I noted this tweet from my local state MP, boasting of improved punctuality on the Frankston line since she and the Coalition came to power in November 2010: Frankston line punctuality in Nov 2010 86% & Aug 2013 93% =7.6% improvement. Vic Coalition delivering 4 #Bentleigh &Frankston line commuters — Elizabeth Miller MP (@EMillerMP) September ... [More]
Category: transport
All forms of transport, including gunzelly
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Invasion of the dinosaurs #AusVotes
The other day, local Federal Liberal candidate (and Finance spokesman) Andrew Robb’s minions had left signs at the station, but apparently didn’t have the nerve to actually face people and try and sell their policies… which of course include refusing to fund urban public transport. Mind you, Robb’s campaigners were out at the station a ... [More]
I found myself at a party recently chatting about public transport. Not just late trains and packed trams, but specifically buses. Who said buses aren’t interesting to anybody? It was in the broader context of sustainable transport in the inner-north, but one of the anecdotal snippets was this: one of the people I was chatting ... [More]
Tony Abbott is determined to throw billions at the East West road tunnel if he’s elected, despite not having seen the business case. The public hasn’t seen the business case. Neither has Tony, as it turns out. But he has faith. He believes it exists. I mean, there are lots of things that I haven’t ... [More]
Abbott’s outright refusal to fund urban public transport (while throwing billions into motorways) hasn’t won him any friends here. Make sure your vote counts.
While the East-West tunnel has got a lot of attention, another questionable transport project is lurking in the background. Every so often someone will take a look at cities with ferries and conclude that Melbourne needs them too, despite the radically different geography to somewhere like, for instance, Sydney or Brisbane. And they forget that ... [More]
How often does the Myki reader in the middle at the main entrance to Bentleigh station break down? Thanks to my archive of Tweets, the answer is: at least seventeen times since the start of 2010. Two of three #Myki scanners at Bentleigh stn this morning were inoperable, displaying this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/danielbowen/4544311585/ — Daniel Bowen (@danielbowen) ... [More]
If you missed it in the Sunday debate, or yesterday on social media, here’s the 30 second summary of Tony Abbott’s transport policy.
You might recall a while ago I posted about the lack of awareness of $3.50 cheap weekend fares, and frequent (every 10 minutes) trains on some lines on weekends. Well, finally PTV are promoting both. This is a step forward. It’s a shame the imagery in the frequent trains ad uses the outer stations’ buildings ... [More]
Today Metro shuts down its SMS Alerts service. It has been running since September 2001, when it was introduced (the day before 9/11), initially for Connex Connector Plus (Connex-only yearly ticketholders) — and back when Connex only covered half the rail network, of course. It spread to all customers and all lines later, along with ... [More]
An article in The Age today notes that while there were a few issues, last weekend’s inaugural PAX Australia video game festival went well. We went along on the Sunday, and had a good time. We avoided the sessions with long queues, and instead saw an XBox launch event, played some games in the retro ... [More]
Yesterday designs for the redevelopment of Flinders Street Station were released. You can look at them in detail and even vote on them at voteflindersst.com.au — though the vote won’t actually determine the design used, only “
The state government continues to push the East-West motorway (a plan they barely mentioned in the 2010 election campaign) over major public transport projects. But what do the people want? As it happens there’s a pretty clear message from surveys going back at least five years. (Skip to the end for the latest one.) October ... [More]
A couple of years ago I wrote about Nissan Micra ads at Flinders Street Station directly criticising public transport. This time, it’s Kia’s turn, though it’s a little less overt. Spotted at Malvern (as well as other locations, such as South Yarra): You know, I’ve been using public transport for decades. I’ve seen people asleep, ... [More]
Last Saturday some of us from the PTUA did a tour of the Regional Rail Link project. Here are some photos and notes. The RRL project, for those who haven’t being paying attention, is basically a brand new railway from somewhere west of Werribee, through new stations in the fast-growing suburbs of Wyndham Vale and ... [More]
I assume this Anti-Hate advertising campaign from the Equal Opportunity & Human Rights Commission is a response to some well-publicised incidents recently: The small print says: The only thing more painful than racism is the silence that follows. If someone’s abused on this train, let them know you’re on their side. Help stop the hurt. ... [More]