Born in Southport, lived here 20+ years. Public transport has always been quite poor and we definitely needed something to change. I don't understand how you can say the light rail won't work when it's never been tried before. I hate to keep using AFL analogies because I'm just going to be called an AFL troll but people said the same thing about Carrara Stadium when they were planning to redevelop it. People said it would be a white elephant based on previous attempts. Well, it isn't. It's regularly pulling decent sized crowds and will be the main stadium used for the Comm Games in 2018. I'm not naive enough to say the light rail is definitely going to work but I just think it's way too early to label it a failure.
As I've already stated, born in Southport and lived my whole life here. Been on holidays to all the major cities in Australia with the exception of Perth and Tassie (Launceston and Hobart). Also been to lots of regional areas like Newcastle, Cairns and Townsville. I've seen plenty of this beautiful country we call home.
First of all, I can't find anything official that says it actually costed $1.8 billion. The point I was trying to get across was the fact that Sydney's is going to cost $1.6 billion so the costs are pretty similar for around the same distance. Sydney also don't have to build a bridge.
I think university students will find the tram convenient. That's nearly 20,000 people right there. Not saying they'll all use it because they won't but that's still a lot of people who could use it. As you've pointed out, tourists will also likely use the system. Like I said in my previous post, students and tourists will be the main people using the trams. I also expect plenty of people that aren't students/tourists will use the system to get from Surfers to Broadbeach on Friday and Saturday nights.
No no, I didn't say it was a valid reason to keep it. I was trying to say that it may be the reason it is kept if it does end up being a failure. You can't see traffic getting better? Really? There are roadworks everywhere and streets have been shut down but there is no way it is going to get better in your mind? What a ridiculous thing to say.
I see your point about couriers and the like not being able to park in Surfers. Don't really know how you can avoid that though and now I'm starting to think you are using personal reasons as to why the tram shouldn't exist. Fair enough, of course people will fight for what affects them directly but majority of the people living on the Gold Coast don't need to park along Surfers Paradise Boulevard on a daily basis. We do live in a democracy, majority rules and unfortunately you are in the minority in this case.
I drive through Surfers Paradise once every second day. No doubt the roads are an absolute mess right now but once the roadworks are finished the traffic flow will improve. As I said before, I see your point about the parking along Surfers Paradise Boulevard but I'm not sure a lot can be done to change this. I drive through the Southport CBD area every day. Scarborough street is really the only one that has been majorly affected. I know that's one of the main roads in Southport but you can still get around it if you know what you are doing. Again, I think you're taking personal experiences into this and painting a negative picture when a vast majority of people won't be facing the issues you do on a regular basis.
Well Pacific Fair is getting a makeover so that's a good start. I don't have facts for this one, it was simply my opinion (and yours?) that they should build more car parks near the tram stops. Whether it's possible is a totally different issue.
Mate, it's bad because it's not finished. I don't have to tell you how bad it was a year and a half ago when even more streets were shut down. You can't honestly tell me it was easier to get to Surfers Paradise Boulevard a year and a half ago than it is now?
You may well be right. It may be a failure but I still believe it's too early to make that call.
Entirely possible that will happen. Only time will tell. Unless you have a time machine I think your predictions are a bit premature.