Monorail, monorail, monorail!

Gfgbeach

My vision for the future of Townsville includes a monorail.

I want a whole elevated rail network,  but I specifically want monorail connecting the island to the mainland. Not one of those dorky circular monorails like Sydney used to have,  which only went in one direction so you wouldn't bother taking it if you wanted to go to the stop behind you.  This would be a point-to-point monorail that goes back and forth between Picnic Bay,  Cape Palaranda and some place near Kissing Point. There will probably be a couple of stops along the way, as well.

If possible, you'd set it back from the coast-line so that people on the monorail could get a good view of the beaches, but people on the beaches wouldn't have their eye-line ruined by a monorail.

Now, ideally, I'd like to see this meet up with a stop on the greater elevated rail network: a simple, but well designed light rail network crisscrossing the city at first-floor level. Stops would be located at every major shopping center and landmark (like the hospital and the university),with other stops at regular intervals along the way.

So, in theory, you could take the "sky tram" from the uni to the Nathan Street interchange (handily located adjacent to Stockland's roof-top car park), switch to the line that goes to Kissing  Point, and then catch the monorail to the island.

The great thing about an elevated network is it could be erected over existing roads, streets and drains. We have a lot of open space running throughout the city for storm drainage, and an elevated rail network will be able to take advantage of those spaces without impeding the flood waters too badly.

Part of my vision involves making sure that the monorail and the trams used for the network are pretty. I don't want some ugly, utilitarian looking eyesore spreading over the city.  Make the rail network a feature of the town, so that the tourist love looking at it as much as the locals love using it.

So, vote one, Sharon B, because a vote for Sharon is a vote for monorails.

Skating

So, I bought a new pair of roller skates with, more or less, the intention to eventually skate to work*. This idea may, of course, be completely insane as we all know roller skates have large chunky wheels that are poorly suited to dealing with obstacles - therefore the possibility of my tripping over a rock and falling flat on my face is a very likely one. Then again, let's face it - this is hardly the stupidest idea I've ever had, now, is it?

Anyway, the potential dangers of the activity might not be all I have to worry about.

Turns out that the Queensland Government has changed the road rules recently to declare all manner of wheels one may stand on to be for "recreational" use only, and not allowed on the roads. So, throughout the state, anyone on quads, in-lines, boards or scooters who dares to ride on any road "major" enough to have markings on it is breaking the law and is up for a fine.

Note that: it's still okay for skaters to ride on the streets - just not if the street might actually have a bike lane marked on it. Once a road is big enough to have a space for people who aren't in cars to have a lane to themselves, skaters can just take themselves off, thank you.

Now, I understand why the Queensland Government would believe the road rules need to be changed to specifically deal with skaters. It's to deal with the idiots. There are an awful lot of them out there - morons who seem to be under the mistaken impression that they can behave in a completely unpredictable and somewhat reckless fashion without getting themselves or someone else hurt. These people justifiably earn the hatred of everyone who sees them. Truth is, we all want them to smack into a pole and take themselves out of the picture.

Idiots can, of course, be found commanding any given form of transport out there, from cars right down to skate boards. However, idiots on skateboards are much easier to identify as idiots than idiots in cars. They're slower, so you can hate them for a longer period of time while waiting for them to throw themselves under your car. Drivers will usually hate other road users with a greater passion than fellow drivers. Except maybe P platers in utes. Everyone hates them.

However, I'm pretty sure banning the use of skates on roads is a poor solution to the problem. In fact, it kinda sucks. Sure, if there was a network of well maintained paths to enable people using skates to get through towns without going onto the roads, it would probably be okay. But I challenge you to find any town or city in this state where someone travelling by board can safely and effectively navigate the landscape without going onto the road. Plus, I'd like to point out that roads are periodically cleaned and maintained. Not so the "footpaths". It takes years before someone cleans the broken glass off those, or repairs damage done by wear and weather.

So, essentially, this law is just telling everyone who legitimately travels from A-B using skates to ping off: "You can't be here. I don't care that you don't have anywhere else to be."

A law stating skaters must wear protective clothing when travelling on the roads would make more sense. However, that law does not exist. You can still travel the glass-ridden, damaged footpaths without a helmet or wrist-guards, but you can't go on the roads even if you're wearing plenty of safety equipment. (For anyone who doesn't know, it's illegal to ride a bike on the roads without a helmet in Queensland).

On a side note, I believe (but have not confirmed) that unicycles are classified with skates as being recreational devices. Legally, you don't have to wear a helmet whilst riding a unicycle. And, I guess, now you can't legally ride a unicycle on the roads. However, you would have to be three different shades of stupid to try to try to ride a unicycle along a Queensland road anyway - with or without a helmet.


*I should probably confess that, at this point, I haven't even made it to the park with these skates, let alone anything resembling a street.

Bussita

I've been harbouring a great plan for some weeks, now.

While I try to ride my bike to work three days a week, sometimes I like to shake it up a bit by making my way on foot. It takes me under an hour to "run" to work (well, periods of running interspersed with periods of walking) and not quite an hour and a half to walk.

However, in order to do this, I have to plan it in advanced. I don't want to carry everything on my back while running, so I have to make sure I've got everything I need for work there the day before. Then I have to get out of bed an hour earlier than I normally do and eat half a breakfast before heading out, then work out what to do about the other half when I get there.

And, then, if I run to work for 50 minutes I'm usually much sweatier than when I ride to work for 25, so I need a proper shower instead of a simple "freshen up" (something I can avoid if I walk instead), and my clothes are usually too unpleasant to put them back on again in order to make the return journey on foot (again, something I can avoid when walking), so then I have to arrange for a lift to get back home.

So, after I realised I was actually avoiding making the trip on foot because of these inconveniences, an idea began forming in my mind - I could reverse the order in which I do these things. Instead of bringing my gear to work a day before and running to work, then getting a lift home (after getting up an hour early), I'd get up at my normal time, catch a bus to work and run home, leaving my gear to be collected the next day.

A great plan, I thought. One of those "invert the problem" things that always make me feel like I'm actually doing something with my brain. One problem, though: the bus service in Townsville. It's not exactly easy to navigate.

You see, our bus stops only mention what zone the stop is in. They don't tell you what buses stop at that stop or when one could reasonably expect to see a bus come past.

When you consult the timetables online, they also neglect to mention anything other than the "major" stops on each route. I found one bus that said it would stop in my suburb, and assumed that would be the bus I would catch at the bus stop on the street around the corner from my house.

Alas, that was an erroneous assumption. The bus that goes down that street is a different bus number on a different route - one which gives no indication on the time table that it comes anywhere near my area. The one I thought I was going to catch actually goes down a different street a few blocks over.

The other day I tried walking down to a bus stop which my perusal of the time tables had lead me to believe would be a good and useful bus stop to attend. After waiting for about twenty minutes for a bus which was never going to come, I walked back home and drove to work, finding myself very grateful that I was catching a bus because I felt like it, and not because I had to. Also, very grateful that I tried this experiment with a non-existent bus that was leaving earlier than I would leave if I was taking a car. I still managed to get to work on time.

Talking about this with some friends at work, the general consensus was that they would never take public transport in Townsville, and pitied the poor souls who had no other option. It's "too confusing", "too unreliable" and "too frustrating".

Once again I'm reminded that my home town is absolutely and entirely enslaved by cars. It's just completely impractical to try to live in Townsville if you don't have a car of your own. I know some people who manage it, but I also know they do so out of sheer stubbornness, not because it's a reasonable and viable option.

And it all comes down to bad design. Whoever is designing the bus system isn't using it. Whoever is designing the bike routes isn't riding them. It's like everyone involved in the design of this city assumes every man, woman and child has a car and prefers to use it. All other "options" are afterthoughts.

What we need to do is clear the streets for a couple of weeks. Take everyone out and then put them back in a little at a time. Start with the buses, because they're the most egalitarian form of transport and, in a well designed city, everyone should be able to get to where they need to go with a couple of bus trips and a ten minute walk. Then revise the bike lanes and bike routes to make sure cyclists and skaters* can safely navigate the entire city without risk of being hit by a bus, thrown by a pothole or accosted by a solid object**. After that, bring the cars back in with the clear understanding that buses and bikes take priority in the traffic flow.

Yes, it will become less comfortable to drive a car. But, on the other hand, it will become more comfortable to take a bus or ride a bike, which is better for our health and wallets. It's my personal opinion that the best designed cities are the ones where visitors who have never been here before can find their way around easily without once having to hire a car or catch a taxi. Sadly, Townsville is not a well designed city.


*A post about skating soon to come.
**A post about solid objects soon to come.