Yesterday’s collision between a police vehicle and a tram stop barrier has raised the issues of whether those barriers are a good design. Source: ABC News Thankfully the two policemen will recover. The barriers are intended to stop pedestrians crossing the tracks at tram platform stops. It’s hardly surprising that people do this, given many ... [More]
Category: transport
All forms of transport, including gunzelly
At a conceptual level, I navigate this city by rail more than by road. For instance, if I’m trying to focus on rain around home, the proximity to railways is far more useful to me than the proximity to major roads. So to make the Bureau of Meteorology’s rain radar map more useful to me, ... [More]
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Farewell MX
Freebie afternoon commuter newspaper MX finishes its run today after 14 years of publishing in Melbourne (and shorter runs in Brisbane and Sydney). Melbourne Express was its awkward morning competitor for a short time in 2001 — it was never going to last because morning distribution is so difficult. That brand name lives on in ... [More]
I noticed there’s a 2015 version of PTV’s network revenue protection plan on their web site. It’s a lot less detailed than the one The Age FOI’d in 2010… perhaps because it was intended to be made public. Some points of interest, with my notes in italics: Pages 5-6 talk about the background — total ... [More]
It’s not every day a major new suburban rail line opens in Victoria. In fact it’s been 85 years since the last one. Finally all the details of the Regional Rail Link (which despite its name, runs entirely within the metropolitan area) have been released, including the timetables for the line, and connecting bus services ... [More]
Melbourne’s getting a new double decker bus. It’s been on display at a trade show at Jeff’s Shed (that’s the Melbourne Exhibition Centre for those not in the know), and a PTV contact passed these photos on… Inside, as you’d expect, the low ceiling makes it seem a little more cramped than single deck buses. ... [More]
Here’s another in my series of ten year old photos. Arise Lord Vader — episode 3 got a lot of promotion. Or, as I joked at the time: Connex was aligned with the Dark Side. The Dungeon: platform 13 at Flinders Street. The screens have been replaced with a flat model, and an escalator was ... [More]
For some time – since well before the introduction of the Free Tram Zone – I’ve seen uniformed Australia Post employees with small delivery carts on board trams in central Melbourne. At first I wondered if this was a good use of space on a tram, given how crowded they can get. But I think ... [More]
PTV announced on Thursday that online realtime departure information is now available for some bus routes: specifically, Smartbus routes, which have long had realtime information displays at major stops. Ironically as I post this, it seems to be down… but when working, it’s a small but welcome step forward in the quest to get more ... [More]
I’m aware that my blog has evolved… these days most of the posts are about transport, reflecting my current interests. I wonder if this is a bit dull for those who have been on the old Toxic Custard mailing list, which is the descendant of the humour-based email list I started while at uni. Yet ... [More]
The Herald Sun had an interesting article describing the trip home from the football on Friday night, and the delays suffered by those in the crowd. Apart from the football at the MCG, there was also a concert in the tennis centre, and soccer at Etihad Stadium. Edit: plus rugby at AAMI stadium. In fact ... [More]
Yesterday I went to the State Budget lockup. Basically they “lock” you in a room from 10am to about 1:30pm (when the Treasurer officially releases the budget) and you get to look through a big pack of budget papers before they’re revealed to the public. I took along the world’s slowest heaviest laptop so I ... [More]