On Thursday morning ABC radio 774 is running a special programme on Melbourne’s transport problems, with opinion from interested parties and 774 listeners. 774 ABC Melbourne’s Jon Faine will lead a special broadcast where we, with the help of our listeners, map the traffic and public transport problems, and black spots, across Melbourne. Yours truly ... [More]
Category: transport
All forms of transport, including gunzelly
(Updated Sunday, and Monday) The Age has launched a major series of articles about the public transport system. Well worth reading. I (and the PTUA) don’t necessarily totally agree with the myriad of points of view expressed, but it’s good to see this debate getting the attention it deserves, which will hopefully convince the government ... [More]
Wednesday night’s trip home wasn’t particularly pleasant, with many trains running late, and lots more cancelled — three in a row for my station, in fact. Lots of waiting around and sardine-like conditions. But that’s nothing compared to Thursday morning, when storms caused a signal failure at Caulfield knocked out trains completely for about 90 ... [More]
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Trains in an instant
From MX, Melbourne’s free afternoon commuter newspaper, 19/10/2005 page 1: Trains in an instant Inga Gilchrist Trains would run every 10 minutes during peak hour on all lines under a radical plan to boost Melbourne’s public transport. The Public Transport Users Association today called for a massive lift in train frequency to ease overcrowding in ... [More]
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Watch your step
Confirmed geek telecommunications specialist David Mery was arrested at Southwark tube station in London. What had he done? Among other things, he’d failed to look at police on the way into the station, was wearing a jacket they decided was ‘too warm for the season’, had a bulky rucksack, and two other men entered the ... [More]
A few plugs for things spotted recently… Gardens A while back I was getting a couple of enterprising students, Keith and David, to do my mowing. They’d turn up with their dad driving a stationwagon full of gardening implements of destruction, and do the gardening. But a couple of months ago they bowed out, saying ... [More]
(Outgoing Yarra Trams CEO) Hubert Guyot criticised “so-called advocates of public transport”, saying he had found road lobbyists at the RACV more supportive than the Public Transport Users Association. — The Age, 6/9/2005 Hmm. Well PTUA represents passengers, whereas Yarra Trams is an operator, which while it is providing customer service, is also trying to ... [More]
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Time to walk faster
Well, there’s one bloke I shouldn’t expect a Christmas card from this year… Maybe that came over as being a bit harsh, but it was an attempt to subvert what was essentially a fluffy publicity piece and provide a view of how well his ministry is actually performing. Most people, including those who don’t use ... [More]
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Canberra day 2
(This post backdated to the date it happened, not the date I wrote it.) It might have been a negative-something night outside, but the bed was lovely and warm. We awoke, had breakfast and showers, and … Wait, I should mention the shower. Everything in the serviced apartment we stayed in was great. Except the ... [More]
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Petrol prices climbing
Petrol prices are hitting record levels, something that’s been predicted for some time by the Peak Oil people. On Sunday I took the kids across town to visit their grandad’s/my dad’s place, for his 74th birthday. With my last petrol fill-up costing over $60 (thankfully it’s only about fortnightly), my public transport travel already paid ... [More]
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The defective yearly
Today I went and got my defective Yearly Metcard ticket replaced. It stopped working a couple of weeks ago, after only 5 months, and I’ve finally got sick of having to find a human to get through the fare gates. To get it replaced, you have to go to Flinders Street Station, find the door ... [More]
I’m a bit of a geek, but even I can see that sometimes technology isn’t the answer to a problem. The Victorian government has announced a $494 million deal for a new public transport ticketing system, to run for 10 years from 2007. Question is: does it solve the number one problem with the old ... [More]