00:00What do you like about our awesome tram system?
00:03It's on time when the buses aren't.
00:05That's actually true!
00:07It runs like clockwork every four minutes.
00:10It actually does.
00:17Hi guys, we're at Broad Beach South this morning at the tram stop here on the Gold Coast
00:23and I wanted to jump on and do a story about the GC or the Gold Coast light rail.
00:29For a couple of reasons.
00:31But what jogged me into doing the story was this popped into my letterbox just recently
00:37and when I opened this brochure, so the council sends these out to residents.
00:43The first thing here that caught my eye was the announcement that they've made 50 cent fares
00:51a permanent feature now here for the GC.
00:55And I can't tell you how positive that is obviously on every level.
00:59You know, it helps people with the, it gives them cost of living relief.
01:03It encourages more people to use the trams.
01:07And obviously then we're trying to get cars off the road so it's got those environmental benefits.
01:13And the 50 cent fares was actually introduced a while ago.
01:18Like over a year ago I think they introduced the 50 cent fare just as a trial run.
01:24And what they noticed when they introduced the lower fare was the patronage of the tram really jumped.
01:31I.e. tons more people started using the tram.
01:35Because you know, especially at the moment with fuel prices so high, 50 cent fare.
01:40And to be honest, Gold Coast traffic has got a poor reputation for having too many cars and not enough
01:48lanes.
01:48And the traffic can really bottleneck, especially at peak hour.
01:53So to be honest, depending on where you're travelling, but sometimes it's actually quicker to take the tram anyway.
01:58So that's the first bit of good news.
02:00So the 50 cent fare has now become a permanent feature.
02:04So the other reason to jump on and do a story is that stage three of the GC, you know,
02:14the Gold Coast light rail project is now completed.
02:17Which means that the trams, even though on the day that we're recording this, passengers still aren't going on the
02:24tram.
02:25But that's any day now expected to happen.
02:28But the track now or the trams now go all the way to Burley Heads.
02:33So let me give you a little bit of sort of context about our tram system.
02:38So I've got a map here.
02:39So the tram, this has been a huge thing.
02:42And in fact, you'll see behind me in one or 30 seconds, because I can see it now.
02:48A tram from Burley Heads is going to pull into the station just behind me.
02:52And that's got no passengers on it at the moment.
02:55Because what they're doing is they're bringing the trams here, which used to be the most southern end stop.
03:02Which is here at Pacific Fair.
03:05And all the passengers would get off.
03:06This was the last stop.
03:07But now that the trams are going to Burley Heads, they're still just testing the route.
03:12So this tram has just come from Burley Heads, basically.
03:15So they're running it as if passengers would be on it, but it's still being tested.
03:20But like I said, on the day that we're recording this, passengers are still not on the tram.
03:25But that is really likely to change any day now, in fact.
03:29So anyway, the tram's put in.
03:30So that's come from Burley Heads.
03:31So the actual GC, the tram, was, I mean it was obviously planned for a while, but actually
03:39getting wheels on those tracks and passengers on those tracks was completed in 2014.
03:45And in fact, that's about the time we moved to the Gold Coast.
03:49So the whole time basically we've been moving, we've been living here on the Gold Coast.
03:54We've had the beautiful tram system here.
03:56And now that tram has come from the north.
04:00So that's come from Helens Vale.
04:01And that's now going to Burley Heads.
04:03And you can see there's no passengers on that tram now.
04:06Because they're doing it as if the route is now open.
04:10But like I said, passengers still aren't actually riding to Burley Heads.
04:14So this is our network here.
04:17So when Stage 2 was completed, so basically the network, it's 20 kilometres the whole track
04:24before this now Burley Heads extension.
04:28So now with the Burley Heads extension, it is 27 kilometres.
04:33So a 27 kilometre track going all the way down here.
04:37And the most northern point is Helens Vale.
04:41And now the most southern point is Burley Heads.
04:44Which is what the completion of Stage 3 has now achieved.
04:48And it includes now 27 stations.
04:51So I actually reckon that's pretty cool.
04:52Like it's 27 kilometres, 27 stations.
04:55And this is according to my research and as far as I know.
04:59So if someone else has a correction, then please leave a comment
05:03if they know something that I haven't said or something like that.
05:06But as far as I know and as far as the research that I have done.
05:11But anyway, so there was going to be a Stage 4 for our tram network.
05:20And that was going to be going even further south down to Coolangatta Airport basically.
05:28But that has as far as I know at this point been cancelled.
05:33So the council is instead, oh and that was for a few reasons.
05:37So they cancelled it for several reasons actually.
05:40One of the reasons was enormous community backlash actually about the Stage 4.
05:45So there were a lot of people concerned.
05:48Which sort of brings me to the second reason.
05:51Environmental concerns.
05:52So to build the track down to Coolangatta Airport I think was going to cut through some,
05:56I think, protected areas or close to.
06:01And so there were environmental concerns there.
06:03And also cost.
06:06The budget was really blowing out I think at that point.
06:09So what the council is going to do instead.
06:12Is it going to be having a bus rapid transfer system to the airport from Burley Heads.
06:18Called the GC Surfer.
06:20So that's going to be from Burley Heads to the airport.
06:23And that's going to be buses basically.
06:24Transiting people.
06:25And they're going to be frequent buses.
06:28But there is something else that's going to be coming onto this rail network.
06:32And that is, and I've got a map of this as well.
06:35That is they are going to be building a branch.
06:38So this is going to be going a little bit inland.
06:41And this is going to be going to Harbour Town.
06:43And that's well and truly in the pipelines.
06:45And in fact I think when they built this first track here.
06:48They already built, I think, what's called a join or something here.
06:52So this was always going to be built.
06:55And now it's very much in the pipelines.
06:57And they are hoping that it's going to be completed by the 2032 Olympic Games in Brisbane.
07:03So yeah anyway, so that's really exciting.
07:06So I thought I would, whoops.
07:09I will.
07:11This is the fun of filming on location.
07:15My cheek cheeks go flying.
07:18So that's basically why.
07:20Oh they're just doing an announcement.
07:22Oh they're just doing an announcement.
07:23Visit tram.com.au.
07:25Call 13 12 13.
07:28When you travel on the trans you do hear those announcements a lot.
07:32But that's basically why I wanted to jump on and do a story about the trams.
07:37Because yeah, like it's, I mean I absolutely love the tram.
07:41I am a commuter.
07:43I do use the tram a lot.
07:45And like I said, depending on where you're travelling, it's actually quicker to travel on the tram sometimes.
07:50Than be stuck in traffic.
07:52So I just think both of those aspects of what we talked about today are both hugely positive.
07:57So 50 cent fares have been made permanent.
08:01I think that's such a good decision.
08:03And also that now the tram is going to Burling Heads.
08:07And like I said, any day now, passengers are going to be on that tram and going all the way
08:12down to Burling Heads.
08:14And I thought I'd just leave you with an interesting fact about the GC or the Gold Coast light rail.
08:21And that is that when it broke ground, it was the first public transport infrastructure in Australia to get all
08:33three tiers of government funding.
08:37So it got federal government funding.
08:39It got state government funding.
08:41And it got the local funding as well.
08:46So Sharon, you're a local here.
08:48You live here on the Gold Coast.
08:49What do you like about the tram system?
08:52The convenience.
08:54The convenience.
08:54That being a fellow smell and being able to put all the way down and not wanting to drive is
08:58deserved.
08:59Isn't it convenient?
09:01It basically follows the whole goal.
09:03And what about you?
09:04What do you like about that?
09:05I was a big fan of the 50 Cent initiative.
09:07It was great for people who are struggling hard, especially those without a vehicle.
09:12So yeah, I really enjoyed that.
09:14What do you love about our tram network?
09:16The car is reliable.
09:18It's just an easy commute.
09:26Very affordable.
09:28We can't wait to get to Booley Heads.
09:31How often do you use the tram?
09:33Every day.
09:34We use it every day because we sold our car.
09:37Oh, interesting.
09:38So we don't need the car.
09:39We rent our car space so we make more money and that allows us to use the tram as often
09:45as we like.
09:46We just love it.
09:47And we hope that all the cars will convert to the tram.
09:52Every day.
09:52One, two, three, four.
09:53Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
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