Would BusPlus system be a viable transport solution?

would this potentially provide any answers or alternatives to ideas currently on the table?

Not really. The proposal is designed to deal with off-peak times on weekends and nights.

The idea does sound interesting, but it’s funny to think that off-peak ACTION buses are so empty that it would be cheaper to replace them with an on-demand taxi service. The article doesn’t really explain how much you would pay for the taxi part of the journey, are we talking standard taxi fare or flashing the MyWay?

People are far more likely to use routes that are direct, with no need for changing (which is why the Xpresso buses are so well patronised). In our climate changing (even for a taxi) is not ideal. They simply have to let go of the idea of a main line serviced by little lines, and focus on more direct routes.

Using what you already have more effectively should always be step one.

Not one supporter of the light rail proposal has been able to justify this project in economic terms which, ultimately, is what limits us.

OpenYourMind said :

The light rail is a long term investment in old school technology. Think of the changes we’re seeing right now and the transport equation may change significantly yet we’ll still be tied to a very long term debt. As well as the idea in this post, some of the other new things that may change the landscape are:
1. More telecommuting,
2. Decentralisation of work hubs
3. Self driving transport
4. Ultra cheap to run electric vehicles – potentially in different form factors than traditional cars
5. Crowd sourced transport – Uber, GoCatch etc.

And that’s just the ones we know about right now!

This is an awful time to think about trams. If they were ultra cheap, maybe, but the first leg of this tram journey is going to cost $600-800million upward.

Canberra, time to rethink this train (err tram) wreck before it hits us.

There appears to be no way this project can be stopped now.

Despite that all the studies are not in as yet, the final BCR isn’t nailed down, the “build it and they will come” assumptions and now, in today’s Canberra Times a critical report on the CBR Light Rail from the Productivity Commission, etc. Says it all really.

The light rail is a long term investment in old school technology. Think of the changes we’re seeing right now and the transport equation may change significantly yet we’ll still be tied to a very long term debt. As well as the idea in this post, some of the other new things that may change the landscape are:
1. More telecommuting,
2. Decentralisation of work hubs
3. Self driving transport
4. Ultra cheap to run electric vehicles – potentially in different form factors than traditional cars
5. Crowd sourced transport – Uber, GoCatch etc.

And that’s just the ones we know about right now!

This is an awful time to think about trams. If they were ultra cheap, maybe, but the first leg of this tram journey is going to cost $600-800million upward.

Canberra, time to rethink this train (err tram) wreck before it hits us.

The old Area buses used to work – where they combined 4 areas at night and you hopped on and said where you want to go. Something like mini-buses could work to service the side routes, which mega-buses travel down the main spine.

If you need to call a taxi to get you to the bus/tram stop (or “hub”) then why wouldn’t you just take it all the way to your destination?