I also moved to Melbourne recently, and my theory is that the love of trams is inertia from a time where congestion wasn't so bad.
I prefer to walk within the city loop, but both activities would be so much faster and more pleasant without the cars.
There are quite a few Teslas that drive around here with wanky number plates like they're doing the world a favor, which in a city with such usable public transport always makes me cringe.
You're not doing anything wrong by driving a Tesla, and it's preferable to an ICE.
But you aren't doing more for the environment than someone who only takes public transport, which is practical and quite common here.
Keep in mind that you only have a 25 minute drive because so many other people are taking public transport, if it was ripped out you'd have a much longer commute so it is very practical for you, albeit indirectly.
> That 40 minutes a day is very valuable to me
Depending on how crowded the tram/train is that 40 minutes can usable time with a smartphone or laptop, it's not in a car.
I have never been in any train or tram that has anywhere near enough room to use a laptop. In peak hours I try to even avoid using my phone - there's simply not enough room to have a raised hand near your face without the hand also being in someone else's face.
The long-distance trains (like the Quiet Carraiges to Geelong) have more room, and in Perth I could use a laptop for the first ~30min of my journey before the train filled up.
Outside of peak hours is an entirely different story.
To each their own. I'd always take train, even if I couldn't use the time for anything.
The permanence is also a feature. One of my favorite things about Melbourne is never having to visit a shopping mall because retail spaces spring up naturally along tram lines, these are easy to get to, open and walkable. It was also a big factor in where to buy an apartment, I'm pretty confident the tram lines will be there long after I die but bus lines can be changed on a whim.
It's a crime that Sydney and Brisbane got rid of them.
Dedicated lanes is the biggest factor. Plenty of trams don't have dedicated lanes, in which case the significant cost premium is a complete waste.
Buses can also have dedicated lanes with right-of-way. The ones I've been on in Mexico and Ecuador were quite nice. While I personally find rail more comfortable and also appreciate how route permanence effects property values, as a taxpayer even dedicated lanes and right-of-way don't justify the costs.
Historic lines are a different matter as the initial capital costs are already spent, and even if they cost more to operate it can still make sense. So it does suck that old lines were destroyed. But if you're gonna build new, I just can't abide paying the ridiculous premium for rail unless they're going underground or otherwise grade separated for a significant portion of the line. But if they're grade separated then by definition they're not really trams.
IME they're an improvement but no where near as good as separated rail. It's like building a 32 lane highway, it speeds up most of your trip but then 90% of it is spent at the exit ramp.
Underground would probably be an improvement for travel times but I'm not sure how much, part of the benefit of trams is their frequent stops so being completely unimpeded is less critical. I doubt you'd see the same level of retail build up along the lines too.
One option I'd like to see return through the CBD would be elevated lines, I'm not sure why they fell out of fashion.
Yes, the busways in parts of Brisbane are really excellent, better than any tram line I have seen. But they are also huge pieces of infrastructure that take up even more space (and I suspect money) than the a tram line would have.
Which is probably why they only extend in one direction from the city.
Been in Melbourne for 18 months now and have only just realised that this is one of my favourite things as well, I only appreciated it subconsciously until now.
What's the difference to you, as a passenger, between being stuck on a tram rail, and being stuck on a bus route? You can't ask a bus driver you take a de-tour from their route, can you?
> disruptive to the rest of the traffic
No the rest of the traffic is disruptive to the trams!
It will always take less time to change a bus line than a train line - but this isn't a difference of hours vs. years, it's months vs. even more months.
Trams will have relief route loops, but they’re never in the most ideal location.
Offering a general principle doesn't somehow refute reality.
If you look at a map of Melbourne's frequent services (tram and bus) they pretty much all form a grid. https://melbourneontransit.blogspot.com/2019/04/are-you-near...
Auckland redesigned its transit network to have more frequent routes requiring transferring, and public transport ridership is poised to double in ten years. https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/111564109/aucklands-unbelie...
The trams in melbourne suburbs usually drive down the middle of the road, and stop in the middle of the road, meaning people exit in the middle of the road and have to walk across it to the footpath, halting the traffic. Conversely buses pull over to the side of the road, usually into a lane that is used for parking, or at the most stopping only the one lane of traffic.
This can actually be pretty bad for travel time as well, because then the bus has to wait for a break in traffic to get back on the road. Now in the US many places build bus stops out to the road lanes so that they don't have to waste time pulling in and out of traffic.
This seems less a problem of trams running in the middle of the road and more of a problem of localities that don't build suitable waiting areas next to the tram tracks. Example: https://nacto.org/wp-content/themes/sink_nacto/views/design-...
The bus behind could have driven around, but the next tram was stuck until the blockage was cleared
Now, if the busses had dedicated lanes that they could use, they may run as well as trams, with the flexibilty of changing route for exceptions like crashes, or road works
There are some express buses which at least are quick but they're still noisy and uncomfortable. Trams are a dream after using the buses.
Can't stand buses. Buses are slower, comparatively unreliable, from the commuters view they are stuck on rails (that's what a route is), they don't support the increased density trams and rail do, have lower capacity, more disruptive to traffic, slower to get on/get off because of fewer doors. So now we have the contradictory evidence problem :p
(And just for the record, I've lived in both Sydney and Melbourne, and the only thing worse than replacement buses are Sydney buses + Sydney traffic. Of course, that's not to say I don't use buses, I do, but Melbourne's core is awesome partly due to the trams, and people in Melbourne don't know how good they've got it).
Buses are for pensioners and school kids.
https://www.economist.com/britain/2006/09/28/the-wheels-on-t...