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- #101
In an ideal world both the trains and trams would be extended to the airport. That way we'd have the two major corridors of the Gold Coast (Pacific Motorway and Gold Coast Highway) providing access to a public transport system that is interconnected through the city. Then you have the third major corridor in Southport-Burleigh Rd (aka Ferry Rd/Bundall Rd/Bermuda St) that is currently being upgraded to six lanes to allow more traffic. I think in the future we'll see many east-west light rail extensions through these three major roads and you could probably argue that Helensvale is the first east-west extension. Going back to the trains though, I think there was a big shift away from extending the Gold Coast train network when the cost of the 4.1km Robina-Varsity Lakes extension blew out to a staggering $300 million in 2009. Having said that, they are protecting the Varsity Lakes-Coolangatta corridor for future heavy rail extension so it's not like they've given up completely.
Light rail infrastructure promotes high density living which is obviously extremely fitting given the system currently runs along the coastline and through the future CBD. In some ways, the future of the Gold Coast is dependent on high density living and that's why I believe the new city plan extended the height limits along the coastline through suburbs like Mermaid, Miami, Burleigh etc. Reducing car congestion is also extremely important for the future of the city and a light rail system that runs through the future CBD and to the train line helps tremendously. The price of petrol isn't going to get any cheaper and eventually people are going to realise it's more economical to take advantage of public transport. Instead of sitting in traffic for hours you can board a tram system that is extremely punctual.
Council is aiming to have around 15% of the GC population working inside the CBD in the near future and I dare say the number of residents working along the Helensvale-Coolangatta light rail route would be considerably higher than 15%. It's all about high density living and high density transport. You also create demand for inner-city living by doing that as well. The 2031 Gold Coast Transport Strategy that was released in 2014 showed 88% of trips made on the Gold Coast are through the use of a car and that's simply too high for a major city and will result in gridlock if they can't change the transport behaviours of the locals.
I agree that the current system leaves a lot to be desired in terms of residents travelling to work but you really have to consider this an investment for the future when looking at its worth. However, it does already reach major destinations such as the hospital, the university, the casino, the convention centre, the broadwater parklands and Cavill Ave so it's not like it's useless to locals in its current form.
Broadbeach South to Gold Coast University Hospital (13km) takes about 35 minutes on the light rail but this isn't a good indication of expected times for future extensions. That's an average speed of about 22km/h over the route but the tram must go very slowly when weaving through Surfers Paradise Boulevard and Queen St/Scarborough St/Nerang St in Southport. These issues won't exist for stage 2 because it will running alongside Smith St and the train line which should allow it to travel at least 60km/h for the duration. Add two minutes of stoppage time for the two stations and you should be able to get from Helensvale to the hospital (7.3km) in 9 minutes. That should mean a trip from Helensvale to Scarborough St (middle of the CBD) will take about 18 minutes and a trip from Helensvale to Cavill Avenue should take 32 minutes. That may seem like a long time but that same trip (Helensvale to Cavill Ave) in a car would take me at least 25 minutes and then you have to consider how hard it is to park in Surfers Paradise some days.
Trying to estimate how long it would take to get from Broadbeach South to somewhere like Burleigh Heads would be much harder to estimate because we have no idea how many stations they plan to implement but it should be said that, as long as they run the route down the middle of the Gold Coast Highway, the trams should be able to comfortably travel around 60km/h because it's a very wide road that doesn't really wind before Burleigh. I think Broadbeach to Burleigh is about 6.5km so it may even take less than 9 minutes depending on the amount of stations they put in place. Burleigh to Coolangatta is much harder to predict because the road is much smaller, includes bridges and winds around a fair bit.
How long would it realistically take to drive from the airport to Cavill Avenue? 35 minutes or so? If my estimation is correct with the Broadbeach-Burleigh stretch, then you're looking at about 19 minutes to travel from Burleigh to Cavill Avenue on the tram. That gives you another 16 minutes to travel from Burleigh to the airport (11km) to be on track with a car. I don't think the difference between the two modes of transport is going to be that great based on what I've just put together. Having said that, I'm no expert and I could be wrong.
Getting from the airport to Cavill Avenue in under 40 minutes and avoiding the exorbitant cost of a taxi would be very convenient. I know I've written a lot in this post but I think it's important to look at the big picture here and it's also important that residents discuss the effectiveness of the system for themselves and others.
