Good news: New bus route 627 starts in June, running from Moorabbin to Chadstone via East Bentleigh and Murrumbeena. Excuse the micro-transport-blogging about this specific route in my local area, but (as usual) there are considerations that are relevant across the network. This new route fills some gaps in the local network, including East Boundary ... [More]
In the world of public transport, services are what counts. Infrastructure is important, but ultimately, infrastructure is only built to enable services. If the train only runs every 40 minutes, it’s a long wait whether the station is 100 years old, or shiny brand new. Today is State Budget day, and it’s a good chance ... [More]
I think this is quite clever. When trains or trams are partially closed for planned works, generally the less of the route is disrupted, the better. But this is always limited by the placement of turnaround facilities. Witness the current Sandringham line closure: the major works are at South Yarra, but because (despite what was ... [More]
Saturday’s Federal Election result might have been unexpected by many, but it underscores the Coalition’s illogical obsession with East West Link. Well, illogical from a transport planning perspective that is. Remember, it’s got a business case that says it will lose money – unless you include Wider Economic Benefits with which the Victorian Auditor General ... [More]
I don’t often write about climate change, but here are a few thoughts as we go into the Federal election on Saturday. But first I need to get these points out of the way: Climate change is real. If you think climate change is a hoax because you think you know more than the 97% ... [More]
Improving my house’s heating and cooling and energy efficiency is an ongoing project. 2008 Solar hot water 2012 Ceiling fans and roof insulation 2015 External blinds 2017 Air-conditioning (a backwards step for energy efficiency, but a giant leap for comfort on very hot days) This week it was wall insulation. Obviously this is best fitted ... [More]
A short rant. It’s Saturday, and I’m driving in heavy traffic. I’m making a trip that’s impractical using any other mode, alongside thousands of others, many also making trips impractical using any other mode. It’s not about options along that particular stretch of road. It’s about the whole transport network, supporting people’s trips end to ... [More]
Wednesday morning’s commute for me was one of those made easier via good quality real-time information. My usual train was cancelled. I knew this before I left the house thanks to checking the PTV app. The app also told me that other trains were delayed. It was going to be a messy commute. Bleugh. Sometimes ... [More]
Another in my series of old ten year old photos. This turned out to be a bit of a bumper crop – a few months before I’d got the Nokia N95 phone, my first with a decent camera, so perhaps no surprise the number of photos was increasing. Melbourne’s first wind-powered tram had launched in ... [More]
The Age ran this story based on data FOI’d by The Greens:Running on empty: Secret data reveals Melbourne’s ‘ghost buses’ I got to take a look at the data, focusing on Night Bus routes. The current Night Network commenced in January 2016, following a 2014 election pledge by Labor to introduce all-night trains (on all ... [More]
This caught my eye: a commuter at Aircraft station: …uses the station five days a week and said she had given up trying to get a park at the station. “Because of the traffic congestion on Point Cook Road and because of the lack of car parking facilities at the station, I choose to walk ... [More]
I could moan on about Friday night’s experience with the replacement buses (a combination of poor night-time service provision and inaccurate passenger information) but you can read about that on Twitter, so instead let’s look at Monday night’s south eastern train problems. It often takes multiple factors to result in a real mess. So it ... [More]