What do you think of this double-sized tram shelter? Top of William Street, near the market. Pretty good hey? Particularly for a spot which isn’t actually a tram stop. No trams are regularly scheduled to stop there. Occasionally some will get diverted off Swanston Street onto William, and terminate in the shunt here, but otherwise, they all run to/from Peel Street.
Last Friday afternoon. Someone may not have known it at the time, but their day was about to get worse when they got back to their car.
Flexicar name their vehicles. This one is yellow, so it’s called Pacman.
Ever wondered what sort of tow truck you call if your garbage truck breaks down? This sort — a very big one. Also occasionally used to open the heart of the TARDIS. (Note: the garbage truck is from Veolia, parent company of departed and much-maligned Melbourne train company Connex.)
10 replies on “On the road”
The tram shelter must be ‘part of the plan’.
Near where we used to live in Spotswood, there is another of those mega tow trucks. From memory it was decked out in West Coast Eagles colours, and parked in “The Avenue”.
Wolverhampton once had a bus lane on a road that wasn’t actually a bus route!
I’ve never seen a car clamped (except on TV), what’s the reason, why not a parking ticket?
@Dogs Breath — or why not tow the car instead? I suspect it wasn’t a simple parking infringement. It was in Little Lonsdale St (not a major thoroughfare, and not blocking traffic) and I notice it’s from the Sheriff’s Office, not the Melbourne City Council or police. So it might be related to other outstanding fines or offences.
It will be the result of someone refusing to pay a lot of fines. The Sheriff takes over the situation and starts seizing property. There were ads on the radio several months ago from the Sheriff, telling people they had until a certain date to make contact about paying all their fines before the Sheriff’s office was going to get medieval on them. I don’t think anyone else can clamp a car. Councils can tow in a clearway marked as a towaway zone, but nobody can clamp except the Sheriff. And of course the airport, which is a law unto itself.
I thought I read somewhere that spot in William St was where the tested shelter designs.
@Tony, dunno. But if so, judging from the stuff occasionally left behind there, I think the local tramps have given it the stamp of approval.
At least this tram shelter is facing the tracks I suppose. There are a whole bunch on St Georges road that sit perpendicular to the tracks with the backs facing the directions the trams come from. So if it’s raining you go and wait in the shelter and miss your tram.
Some are in front of the bus stops, others aren’t. This is despite the ample room to build them facing the tracks (which would involve the tram opening the doors on the opposite side, but that clearly doesn’t hurt anyone).
But what do you do if your truck tow truck breaks down?