Commenting on the story: Call to get trams to North Adelaide and Prospect back on track

Haven’t we already got bus services going to these places? The tram extension from North Terrace to the old Royal Adelaide Hospital is such a waste of space. Causes traffic congestion, ruined a perfectly good flowing street, and is rarely full of passengers. A total waste of money. – Fran Grigg

Unlike the ACT government’s tram vanity project in Australia’s lowest density population city at an eye-watering cost (stage 1, 12 km for $850 million), the tram extensions for Adelaide into strong commercial centres show some economic sense.

Adelaide Bridge is a problem: old and needing remedial work. It used to have trams running over it in Adelaide’s previous tram era (before the silly decision to rip up the network) but new trams are larger and heavier. – Robert Warn

There is no doubt that government needs to focus on “transit centred growth” if it wishes to speed up the decarbonisation of urban areas across South Australia, however planners and lobbyists need to become modally agnostic and lose their fixation with both light and heavy rail.

South Australia used to be a leader in thinking differently, which resulted in the O-Bahn, infrastructure that is still held up as an industry leader today and should have been used to replaced the Glenelg tram.

It isn’t the rails in the ground that attract patronage, it is the prioritisation of public over private transport in our road/transport network. By all means create easements and infrastructure for the public transport, but look at other means of delivering the mobility. Bus Rapid Transport similar to the O-Bahn is infinitely more flexible than rail and less expensive, not to mention rubber-tyred trams that use a normal road with separation from cars.

At the moment light rail is the go to if you wish to be seen as serious about public transport but in reality it is the solution you put forward when you don’t want to put any real time into the subject.  Government public transport policy needs to get back to itss once world leading position of bold but sensible, striking a happy medium between leading edge, affordable and flexible something that traditional trams can never give you. Could it just be, that trams look good in the animations and drawings? – Jared Kent

Commenting on Your Views and Slowdown: Adelaide’s traffic grind revealed in new data

I would like to take issue with James Baker’s comment:

‘This state is ridiculous re road conditions: not one pedestrian over-road walkway anywhere south of Salisbury, so stop the flow of traffic for maybe two or three pedestrians. Prospect Road central area is another example: four sets of traffic lights within a 500-to-600-metre strip and not one of them synchronised to allow flow of traffic. Adelaide lives in a vacuum compared to cities of its size around the world.’

Far from car traffic flow being the purpose of all road planning in other parts of the world, in much of Europe, the pedestrian comes first. Traffic flow is seen as an anti-pedestrian activity. Motorised speed limits are decreased, not increased. Pedestrians are not forced to cross roads via the ludicrous method of long climbs, unpleasant crossings, and then the long descent the other side. Roads are not split into two, unable to be easily crossed by humans.

Prospect Road central area is a shining example of how things should be done in Adelaide, people centred, it has a great feel, highly successful as a shopping and community strip. It is to the great detriment of the city and community living that roads such as Goodwood and Unley Roads are not treated with similar respect. – Cathy Chua

Commenting on the story: Centrelink staff boost after robodebt royal commission

In the training, include how to speak to clients respectfully, treat them with friendliness and help them feel better for having visited Centrelink.

On my one visit to a Centrelink desk I felt as though I was a lesser human being and the counter staff could not even be bothered to raise her eyes to look at me. I am assuming it is not in the training to know how to demean clients. – Beryl Barmada