The detailed plan which will be presented to Adelaide City Council on Tuesday reveals tram stops at the North Tce entrance of David Jones and the UniSA apartments and a major bus interchange along Grenfell St.

A civic hub including a piazza and outdoor dining area has also been earmarked for the centre of the mall, along with set busking performance zones.

The entire city block bordered by the mall, King William and Grenfell streets and James Place has also been earmarked for development.

Rundle Mall Management Authority chairman Theo Maras said the plan revealed an early wish list. “This time we’re not just looking at what colour the bricks on the ground are, we’re looking at what will reinvigorate a 24/7 environment,” he said.

via AdelaideNow

Onkaparinga Council’s tram plan is part of its 30 year Transit Orientated Development (TOD) plan, which would see 10,000 people living and working around Noarlunga Centre.

The first detailed plans for the TOD are expected later this year.

Onkaparinga city development manager Terry Sutcliffe said a tram could link in with rail and bus interchanges at Noarlunga and bring “significant spin off benefits” for Beach Rd traders.

“For those future residents (at Noarlunga Centre) we want them to have good access to the facilities on Beach Rd and the beach itself as a major recreation centre,” Mr Sutcliffe said last week.

He said detailed plans for the tram proposal were still some way off and would hinge on a state government commitment.

Christies Beach Business and Tourism Association president Mike Kennedy, who owns Innuendo Lingerie, said a tram was a “sensational idea”.

“I think it would be the start of turning us into a road like Jetty Rd at Glenelg,” Mr Kennedy said.

“It would draw people to the area and mean more small businesses could survive.

“I’d also like to see things like a jetty or a marina – I see no reason why these things can’t happen, it’s just a matter of the dollars being available.”

CJ’s Bakery owner Andrew Sutton said a tram could make Beach Rd more of a “hub”.

“Look at what’s going on down at the Glenelg foreshore … they’ve got the tram and a water park – something like that is going to draw a crowd,” he said.

Blu C Cafe owner Danny Burns said a tram would be “awesome” but the area needed more attractions first.

“There needs to be something that attracts people – like a pier or something … after that maybe look at a train line,” he said.

Candy Magic owner Doreen Stone supported a tram and also wanted to see a hotel and more clothing shops for the strip.

Meantime, traders have recently re-formed the Christies Beach Business and Tourism Association to boost business in the area.

via Messenger News

Premier Mike Rann says the service has been a “terrific success” since it started carrying passengers in March.

The government had planned to offer free travel for just six months on the $100 million extension, which runs from the western end of the city’s North Terrace to the Entertainment Centre.

The new service was inspiring more people to use public transport, the premier said at Sunday’s official opening of the route.

“Based on patronage figures from July this year compared to July 2009, total patronage on the entire tram line grew by 55 per cent, and it is estimated 2000 people a day board this tram to and from the Adelaide Entertainment Centre,” Mr Rann said in a statement.

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“While the government initially made the commitment to provide free travel from the Adelaide Entertainment Centre to the city centre for six months, we have decided to keep the current free travel permanently in place.”

Mr Rann said the next step for Adelaide’s light rail development was a $520 million extension of the tramline from the Entertainment Centre to suburban Semaphore, Port Adelaide and West Lakes.

The construction is scheduled to take place from 2015/16 to 2018/19.

via AdelaideNow

About 350 passengers got off at the Entertainment Centre station between 4 and 6pm on its first day of normal operations, with many parking their cars at the new car park.

About 50 passengers on the one tram was recorded by this reporter at 5:30pm yesterday.

Students were overheard on a tram talking about events at the Entertainment Centre, drawing ideas from the LCD screen for acts to see late yesterday afternoon.

Jane Petric of Parafield Gardens said she could catch the tram over the train to meet her partner, who works near the Entertainment Centre, and drive home together.

The $2 Park’n’Ride deal was welcomed by Catherine Day of Gladstone who said she’d save about $55 a week by using the tram over parking in town for work.

The parking meters seemed to not fully operate however; “Annoyed” on AdelaideNow said no parking meters were available this morning and one machine was confirmed inoperable at 4:30pm.

By Anthony Caggiano for RailSA

Spokesperson for Family First Nicholas Greer says light rail services should be directed towards North Adelaide and the eastern half of the CBD and the port area should be serviced by heavy rail.

He says the party suggests a rail loop of the current trams network in the CBD and thinks there is little benefit in the current extension to the Entertainment Centre, preferring a heavy rail option over the “coast to coast” light rail option.

“Light rail does not cope well with large numbers of commuters leaving a venue at the same time (such as the Entertainment Centre),” he said.

He said the party also suggests the current tram line be converted to standard heavy rail gauge should the proposed ‘tram-trains’ be bought.

Third candidate for Legislative Council of SA Democrats Sandra Kanck says the party is “bemused by the duplication and even triplication of services” to the Bowden area and questioned the government’s intentions with heavy-rail networks in the area.

“What this (the current team extension) will ultimately mean to the Outer Harbor rail line is yet to be revealed by the state government, but it does appear to be policy on the run. Perhaps we will see the phasing-out of the heavy-rail system, ” she says.

She says the party wants the Grange rail line to go to AAMI Stadium and be converted to light rail and potentially the Outer Harbor and Grange lines become light rail services too.

The current extension to the Entertainment Centre would be used regardless of who wins this Saturday’s election, Ms Kanck says.

“Light rail is always a better option in urban areas where frequent stopping is involved. The fuel efficiencies are not there for heavy rail in this regard, and some of our heavy rail services in metropolitan Adelaide would be better served by light rail.”

Senator for Greens Mark Parnell did not offer a direct comment, however he referred to the 1993 report “Greening Adelaide with Public Transport” that supported the idea of a light rail network in general in Adelaide to increase public transport use.

The report says a light rail service would provide a more green and cost effective manner for future public transport development particularly over the O-Bahn system as there are more “green” developments in electrical supply than fuel use.

Mr Parnell was the Campaign Coordinator – SA Branch of the Australian Conservation Foundation when the report was published.

He was critical of the recently released 30 year plan for Adelaide where the proposed TODs were a bit haphazard and didn’t necessarily follow any current transport network, seeing further urban sprawl in Adelaide.

In the ABC story “Transport Trip” on Stateline last year Mr Parnell said the current government needed to carefully consider its sites, noting the Buckland Park green suburb.

“It has been roundly condemned by planning professionals as being entirely the wrong way to plan the city. You know, building dormitory suburbs on the outskirts of a city with no public transport is the thinking of last century and we can’t do things like that in Adelaide if we’re serious about reducing our pollution and increasing our quality of life” Mr Parnell is quoted as saying.

By Anthony Caggiano for RailSA