Moderator: MAN 16.242
philm wrote:If they had put a bus lane in, then yes there would be benefits. Otherwise any short-term relief will quickly be filled up by more car traffic.
Buzztop wrote:philm wrote:If they had put a bus lane in, then yes there would be benefits. Otherwise any short-term relief will quickly be filled up by more car traffic.
Mind telling me where they would put a bus lane in?. And how would that help?
Sorry I missed this. Basically for the extra lane capacity that they have created, turn at least one direction into a part-time or full-time bus lane. Then you could run more buses along that corridor and help to alleviate traffic.
.Lane capacity varies widely due to conditions such as neighboring lanes, lane width, elements next to the road, number of driveways, presence of parking, speed limits, number of heavy vehicles and so on – the range can be as low as 1000 passenger cars / hour to as high as 4800 passenger cars /hour but mostly falls between 1500 and 2400 passenger cars / hour.
krustyklo wrote:Thank goodness. I had cause to use the DART buses last weekend on both Saturday and Sunday, changing in Hoddle St on both occasions. Was ridiculous that the bus lane is there used as parking, meaning buses crawl along darting in and out of the left hand traffic lane as they service each stop. Thankfully motorists were pretty good about letting buses in, but it was pretty inefficient. FWIW, weekend services along the freeway were full and standing on each service I used on both 905 and 906, as well as the 246. The bus lane on the weekend would be used by 11 buses an hour (2x905, 2x906, 3x907 and 4x246). With sufficient bus priority, it might improve patronage just enough to warrant a better frequency and produce a virtuous spiral of service improvement, further justifying a 24/7 bus lane.
krustyklo wrote:The bus lane on the weekend would be used by 11 buses an hour (2x905, 2x906, 3x907 and 4x246). With sufficient bus priority, it might improve patronage just enough to warrant a better frequency and produce a virtuous spiral of service improvement, further justifying a 24/7 bus lane.
Not forgetting the 302 & 304 Belmore Rd services, which makes the total 15 buses an hour on Saturdays.
It might worth upgrading 905 & 906 to 20 minutes on weekends like did 907 & 908 last year.
While furthermore it may be worth 908 going into City reduce pressure on 907.
MAN 16.242 wrote:
It might worth upgrading 905 & 906 to 20 minutes on weekends like did 907 & 908 last year.
While furthermore it may be worth 908 going into City reduce pressure on 907.
One of Australia's longest-running fetish leather stores is rejoicing after an Andrews government plan to replace parking in front of its business with 24-hour bus lanes was watered down.
Eagle Leather and other businesses in a small section of Hoddle Street near Collingwood Town Hall warned this week they were on a "fast lane to bankruptcy" if Roads Minister Luke Donnellan pushed through the permanent clearways.
The 24-hour clearways were to traverse all of Hoddle Street in Collingwood, from the Eastern Freeway to CityLink and the Yarra River.
The government has already put permanent clearways on both sides of Punt Road, from the Yarra to St Kilda Junction.
Mr Donnellan announced on Wednesday that Hoddle Street would face an unprecedented near-total eight-day closure in both directions from the Eastern Freeway to Victoria Parade.
Construction crews will tear up and re-lay Hoddle Street from January 7 to 14, capitalising on the quieter traffic – 15 per cent lower at that time of year. Footpaths will remain open, as will one lane of the road for local traffic and buses.
But the clearways that were to take in all of Hoddle Street once the works were complete will now only apply on weekday mornings near Eagle Leather and its neighbours, between 6-10am.
Clearways will not be applied on that side of the road in the afternoon.
"I am so happy we've been listened to," said Brendan Jupp, co-owner of Eagle Leather.
The government's reprieve for the businesses – which say they rely on parking out front for a steady stream of customers – came after Yarra Council campaigned with them to convince the government to back down.
Mr Jupp said the section of Hoddle Street where his business is located had become a gay, lesbian and queer hotspot in Melbourne, with other destinations like tattoo and piercing business Piercing HQ and The Laird Hotel also nearby.
He said the parking ban would have lashed his store and others, in return for only slightly quicker bus rides.
To prove their case that clearways were only needed in the morning peak hour, the retailers took five Uber trips along Hoddle Street from Johnston to Victoria streets over five consecutive weekdays.
The trips, between 5-6.30pm when there were no clearways in place, took an average of two minutes and 42 seconds.
"Even on a Friday at peak time, the slowest trip was still only 3 minutes and 44 seconds, which proves our point that a 24-hour bus-only lane is just not required," Mr Jupp said.
Bella van Nes, of Piercing HQ, said at least half of her customers relied on on-street parking. "We do major procedures in our business, so people having close access to their vehicles is necessary," she said.
Yarra Council gathered almost 600 signatures opposing the plan, and said the need for 24/7 clearways was "not clear."
Mr Donnellan said the government had made a tough decision on the eight-day shutdown for Hoddle Street, in the pursuit of long-term gain. "Shutting down a section of Hoddle Street isn't a decision we take lightly – but it'll allow construction crews to get the best start to this project during school holidays and spare drivers from three months of ongoing closures."
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