Transitways Briefing Paper - Appendix 1</<TITLE>
<BODY>
<TABLE border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align=center width="100%">
<TR><TD colspan=5 class="tableFormatTopBorder"></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD class="tableFormatSideBorder"></TD>
<TD width=10></TD>
<TD align=left>
<DIV class="textFormatHeaderText"><CENTER>Appendix 1</CENTER></P></DIV>
[This page reproduces sections from pages 2-6 to 2-7 of the Transitways Overview Report from 1998. This was the only part of the report which compared alternative systems.]<BR>
<STRONG>2.6 The Preference for a Bus-Based Transitway</STRONG>
<P>The feasibility study considered the viability of a light rail service along the Liverpool - Parramatta Transitway corridor as an alternative to the Government's announcement in-principle preference for a rapid busway. The development of the Transitway as a bus-based system was found to be preferable, and light rail non-viable both at present and for the foreseeable future, for a number of reasons.
<P>Work to estimate Transitway patronage produced no evidence to support any expectation that busway patronage would be exceeded by use of a light rail system (whose construction would be significantly more expensive).
<P>Compared to larger light rail vehicles which would take a relatively long time to fill with passengers (justifying only an occasional service frequency), the smaller size of buses would be advantageous in achieving the levels of service frequency (typically five minutes or less at peak times) anticipated as being required to induce mode shift from car to Transitway use.
<P>Furthermore, stated preference surveys specifically confirmed the dislike for mode transfer from feeder bus to light rail that would be required of a light rail system. In contrast, a bus-based Liverpool - Parramatta Transitway would support "no-change" services which commenced in areas away from the busway itself, used the busway, and/or left the busway to reach distant destinations.
<P>In the central city areas connected by the Transitway (Liverpool and, especially, Parramatta) a light rail service operating at anything approaching an attractive frequency could significantly worsen road network congestion, due to the inflexibility imposed by a fixed track system. In these areas, detailed planning for high-frequency Transitway bus movements could include the spreading of services across a number of parallel routes in response to local conditions, and bus through-routing to layover points beyond the congested centre.
<P>The careful integration of Transitway bus stations with existing land uses, especially at existing centres of high commercial and employment activity, could result in the service exerting a positive influence over the density and mix of land uses along the corridor. On the basis that this effect could lead in the long term to significant growth in the catchment for Transitway services, and consequently enhanced viability for light rail, it would be appropriate for the Transitway to be designed so that a changed technology could be introduced in the future.
<P>Width, vertical clearance height, grade and curve standards for the Transitway's construction are consistent with light rail use. It should be noted that if such a change were to occur, buses could be diverted progressively from sections of the Transitway while rails were installed, making the conversion a relatively simple matter in physical terms.<BR><BR>
<TD width=10></TD>
</TD>
<TD class="tableFormatSideBorder"></TD>
</TR>
<TR><TD colspan=5 class="tableFormatTopBorder"></TD></TR>
</TABLE>
</BODY>
</HTML>