Missed PT Opportunities

[Admet75]

We know there are numerous Missed Public Transport Opportunities but the biggest one would probably the MATS Plan when it suggested a underground railway for Adelaide and it never happened- mind you some of the highway developments have happened in a very roundabout way look at the Northern Expressway or Port Expressway and North-South Corridor from Torrens to the Port Expressway. However having said some others I could mention include:
* Lack of possible foresight in the retention of the Victor Harbor Line (albeit with improvements to track) via Mount Barker, also closure of the Barossa Line to Nurioopta for passenger traffic if retrained it would have now carried commuters but the track would have had to be substantially improved as the Stonie had a TSR of 20kph from Gawler Central to Angaston because of the track.
The line from Gawler to Roseworthy could have remained opened but may have been closed due to poor patronage on the Burra Corridor plus also that housing was not even existent at Roseworthy at the time.

* Lack of extensions of bus routes once new estates are starting to form. Many times the developer made roads inaccessible for buses of all shapes and sizes. North of the Grove Way at Golden Grove is a great example with around Atlantis Drive their were many cul-de sacs plus even Atlantis Drive was difficult at times to maneuver a rigid of artic i was told initially when development took place because there was no intended bus stops thereby traffic was backing up each time a bus stopped at a stop.

* Extension of some Transit Links to other areas. There was meant to be apparently one from Paralowie to the City under a Serco proposal but never eventuated.

* Extension of train lines earlier on to Seaford and thereby we would have seen the Aldinga Extension happen earlier.

* A controversial one- Light Rail instead of the O-Bahn

* Improvements to most stations so they don't look like glorified bus shelters or bus stops

* Retention of some express tram services

* Improvements to the limited stop patterns on the Seaford Line back to when the Noarlunga Line was express to Oakland then Brighton and then all stations from there to Noarlunga Centre. This means currently Interpeak services on the Seaford Line are considered quite slow in comparison. Brighton shuttled could still operate but it could operate I wonder as a two car EMU set.

* Patronage incentive payments withdrawn in 2011 thereby operators lost a monetary incentive to increase patronage. From 2000 to 2010 Torrens Transit was the operator who mostly improved services and turned some cross suburban services to radial along with with a small dash of cross suburban(ie. withdraw the 650/652 service and replace it with a route 190).

* No timetables at any stops and stations means the opportunity is there to make the PT system user friendly and aid in helping passengers not feel so insecure. Yes not everyone owns or knows how to operate modern technology to access that information- yes some stations have real time information but in extremely hot weather this information screens play up.

* Extension of the current tram network a bit further to which the previous labor Government did studies all to no avail. There was some controversial extensions including some which would require a total rethink of how the routes could be done economically and provide the best cost benefit ratio.

These are some of my ideas what do you think?

[Gayspie]

Improvement to the length/location of belair line passing loops during the resleepering project in the late 2000s.