Transport blogger / campaigner and spokesperson for the Public Transport Users Association / professional geek.
Bunurong land, Melbourne, Australia.
Opinions on this blog are all mine.
You might assume that it’s only new outer suburbs where public transport services are half-baked. But it can also be the case in new inner suburbs. Edgewater is on the Maribyrnong River, opposite Flemington Racecourse, about 6km from the GPO. It’s former Commonwealth land which included the Footscray Ammunition Factory, and was developed over the ... [More]
It looks like SRL will be designed to run about every 5 minutes.
The Federal Auditor General released its report into the Commuter Car Parking Fund, and found it totally flawed, with the selection of sites done on the basis of politics, not merit. You can read the full ANAO report here, but I wanted to highlight the myriad of problems with the scheme. 1. The politics The ... [More]
Some thoughts on the new station design
For two nights last month I was in northern Victoria, at the in-laws’ farm, standing around in the dark with my camera and my friend Gary, learning from him how to photograph the night sky. It was bloody cold. But there’s little or no light pollution up there, and despite some cloud around, mostly the ... [More]
Just a quick post today. The State Budget Papers obviously give an overview of the state’s finances, and new funding initiatives. In Victoria, they also provide the only regular, consistent view of metrics for a range of government services, including public transport patronage. (In contrast, other states put this data out far more regularly.) Anyway, ... [More]
Last year I wrote a blog pondering why Sydney’s rail patronage is 50% higher than Melbourne’s. This has got a fresh airing amid speculation that Melbourne’s COVID-19 spread is linked to greater urban mobility in Melbourne compared to Sydney. I thought I’d quickly look at public transport patronage specifically. Here it is summed up in ... [More]
In my series of photos from ten years ago I missed May, so here’s a combined post for May and June 2011. Balaclava station, the 1981 pebblemix version (which followed a fire, if I recall correctly), before it was demolished and replaced in 2014. The old McKinnon station – with just one Myki reader at ... [More]
In our last exciting chapter, back in March, COVID-19 had settled down in Victoria, and largely disappeared. Life pretty much returned back to normal except overseas travel was near-impossible, and you had to wear a mask on PT. It couldn’t last. Another outbreak is now upon us in Melbourne. My view: no matter where you ... [More]
The State Budget was last Thursday, and I went along to the stakeholder lockup to peruse the Budget Papers and quiz the government officials. From a public transport perspective thereâs not the huge amount of new spending we’ve seen in some years. See the PTUA view here, but some of the notable items include: $985.8m ... [More]
There’s been a bit of confusion about the rules around masks and public transport. I’m not here to speculate on whether the rules are needed. I’m not an epidemiologist and probably neither are you. While there’s been no COVID-19 community spread in Victoria for many weeks, the recent case of the gentleman who unwittingly caught ... [More]
Not a transport post, though it does get a mention. Previously in my quest for a greener house: 2012: Better roof insulation 2015: External blinds 2017: Air conditioning (livingroom) 2019: Wall insulation 2020: Heat pump electric hot water (replacing gas-boosted solar hot water) I’ve got two new house upgrades to report on. Solar PV This ... [More]
Yet again, the issue of motorists illegally overtaking trams has been highlighted – by Channel 9 on Tuesday, and the Herald Sun on Wednesday. This follows on from reports as recently as January of motorists hitting tram passengers while breaking road rule 163. Educating motorists has a role here. There have been education campaigns in ... [More]
Another in my series of photos from ten years ago: April 2011. Platforms 15 and 16 under construction at Southern Cross. The station is owned and run by Civic Nexus under a PPP. The platforms were to be used by V/Line. But the project to build them was done by Metro. Confusing? Perhaps, but at ... [More]
I am fascinated with the ongoing saga of the Ballarat crossing gates. At about 11:35pm on 30th May last year, a V/Line train from Melbourne that was meant to stop at Ballarat station instead sped through the platforms and crashed through the Lydiard Street crossing gates. The train eventually stopped about 600 metres beyond the ... [More]
A few of the Evolution trains (aka High-Capacity Metro Trains, or HCMTs for short) are now out and about in passenger service, with more being delivered into the stabling facility at Pakenham East. Last week I got to ride one for the first time. Here are some photos and first impressions. The one I caught ... [More]