actually worth the initial outlay.
Can you imagine the outcry
that car loving Canberrans would make if Northbourne Avenue became two lanes so
that the third could be bus only? The Letters to the Editor section of The
Canberra Times simply isn’t big enough!
Alternatively, the proposal of an
additional lane for motorised vehicles down the middle of Northbourne Avenue makes
even those who couldn’t care less about the current public transport debate raise
an eyebrow in bewilderment. It’s still going to require tree removal and building
of infrastructure such as stops, and it will result in an additional lane that
makes the ‘country chic’ median pointless, as well as providing a precedent to
turn medians into roads.
In a city over 100,000 people, buses have their place as
part of an integrated transport system with light rail at its spine. A massive
shift in how Northbourne Avenue and, in the future, other arterial roads in
Canberra are used will have to happen either way in order to make light rail or
“more buses” actually have an impact on the quality of public transport in
Canberra.
There is only so wide we can make a road for “more buses” until there
isn’t any room left for anything else. Utilising the ready made medians for
level light rail tracks will, however, provide a substantial change to public
transport access and availability with minimal impact to how the roads in
Canberra currently work.
When you consider all the implications, “more buses”
will provide more headaches for Canberra road users in the long run, either by
losing current lanes or creating more of an eyesore of our medians than light
rail ever could.
The “more buses” argument is not only unsustainable, but is
a band aid solution that will require additional updates and fixes in the very
near future.
Light rail allows buses to do what they do best which is servicing
suburbs along existing roads, with light rail transport easily and efficiently
servicing major roads where flexible routes are not required.
As a regular
public transport user, this is what Canberrans need now in order to save time
commuting, and increase the usability of the existing bus service. Multi modal
travel has been shown to cut commuting times, simply by allowing the right mode
of transport to do what it does best, and this is where integrated public
transport will allow Canberra’s public transport system and its efficiency to
grow.
More buses, in isolation, are only a band-aid solution.
Article by Cyn Piromali
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