All forms of transport, including gunzelly
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]
Just posted on the holiday blog: Brussels — where I meet my new baby cousin in a tram museum (of course!)๐ถ๐ The state government are running a competition for naming the new stations to be built as part of the metro rail tunnel. It’s a good idea to get suggestions. Some of the working names ... [More]
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that fewer people use paper train timetables than used to. The proliferation of departure information via the official web sites, Google Maps and the official Journey Planner, as well as the official app (with its real time information) and many other apps, means people ... [More]
Bentleigh state MP Nick Staikos has released a map of a proposed new bus route, from Moorabbin via Bentleigh and Hughesdale to Chadstone: Releasing a proposed new bus route for discussion. What do you think of this #Moorabbin #HamptonEast #Bentleigh #EastBentleigh #McKinnon? pic.twitter.com/tf2w2wIM6a — Nick Staikos MP (@NStaikos) August 27, 2017 As I see them, ... [More]
I’m continuing to post my backdated holiday blogs. If you haven’t seen it, the latest one includes a hopefully amusing epic bus ride from Penzance to Lands End. After yesterday’s comparison at Bentleigh, here’s one showing far more change: Laverton on the Werribee line. There’s been a tremendous amount of residential growth along this line, ... [More]
Thoughts with the friends, family and colleagues of Fiona Richardson, who sadly passed away yesterday. She got stuff done in her Prevention of Family Violence portfolio – it was impressive to see. I met her a few times when she was shadow public transport minister. I’m sure she would have shaken things up in public ... [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]
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]
This in the Herald Sun a few weeks ago: Melbourne traffic congestion on par with world’s biggest cities like London, Rome and New York (paywall): TRAFFIC congestion in Melbourne is on par with New York and could rival the worldโs worst cities if nothing is done to combat the problem. Figures supplied by Tom Tom ... [More]
The PTV web site reckons there are 298 car spaces in the car park at Clayton railway station. Until recently the spaces were distributed around the station, some on the western side of Clayton Road, most on the eastern side, both sides of the railway line. But with the new elevated “skyrail” line under construction ... [More]