Categories
Politics and activism PTUA transport

Missed opportunity

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]

Categories
transport

Optimising the commute

I’m sure anybody who drives a particular trip regularly has in their mind their thoughts on optimising it: which route to take, which lane to be in when, best time to set out, alternate routes available if there’s a major snarl — like there was on Wednesday. What about PT users? Do they think this  ... [More]

Categories
News and events transport

Frantic day

One of those frantic days. E Day — the Eddington report came out. Age story. In summary: do we really want to blow $20 billion on tunnels, when one (the road tunnel) appears to serve no purpose (hardly anybody drives NE to W) and the other (the rail tunnel) tries to solve a capacity problem  ... [More]

Categories
Going green News and events transport

Sitting in the dark

I’m not convinced that I’ll participate in Earth Hour. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s a terrific idea for raising awareness of climate change and energy issues. But I’m already well aware of those issues, thanks, and I’m working on reducing my emissions every day, not just one hour per year. And besides, I’m  ... [More]

Categories
transport

The big picture

Oil prices went over US$100/barrel again last week. Caltex expects people to pay more than $3 a litre in the next ten years. Meanwhile the interim Gaurnaut report came out, warning of the need to cut emissions. Recently when petrol nudged $1.50 per litre, I heard Wayne Swan on the radio having a whinge about  ... [More]

Categories
transport

Rather delighted about Craigieburn

Rather delighted about Craigieburn — MP3, 9 seconds, 147Kb. (I guess they got the lady back in to record that extra word for the lexicon last year)

Categories
Melbourne transport

Hair by David on the 8:05

Now I’ve seen everything. On the 8:05pm to Werribee last night… PS. Sunday 7:45pm. Post title modified. Yes, he was a real hairdresser.

Categories
PTUA transport

‘Exhorbitant’ is spelt M-Y-K-I

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]

Categories
transport

Sleek, sweeping curves

Given there are magazines for just about every topic under the sun, I suppose you can tell a lot about a person’s interests from which ones they buy. A lot of those that I buy (or subscribe to) are pretty geeky. But I don’t normally buy railway-related magazines. Many of them I find overly-gunzelly, which  ... [More]

Categories
Going green transport

Vehicle efficiency

My old mate Brian once described his car as being an air-conditioner on wheels. Which got me thinking. When I go for a drive on my own, the engine in my car is moving me (75 Kg) and the car itself (1356 Kg). Therefore 94% of the energy involved is spent moving the car. It’s  ... [More]

Categories
Consumerism transport

Bah, humbug!

Happy Gravy Day. Last night I saw the Bourke Street decorations by night for the first time. But I was in a bad mood this morning. After a recent good run, I had two hassle-filled commutes in a row — last night at 10:30 the trains were still stuffed after the storms, and this morning,  ... [More]

Categories
transport

Who is Vladimir?

Who is Vladimir, and why does Connex think he’s affected more than anybody else when the trains are out?