Monorail not suited for Canberra

The recent news that the Monorail in Sydney is to be closed and dismantled, with the new focus to be on light rail construction, has seen several other cities with public transport problems to look at using the Sydney monorail. 

I cannot comment on the Hobart proposal, but I can comment on the Canberra monorail suggestion. 

Canberra needs to focus on building a proper mass-transit public transport system to act as the backbone of a fully integrated system. Light rail can do the heavy lifting this system needs, with ACTION buses providing the flexibility in urban areas to feed passengers to light rail nodes. 

The Sydney monorail cannot. Its carriage passenger capacity is very low. The carriages are small. I have used the service - it is like siting in a row of old Kombi vans being towed one way around a strange non-relevant route. 

Light rail is a proven, commercial off the shelf technology, with multiple providers and a set of recognised standards. 

Monorails feature largely proprietary systems and technologies, locking users into contracts or using obsolete technologies with little to no service support available if the original supplier goes into liquidation. The same applies to providers of 'guided buses' and other types of proprietary technologies. 

The Sydney monorail track is very short. It runs one direction on a loop. 

Light rail in Canberra needs to link the major urban areas, with the major employment areas. It cannot be at the scale of a small tourist novelty. 

The Sydney Monorail is over twenty years old and maintenance on such an aging asset needs extra attention. Acquiring this system would be fraught with unknown technical challenges that would be expensive to resolve. Technical knowledge and support for this obsolete technology is scant and expensive. 

Building a light rail network would mean new infrastructure with system support from the contracted providers, who are still building this technology. There is a deep pool of this experience in Australia, and multiple vehicle builders and providers. 

While the availability of a cheap monorail system may have initial appeal, it is an impractical suggestion and should be rejected by public transport planners.  The Sydney monorail system has never attracted the patronage expected, and the reason it is being replaced is so that light rail can be extended.

Conversations on alternatives to using diesel buses as Canberra's mass transit public transport system are always welcome, but monorail is not that alternative. 

Build a Smarter Canberra - Canberra Love 40%

Canberra  Loves 40% are a local group that are committed to lowering the Territories carbon dioxide emissions by 40% in line with State and Federal government policies. They have been quite active in lobbying Territory politicians and conducting activities to raise public awareness on this issue. 

Part of this strategy to lower carbon dioxide emissions is to convince people to reduce private vehicle use, by using alternatives such as public transport, cycling or walking. They are also keen to support change to the primary mode of mass transit from diesel buses to electric light rail vehicles. 

Although support for light rail is only one part of their overall strategy, I urge you to read their 'Build a Smarter Canberra' proposals.

An ACTION users blog - 100 days of ACTION

With the recent investment into the bus system in Canberra, it would be useful to know how the average passenger finds using the system.

An enterprising Canberran has decided to start a blog chronicling their trips on our public transport network, and how it impact on their life. It is called '100 days of ACTION'.

From their first post:

The ACT Government would like more Canberrans to use public transport. It’s a noble goal, and I fully support it. But there’s a small issue - public transport in Canberra sucks. Or does it?

I’m putting Action to the test! Over 100 days, we will see whether Action buses are more likely to be on time rather than broken down or extremely late. We’ll see whether I make it to work or meetings or training or social events on time or even at all. 

And over these 100 days, I’ll also provide some insights into the wonderful world that is Canberra via public transport. 

Good luck, Action, and I hope we can find a bright future for public transport in Canberra.

It should be interesting and I will follow it (note - ACT Light rail have ZERO, NADA, NO involvement with the blog or blogger).