All forms of transport, including gunzelly
The Age broke the story last week that the new High Capacity Metro Trains (HCMTs) are being designed to cope with up to 2000 people, at a density of up to 6 people per square metre, and seats for 30-40% of the total load. Cue the outrage (from some quarters) — but it’s important to ... [More]
We all remember the East West Link. Specifically denied by the Coalition during the 2010 election, after a policy turnaround, they ignored the unfavourable economics of the project, and rammed through the contracts without a mandate, ahead of the 2014 election. The design ran a motorway through the middle of Royal Park, and required demolition ... [More]
Those of you who follow me on Twitter might recall I spent a lot of July last year posting about the 5 weeks of bus replacements on the Frankston line. One of the things they got right was to run the buses along the main roads, rather than diverting them into the railway stations, three ... [More]
Infrastructure Australia released a study today claiming that privatising public transport can save billions of dollars: Media release: Franchising public transport services could deliver $15.5 billion in funding for new transport services (Full study here) I had a quick read of the study and I have to say, I found it utterly unconvincing. The executive ... [More]
This is an occasional series, when a few things happen during the week and I want to put a word in… ABC: Ticket inspectors taking tram user’s phone to seek proof of identity unacceptable, PTV says This is a concern, but context is important. It’s a matter of degrees. I think whether it’s acceptable or ... [More]
(Apologies in advance for the length of this post. It got away from me a bit, but hopefully it’s interesting.) The debate around a Melbourne Airport rail link has progressed in the past few months, with all sides broadly agreeing it has to happen – the only question is when. The Coalition and many others ... [More]
On Friday a number of UK publications posted news articles about a Deutsche Bank report saying that London’s public transport fares are the highest in the world. Evening Standard: London travelcards ‘the most expensive in the world by a large margin,’ study finds BBC: London’s monthly travel cost ‘most expensive in world’ London Loves Business: ... [More]
So here we are, state budget day 2017. A lot of things have already been announced, but they usually leave a few things until the day itself. Nobody was expecting anything huge, as logic would suggest they’d save their money until next year, when there’s an election and they need to dazzle people a bit ... [More]
I know I was just writing about Night Network last week, but the news that it’s been made permanent came through over the weekend, so here’s another post on it. My sons are of the age when they get out and about after dark. Recently one was out at a party in Brunswick until about ... [More]
Sometimes the little things matter. Sometimes a bit of thought can result in a better outcome. Logic says that when they put in a new bus route to serve the station, it should stop at the station. When the signs for the new 979 Night Bus went up at Bentleigh, I noted that they were ... [More]
Five years ago I published some figures on V/Line’s peak patronage, based on their capacity reports, where they show the number of seats occupied in each service in peak hour. Here’s an update comparing with their figures for February 2017. Line 2012 2012 2017 2017 Change 2012 2012 2017 2017 Change Trains AM 
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Caroline Springs Station opened in January, and is already being used by a fair number of people. But the station has a weakness: it’s in the middle of nowhere, a not-very-pleasant one kilometre walk from the nearest houses. Which means you pretty much have to use transport to get there: bike, bus, or car. Of ... [More]