CROSS SUBURBAN SERVICES

There remains a need in Adelaide for a more concerted effort from Government and service providers to introduce more cross suburban services.  One only has to look at the huge volumes of traffic in the AM peak, say from 5.30am until 10am, coming from North East Road and Stephens Terrace then heading down Nottage Tce, Main North Rd Rd then right onto Fitzroy Tce then disperse along Park Terrace to Port Road then onto South Road or turn right onto Torrens Road.

Looking at the occupants of these vehicles, they are a mixture of suit wearing people, parents taking children to school and people wearing hi-viz clothing such as factory workers.  I can only summise that majority of the thousands of vehicles making this journey head to either inner southern and western suburbs.  The reverse traffic flow is evident in the PM peak from about 2.30pm through 7pm.  There are also significant traffic on the contraflows too.

One then asks themselves where is public transport for these people? Non-existent that's where!  There is no bus services that cater for this enormous amount of traffic.  I am sure that if a service were to be introduced say operating from Modbury to Edwardstown without going through the City, over time it would become quite successful.

There are other areas of Adelaide that have similar cross suburban traffic flows but for the purpose of this blog I have just focussed on the inner Northern suburbs.

There is also huge volumes of traffic that use cross link Osmond Terrace at Kensington, Nelson Street & Stephens Terrace, in both directions and pretty much all day.  At Osmond Tce/Kensington Rd traffic disperses or comes from either East or West and at the other end it disperses either onto the Park Terrace ring route mentioned above or traffic turns right onto Main North Road and heads north.  Where this traffic ultimately ends up or originates from is anyones guess, but has anyone ever tried to find out?  Again, I ask where does public transport fit into all of this?  It's nowhere to be seen.

Back in the early 1990's I was lucky enough to be selected to work with a Transport Consultant who is now a Professor of Public Transport at Monash University.  His name is Professor Graham Currie.  I was selected to work with him and others on a transport modelling system called APTRANS where information was collected from the public via questionnaires.  They were asked where did their journey begin and where did it conclude.  This was done across all routes, trains and trams also.  The data collected was collated and then processed in a computer.  Models of proposed routes could then be added to the model and it would project potential passenger loadings based on the origin-destination data collected.

One such option I ran at the time was a service from Marion SC to Port Adelaide via South Road direct.  It would not run through the City just run along South Road from Sturt Road through to Grand Junction Road then into Port Adelaide.  The model suggested that such a service would be quite well patronised.  Today, if this service was to get off the ground it could be sent to Mawson Lakes.  Anyone who has traversed South Road from Anzac Highway to Grand Junction Road would agree that it has an enormous amount North-South traffic and again public transport has gone missing.

I understand that the City is vitally important to our transport network, but there are in 2015 huge amounts of potential customers that simply do not wish to go through the City.  This is evident in the couple of examples mentioned above.

Following is a couple of proposals I have for some cross suburban services that I believe would be quite successful if marketed correctly:

Route 390 - Modbury to Edwardstown
From Tea Tree Plaza via Smart Rd, Reservoir Rd, Grand Junction Rd, Awoonga Rd, Lower NE Rd, Payneham Rd, O.G Rd, NE Rd, Nottage Tce, Main North Rd, Fitzroy Tce, Park Tce, Port Rd, James Congdon Dr, Deacon Rd, Richmond Rd, Marion Rd, Sixth Ave, South Rd to the terminus at Castle Plaza.

Route 391 - Paradise to Adelaide Airport
From Paradise Interchange via Darley Rd, Sudholz Rd, NE Rd, Mullers Rd, Regency Rd, Main North Rd, Fitzroy Tce, Park Tce, Adam St, Manton St, Grange Rd, Rowells Rd, May Tce, Burbridge Rd to Adelaide Airport.

Route 399 - Kurralta Park to Sefton Park
From Stop 7 Anzac Hwy via Anzac Hwy, Leader St, Goodwood Rd, Greenhill Rd, Unley Rd, Wattle St, Glen Osmond Rd, Conyngham Rd, Cator St, Sydney St, Greenhill Rd, Stuart Rd, Swaine Ave, Prescott Tce, Osmond Tce, Nelson St, Stephen Tce, Nottage Tce, Main North Rd to the terminus at Stop 17.

Route 395 - Mawson Lakes to Marion SC
From Main Street via Mawson Interchange, Elder Smith Rd, Salisbury Hwy, Port Wakefield Rd, Churchill Rd Nth, Cormack Rd, Davis St, Grand Junction Rd, South Rd, Sturt Rd to the terminus at Marion SC.

Cross suburban rail services could also take up some of the load.  In a recent post I mentioned the re-introduction of rail services through Wingfield from Salisbury to Osborne.  There could also be a service operating from Salisbury or Elizabeth through to Tonsley utilising the gaol loop.

Many years ago there was a cross suburban rail service that used the gaol loop.  Some industrial trains operated from Mitcham to Islington Works, so it can be done.

Just my opinion.  Interested in your feedback.