Yesterday there were demonstrators outside the SX building in Exhibition Street, with brochures, a big banner calling for a Royal Commission. Into what? I’m not sure to be honest; it wasn’t obvious. I didn’t look too closely and I didn’t take a brochure as I had other things on my mind. The Premier John Brumby ... [More]
Many people like to whinge about the price of fuel, but Steve Fielding’s idea of cutting fuel taxes is a very bad idea — it would inevitably lead to more usage, and cutting prices is the last way you want to try and fight oil shortages. This opinion piece for ABC Online goes into more ... [More]
If you thought $494 million was a lot to pay for the new “Myki” smartcard public transport ticketing system, hold onto your hats… today it was revealed the actual cost is more than double that — $1 billion dollars, no less. Somehow the government are now claiming they needed to add the operating costs, which ... [More]
Oh thank goodness — they didn’t use that horrible old picture in the print edition of the Herald Sun article today. Though perhaps the one they did use (which from memory was taken in late-2006 in Swanston Street) wasn’t much better. There was a bit of a typo in the article that appeared during production ... [More]
In case you hadn’t heard, there’s an election on. From yesterday’s Sunday Age “Heckler” page: THE DIRT: Politicians are trying to stack the outspoken Public Transport Users Association. The association is facing elections and there has been a flurry of nominations by Labor and even Liberal political staffers. What happens if Team Brumby takes over ... [More]
For his birthday, Andrew asked for a few bloggers to post something on a topic of his choosing. He asked me for: The time you had such a bad experience on public transport that you rang the minister or one of his minions, or similar. I had a think about this, and I don’t think ... [More]
In what might become a tradition (by my count this makes the fourth time in the last few months) Premier Brumby and Public Transport Minister Kosky took a train ride yesterday to make an announcement, this time at Jolimont, then caught a train to Parliament. (You could tell Brumby doesn’t catch the train much; the ... [More]
Some pics from the last few days… These people really really really really really like Sunkist. They bought probably about 50 x 1.25 litre bottles. (Why not buy bigger bottles?) They also bought over 100 Milo bars. Someone, somewhere is having a Sunkist and Milo Bar party. The checkout staff seemed quite bemused by it ... [More]
Sorry, too busy today to say much. Age: Public transport call to Canberra. Full report: Moving Australians Sustainably. Age: New rail tunnel proposal gains momentum Herald-Sun: Rail system daily ordeal for 300,000
The trains have problems, but at least most people can figure out where they go. (Uhh, well, apart from the whole City Loop reversal thing.) But try the buses. I reckon the 627 bus has Melbourne’s most confusing route. It goes from Elsternwick to East Brighton, but via Chadstone. (And if you don’t know your ... [More]
Been busy on a comparison of public transport fares between Australian mainland cities, which found Melbourne’s the most expensive for most trips: Age story… on the front page no less. Full data/graphs. The government claims it’s an unfair comparison. But they would say that, wouldn’t they.
Yes, I had a heads-up about the story on the front page of yesterday’s Age. Yes, I went to bed early(ish) and woke up early, ready as I could be for the onslaught. No, it was not an audio problem on 3AW — I was half asleep at 6:25am when I spoke to them. “Government” ... [More]
I try to shoehorn various activities into my day, some of which involves my public transport advocacy work. While I end up doing some of the media, the load is shared, and others do a lot of policy work which makes it pretty easy — once the policy’s been nutted out, as long as you ... [More]
If you’re worried about climate change, and the glacial (!) rate government is addressing it… and you’re in Melbourne, try this: on Sunday morning the Bayside Climate Change Group are getting together people for a human sign on Sandringham beach at 10am, to say “HALT CLIMATE CHANGE NOW!” (I’m assuming the team co-ordinating don’t all ... [More]
The fuss over Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky wanting to deflect complaints elsewhere should be a reminder of the big problems on the public transport network — which some would argue those in power are trying to avoid hearing about. As it happens my commute home that night was a dream. From work to the ... [More]
So, did we all get the fake SMS from Connex last night? I certainly did. Looks like lots did. ALLAHU AKBR FROM CONNEX! our inspectorS Love Killing people – If you see one coming, run. Want to bomb a train? they will gladly help! See you in hell! Shame they can’t spell. The followup, later ... [More]