nezumi wrote:apsilon wrote:
OK, thanks. So can I assume trams only operate on roads that are multi lane or is there simply no way to pass a tram on a single lane road? Anyone know why tram lines were placed in right hand lanes rather than the left which would seem to make more sense? Then you could have passing on the right like the other 99.9% of Australia and passengers could disembark on to the foot path rather than the middle of the road. Getting offtopic but genuinely curious.
Trams mostly operate on multi lane roads, but that "multi lane" can contain parked cars.
The reason for trams running in the centre of the road is, I think, one of turning circle - they can't manage a hard left turn and so use the right lane.
The problem is the parked cars on roads used by trams. This prevents cars behind the tram passing it between stops, making roads like Sydney Road useless to drivers.
Bear in mind that a Melbourne tram can have 210 passengers, and is 33m long. At typical melbourne vehicle loadings, the equivalent people in a stationary car queue would be some 1100m long, and take 9 minutes to filter past a point in flowing traffic. In 50% occupation intersection roads, that traffic would be expected to take 18 minutes to filter past a point in a single lane, and you would have an expected queuing time of 18 minutes to join the road.
ie the trip demand on that road is not solvable via cars, and if you _need_ to move a car via due to _needing_ a car on the other side of that journey, you should be awfully glad that people are using the trams, and therefore the space for more necessary car and truck journeys exist, and quite frankly other users should be annoyed with the population of single occupant toorak tractors on that particular road, particularly if they drive a trade vehicle that is carrying a payload that actually justifies its trip.