O-Bahn
Adelaide boasts the fastest guided busway in the world: the unique O-Bahn. Think about this a moment. If the O-Bahn is so great, why is it unique? Back in the early ’80s, the SA government felt the need to improve transport from the north-eastern suburbs to the city centre. Instead of building a freeway, they inexplicably decided to invest in the O-Bahn, an experimental bus concept developed by Daimler-Benz in Germany. For $98 million they got 12 kilometres of track, plus buses with guidance wheels that travel at high speed along the track. How high speed? Up to…wait for it…100 kilometres per hour.
The rest of the world has been surprisingly slow to pick up on the O-Bahn, although apparently, a number of British cities have ‘mooted’ a similar system, and in Nagoya, Japan, they ‘seem keen’ to apply the Adelaide model. So did the O-Bahn improve transport from the north-eastern suburbs? According to a federal government study, it was only moderately successful—although people found the idea of the O-Bahn attractive, they continued commuting by car. Oh well.
The O-Bahn is now a tourist attraction, and if Adelaide received a significant number of tourists, that would probably mean something. [HV]
Option C
Say ‘Option C’ to most people and you’d probably get a blank look followed by the question: ‘What were options A and B?’Say ‘Option C’ to someone who lived in the Adelaide Hills during the 1980’s and they’ll immediately know what you are referring to.
‘Option C’ was the decision that lead to the South Eastern Freeway being deviated from its old mule-track like winding course through Eagle on the Hill down to Devil’s Elbow, to be replaced by the cuttings and tunnels that are in place today. It was the third option that was presented in the mid 1980’s to extend the freeway from Crafers down to Glen Osmond, hence the designation ‘Option C’.
In typical Adelaide fashion, deciding to go with ‘Option C’ did not mean that work began straight away. On the contrary, over ten years passed before work on the tunnels commenced, and fifteen years passed before the work was completed.
And what were options ‘A’ and ‘B’? Sorry—I don#8217;t remember. [CL]