Appears in the weekly Toxic Custard newsletter
I ran a Twitter thread over the last fortnight, highlighting some of the ways that footpath space is misused, or mis-allocated. This blog expands on those posts. In some of these cases, capacity constraints are causing problems for large numbers of pedestrians. Able-bodied people are often able to avoid those hazards, though it does slow ... [More]
One of the things I found fascinating about Brussels on our recent holiday was – in contrast to Cardiff – how they’ve gone out of their way to make life easy for pedestrians. Most striking was that there were zebra crossings. Lots and lots of zebra crossings. When I first spotted how many there were, ... [More]
My holiday blog is currently up to Brussels. In this (lengthy) post I’ve looked at the many types of rail transport in Belgium, and I try and ponder lessons for Melbourne. Belgian use of rail ranges from trams — street-based and on separate alignments as in Melbourne, but also underground “pre-metro” routes — the Metro, ... [More]
Last day of August, so here is the latest in my series of posts of ten year old photos. (If you only want to see Transport-related posts, you can use this link, and/or subscribe to get them via email.) I think this might have been my first sighting of one of these plastic things on ... [More]
My blog posts from our Britain and Belgium trip continue, but it wouldn’t be one of my holidays if I didn’t geek out on transport-related stuff. So here’s a post on the vagaries of rail fares in Britain… or at least, what you need to know as a tourist. Buying rail tickets at home in ... [More]
Here’s what I think about the Same Sex Marriage postal survey: I’m voting yes. The reality is that not everyone is attracted to the opposite sex. Who are we to deny them getting married if they want to? Despite how some others paint it, it doesn’t harm anybody else, and certainly doesn’t harm heterosexual marriages. ... [More]
I wanted to reflect on something from our recent visit to Cardiff. Some of central Cardiff is pedestrianised, which is great. Many other areas have nice wide footpaths. It would be near-perfect for walking… if at most intersections the traffic lights weren’t designed to be so pedestrian hostile. It’s as if the traffic engineers either ... [More]
New public transport timetables kick in on August 27th. Last week (or maybe it was the week before), PTV released details, including full timetables for the routes affected: Metro: More trains at peak times V/Line: More choice with more services Altona Loop users rejoice! (A bit) There will be no more Altona Loop shuttles. Weekday ... [More]
A short break from posting my holiday blogs… From today, smoking bans have been extended to include the entrances to most government buildings, as well as outdoor dining areas. This is all good. We’re way behind the other states on this. It’s about time non-smokers, who make up the vast majority of the population, had ... [More]
(Backdated. Posted 15/8/2017) Sunday, and today was the day we were scheduled to meet all the English relatives – aged from 2 to 92 – this was one of the primary reasons for the trip. But first – breakfast! We hit the streets of Bath in search of food, discovering yet again that before 8am, ... [More]
(Backdated. Posted 10/8/2017.) The hotel, being a cheapie, didn’t offer breakfast, so we sprung out around 7:30 looking for food⌠and discovered that almost nowhere in Bath is open before 8am, at least not on a Saturday. Eventually (eg at 8am, or just before) we found a great cafe near Bath Abbey just opening up, ... [More]
(Backdated. Posted 31/7/2017) Oh the joys of jetlag. Having gone to bed at 8pm, I woke at about 5am. But being summer, it was already light. Eventually it seemed like a half-decent time to get up and out, and we prepared for our mission. Why had we come to Cardiff in the first place? And ... [More]
(Backdated. Posted 28/7/2017) Click on any photo to see it larger After a long flight from Singapore, we landed in London, and as we taxied I did my usual thing of checking out the exotic airlines you can see at airports outside Australia. I particularly liked the Brussels Airlines slogan “We fly you to the ... [More]
(I am prone to do long overly-detailed blog posts about my holidays, perhaps more for my benefit and enjoyment than yours. Here’s the first instalment. This post is backdated. Published 26/7/2017) This holiday was a long time coming. Co-ordinating with my sons (including university holidays) and work and M and relatives, let alone getting the ... [More]
Intersections on curves can be tricky. Even slight curves. Every time I pass the Astor on Dandenong Road in a car, particularly eastbound, I watch what happens. It’s not uncommon for vehicles to veer into the next lane over as they cross Chapel Street. Usually, thankfully there’s nobody in the way. This morning it happened ... [More]
As you grow older, you find yourself doing things you genuinely had no idea you’d be doing. At least I do. Perhaps other people have all their plans worked out way further in advance. When I was growing up, we had little money, and I couldn’t dream of owning my own home. At age 30 ... [More]