Title : Car or train? The quickest way to get to the Games
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Car or train? The quickest way to get to the Games
Much was made of the two-hour traffic delays on the night of the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games opening ceremony on Wednesday.
It left many questioning what was better: public transport or private car?
My ABC colleague Ashleigh Stevenson and I decided to have our own race to the Games to see which was faster.
The challenge was simple: start outside the ABC Brisbane's headquarters at South Bank and see who could get to the hockey venue at Labrador first.
Being older and resistant to change, I chose the car option while Ash (bless her) had no other choice but to catch a train.
With much bravado and best wishes to my colleague (fingers were crossed) the "great race" began at 7:25am.
Instantly flustered, my workmate bolted down the street like an autumn foal towards the South Bank rail station, while I casually buckled myself into an ABC crew car and started the engine, with the push of a button.
With ABC Radio Brisbane blasting through the speakers, I cruised through the bustling streets of South Bank and Woolloongabba, and then merged onto the M1 with precision.
It took less than 10 minutes. Easy.
Ash boarded her coast-bound train at 7:29am and settled in for the journey.
"There was a bit of congestion. The train was full," she said.
The M1 was quiet (seriously)
The M1 is Queensland's busiest road, and I don't know whether it was school holidays or the negative headlines warning people of Games traffic gridlock, but the Pacific Highway flowed like the Brisbane River on an outgoing tide.
My fellow motorists were obeying the new temporarily reduced speed limits imposed for the Games, and there were none of those hoons you often see treating the highway like it's the Gold Coast 600 street race.
So relaxing was the trip, that I belted out John Farnham's You're the Voice as I cruised through Logan and onto Ormeau.
Ash may be 26 years old, but her hobbies mirror those of a retiree on holidays, but they did help her pass the time.
"I brought my knitting, I brought my crossword and I had a bit of help from some other passengers," she said.
At 8:10am, I exited the M1 at Helensvale and drove to the park-and-ride on Milleroo Drive, which is one of 13 temporary services in Brisbane, Logan and on the Gold Coast.
With the car parked in a pre-booked space, I walked 200 metres to a waiting bus and climbed aboard.
Ash arrived at Helensvale Station at 8.32am and walked less than one minute to the waiting bus, which left at 8:42.
"Moving from the train to the bus, there was a bit of herd," she said.
"But it all moved swiftly and there were a lot of volunteers there telling us where to go."
On my near-empty bus was Nardia Mulkerrins, who was taking her three sons to the hockey.
She said the roads had never been quieter.
"There's been no traffic problems, all of the public transport has been great," she said.
"We've travelled up to the swimming pool and it's been easily signposted to get around."
"Actually it's quicker than normal traffic."
And the winner is …
At 8:42am I got off the bus at the hockey stadium and Ash was nowhere to be seen.
Victory was mine.
At 8.55am, 13 minutes later, my crestfallen colleague stepped off the bus and conceded defeat.
Despite her second placing, Ash maintains the train remains the best option.
"Public transport was pretty easy," she said.
"Leave the car at home, it was all pretty simple."
Ash's views are also held by the Queensland Transport Minister, Mark Bailey.
"The best way to get there will be public transport. It's free with your ticket," he said.
"We've never seen more public transport than we've seen on the Gold Coast."
For me, the car was perfect.
But if there had been an accident on the M1, I'd have been screaming from the rooftops about the Commonwealth Games traffic chaos.
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