Capital Metro design consultation underway

dungfungus said :

They have speed restrictions in Melbourne too according to the article you have linked to.

You’re confusing trains and trams. Tram tracks are installed on a concrete slab and they are going nowhere, train tacks are installed in a bed of ballast and can buckle if the temperature gets too high.

dungfungus said :

That payroll tax/levy to fund part of the Portland light rail sounds a bit like some other payroll tax on a different thread.
Coincidence or planning?

Coincidence. We’re talking an extra tax on top of that for people deemed to live close enough to the thing to use it.

davo101 said :

dungfungus said :

This article about what summer heat does to light rail operations is very interesting and this is when the mercury is under 100F. Imagine what will happen in Canberra

That doesn’t really apply to Australia. What happens in Melbourne is that the track and power system are fine but the trams give up when it gets too hot for them.

dungfungus said :

The location is some place called Portland, Oregon in the USA.
Hey, isn’t that the light rail system that ACT Labor and The Green claim is the model for all light rail systems?

Indeed it is. So if we go by the Portland model, the Federal government is going to pay for 70% of the cost and the rest will be made up by a payroll and self-employment tax on everyone who lives near it.

They have speed restrictions in Melbourne too according to the article you have linked to.
Whatever effect there is in Canberra we are are going to have a dysfunctional tram service when it is hot and I have seen rail lines buckle in western NSW during hot weather.
That payroll tax/levy to fund part of the Portland light rail sounds a bit like some other payroll tax on a different thread.
Coincidence or planning?

dungfungus said :

This article about what summer heat does to light rail operations is very interesting and this is when the mercury is under 100F. Imagine what will happen in Canberra

That doesn’t really apply to Australia. What happens in Melbourne is that the track and power system are fine but the trams give up when it gets too hot for them.

dungfungus said :

The location is some place called Portland, Oregon in the USA.
Hey, isn’t that the light rail system that ACT Labor and The Green claim is the model for all light rail systems?

Indeed it is. So if we go by the Portland model, the Federal government is going to pay for 70% of the cost and the rest will be made up by a payroll and self-employment tax on everyone who lives near it.

This article about what summer heat does to light rail operations is very interesting and this is when the mercury is under 100F. Imagine what will happen in Canberra (climate alarmists will be beside themselves).
The location is some place called Portland, Oregon in the USA.
Hey, isn’t that the light rail system that ACT Labor and The Green claim is the model for all light rail systems?
I did try to alert readers earlier to weather problems that can play havoc with light rail but as usual I was dismissed.
Then again, this article is from a newspaper and we shouldn’t beleieve all we read in the media.
Also, memorise the images in the headline photo. It is not the lovely Euro design tram that you will see, it is the ugly stanchions and wires. This is what we will get in once beautiful Canberra.
http://www.oregonlive.com/commuting/index.ssf/2014/07/why_trimet_automatically_slows.html

rosscoact said :

wildturkeycanoe said :

Pandy said :

Maya123 said :

wildturkeycanoe said :

If it’s feedback they want, why don’t they simply look at the Riot Act, there are hundreds of opinions on these pages relating to the train. Unfortunately, they won’t consider an invisible train that flies through the air and costs nothing to build and run. Anything else and many people will be very angry.

No, there is opposition here to it by a few very vocal people, not hundreds. In fact it would be rather daunting for someone to express another opinion with that much negative chatter.

Really?

I have said previously that they should poll the population.

In fact lets have a referendum!

I second that motion, what do Canberran’s really think? Has there been a poll about this on RA yet? Opportunity for the moderator here so we can have some unbiased feedback on this subject to satisfy both sides, if not the government itself. Apparently we only need poll a small percentage of the population to get real results so why not try it out on a small scale here?

Self-selecting polls are not representative of the entire population. I would find it astounding if the ACT government has not been doing its own (representative) polling on this topic and others.

This is precisely why the Capital Metro proposal was “invented” just before the 2012 election. Labor’s polling indicated the election would be deadlocked (or worse) so they made sure they had a plan to guarantee support of The (sole) Green for the next term.
What will probably happen now is that Labor will do more polling on the Capital Metro project and it’s fate will be determined by the acceptance or rejection of the electorate. If it is canned before the 2016 election there will some great spin accompanying the announcment.

rosscoact said :

I would find it astounding if the ACT government has not been doing its own (representative) polling on this topic and others.

The response would be entirely a function of the question they asked. My personal experience from talking to people about the tram plan is that they are very positive about it. When I tell them how much it’s going to cost they start to be less positive. After explaining to them that the ACT Government priced a bus option that will give us the same benefits and cost half as much they are confused. And finally, after explaining the plan to pay for all of this is to charge an extra tax for it they are strongly opposed.

So I’m guessing somewhere between 0 and 100% support depending on how the question is worded.

Ding Ding !
Along with the tramway will come a raft of new rules, regulations and FINES!
Link to Gold Coast instructional video on how to adapt to trams:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAEUg3bMiIk&feature=youtu.be&a

rosscoact said :

Self-selecting polls are not representative of the entire population. I would find it astounding if the ACT government has not been doing its own (representative) polling on this topic and others.

I wouldn’t find it astounding if the government had only conducted the poll that really matters to them: how many votes do we need to form government? What does he want? Oh well, let’s play along with the silly toy train set idea.

wildturkeycanoe said :

Pandy said :

Maya123 said :

wildturkeycanoe said :

If it’s feedback they want, why don’t they simply look at the Riot Act, there are hundreds of opinions on these pages relating to the train. Unfortunately, they won’t consider an invisible train that flies through the air and costs nothing to build and run. Anything else and many people will be very angry.

No, there is opposition here to it by a few very vocal people, not hundreds. In fact it would be rather daunting for someone to express another opinion with that much negative chatter.

Really?

I have said previously that they should poll the population.

In fact lets have a referendum!

I second that motion, what do Canberran’s really think? Has there been a poll about this on RA yet? Opportunity for the moderator here so we can have some unbiased feedback on this subject to satisfy both sides, if not the government itself. Apparently we only need poll a small percentage of the population to get real results so why not try it out on a small scale here?

Self-selecting polls are not representative of the entire population. I would find it astounding if the ACT government has not been doing its own (representative) polling on this topic and others.

Better watch it there wildturkeycanoe, lest u be branded as “negative”. Voicing a logic and common sense based opinion doesnt matter – just dont be negative.

Besides, there was a vote on this at the last ACT election – Labor didn’t get a majority of the vote – but combined with the Greens vote (both parties apparently supported a toy train set), that view carried.

If you want to look at the “positiveness” of the Light Rail (what I call positive spin) from Capital Light Metro and Mr Haas (who contributes here occasionally), check out the Capital Light Metro Facebook page – its all good………not much negatives there !

We just need to send all those with a dissenting or negative view off to a Light Rail re-education camp !

Pandy said :

Maya123 said :

wildturkeycanoe said :

If it’s feedback they want, why don’t they simply look at the Riot Act, there are hundreds of opinions on these pages relating to the train. Unfortunately, they won’t consider an invisible train that flies through the air and costs nothing to build and run. Anything else and many people will be very angry.

No, there is opposition here to it by a few very vocal people, not hundreds. In fact it would be rather daunting for someone to express another opinion with that much negative chatter.

Really?

I have said previously that they should poll the population.

In fact lets have a referendum!

I second that motion, what do Canberran’s really think? Has there been a poll about this on RA yet? Opportunity for the moderator here so we can have some unbiased feedback on this subject to satisfy both sides, if not the government itself. Apparently we only need poll a small percentage of the population to get real results so why not try it out on a small scale here?

Ben_Dover said :

Please note that influence the end design” does not include the option to “stop us wasting $$$$millions on this lunatic idea which no one wants or needs.”

Well it does, just suggest that it should be ‘N’ scale and installed on Shane’s desk–problem solved.

gooterz said :

What colour do you want your white elephant to be?

Green, of course!

Is Ms Thomas a member of the Greens?

We can only hope her husband moves somewhere else and history repeats itself:
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/emma-thomas-pulls-plug-one-year-into-contract/story-fni6uo1m-1226698456182?nk=5f4a8f77ff0b3819f2ec3c5063e0df27

Maya123 said :

wildturkeycanoe said :

If it’s feedback they want, why don’t they simply look at the Riot Act, there are hundreds of opinions on these pages relating to the train. Unfortunately, they won’t consider an invisible train that flies through the air and costs nothing to build and run. Anything else and many people will be very angry.

No, there is opposition here to it by a few very vocal people, not hundreds. In fact it would be rather daunting for someone to express another opinion with that much negative chatter.

Really?

I have said previously that they should poll the population.

In fact lets have a referendum!

What colour do you want your white elephant to be?

wildturkeycanoe said :

If it’s feedback they want, why don’t they simply look at the Riot Act, there are hundreds of opinions on these pages relating to the train. Unfortunately, they won’t consider an invisible train that flies through the air and costs nothing to build and run. Anything else and many people will be very angry.

No, there is opposition here to it by a few very vocal people, not hundreds. In fact it would be rather daunting for someone to express another opinion with that much negative chatter.

“As this is an early design, no decisions have been made on the final product, so this is the most opportune time to influence the end design. Please note that influence the end design” does not include the option to “stop us wasting $$$$millions on this lunatic idea which no one wants or needs.”

switch said :

dungfungus said :

Time to roll out the ACT Labor minority Government media release disclaimer again.

“This media release may contain statements that constitute forward-looking. These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, such as the words “expects”, “projects”, “plans”, “believes”, “intends”, “anticipates”, “estimates”, “stabilised”, “underwritten”, “vision”, “may”, “could”, “pro forma”, “budget”, “financial model”,”infrastructure” and analogous…

You left out “vibrant.”

And “sustainable”.

JessP said :

Dont build it. Ever.

Tisk, tisk. So much negativity.

All the answers are here for u disbelivers/negative vibe people :

http://www.actlightrail.info/2014/06/a-piece-of-krupp-indeed-anti-light-rail.html

I also note that Minister Corbell says that “no decisions have been made on the final product”.

Shouldn’t that have read “no decisions on whether to build it or not, have been made” ?

what are the implications for action routes if/when this light rail is completed – surely there will be capacity to service tangential routes to the main thoroughfare than as now when by the time you get into the near-civic precinct as far out as dickson there are about eleventy routes running down the strip, while the suburbs cry out against the paucity of service. will action make anything of this opportunity to service their patrons’ complaints? [rhetorical question, i presume…]

dungfungus said :

Time to roll out the ACT Labor minority Government media release disclaimer again.

“This media release may contain statements that constitute forward-looking. These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, such as the words “expects”, “projects”, “plans”, “believes”, “intends”, “anticipates”, “estimates”, “stabilised”, “underwritten”, “vision”, “may”, “could”, “pro forma”, “budget”, “financial model”,”infrastructure” and analogous…

You left out “vibrant.”

Dont build it. Ever.

If it’s feedback they want, why don’t they simply look at the Riot Act, there are hundreds of opinions on these pages relating to the train. Unfortunately, they won’t consider an invisible train that flies through the air and costs nothing to build and run. Anything else and many people will be very angry.

Time to roll out the ACT Labor minority Government media release disclaimer again.

“This media release may contain statements that constitute forward-looking. These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, such as the words “expects”, “projects”, “plans”, “believes”, “intends”, “anticipates”, “estimates”, “stabilised”, “underwritten”, “vision”, “may”, “could”, “pro forma”, “budget”, “financial model”,”infrastructure” and analogous. Any such statements are inherently subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected and the actual outcome to differ materially from that expected. Such risks and uncertainties include, amongst others, general economic and business conditions, competition, changes in political, social and economic conditions, regulatory initiatives and compliance with governmental regulations, and various other events, conditions and circumstances (including acts of god, war and terrorism). No assurance is given by the ACT Government in relation to any such statements. The ACT Government expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking to publicly release any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement contained herein to reflect any change in expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.”

Perhaps I should drop by and ask to see the patronage modelling…. LOL