All forms of transport, including gunzelly
Amusing personalised number plate: “AMLOST”. Heh. One day, train commuters are going to revolt, form guerrilla groups (which have absolutely nothing to do with me) which strike in the middle of the night, putting back all the “Stand on left / Walk on right” escalator signs. In the mean time, if you’re standing on the ... [More]
Subway — noun — Australian/British English — underground walkway, tunnel for pedestrians. Subway — noun — North American English — An underground railway. There’s some quite witty lyrics in there that went totally over my head when I was a kid, reflecting perhaps the love-hate relationship many users have with busy railways.
Advertising on public transport is big business. In Melbourne around 360,000 people a day use the train system for starters… and buses and trams get spotted on the road by many more. Personally I don’t mind the ads if they’re not intrusive. They help subsidise the system. I wonder how it works when advertising on ... [More]
This is cool: it’s a representation of Melbourne’s trains across the day, and from a cursory look, appears to be pretty accurate to the timetable (possibly more so than the actual trains!). Ebb and Flow of Melbourne Trains by Flink Labs from Flink Labs on Vimeo. From a mob called Flink Labs, who explain how ... [More]
All the TV media, and some other outlets, last night ran stories about the 38 new trains coming (the first at the end of this year), and how they’ll only run on part of the network. Channel 9 story ABC Online I thought it was a curious angle to take, as it’s not really all ... [More]
Remember the mess the trains were last summer? Well, the Comeng trains, which are prone to air-conditioner failures above 34.5 degrees, haven’t been fixed, and there’s still plenty of track waiting for upgrades to prevent buckling. But that doesn’t mean you should worry about a repeat performance this coming summer. Mr Brumby says it won’t ... [More]
This video of level crossings is incredible. (See also: accompanying article.) The last clip in particular (starting at 1:10), from my local station at Bentleigh, had me gasping. The first person crossing is foolish enough, but the second — particularly as he appears to stumble — is just seconds from death. I fail to see ... [More]
The issue of new trams being too long for some tram platform stops was highlighted in The Age the other day, and on ABC Radio’s AM. But having got all the information about it now, I don’t see why it’s a problem. From the document specifying the new order of trams: Optimal operation of the ... [More]
I have a vague feeling I might have posted something like this in the past, but I can’t find it, so here it is again. For those of you who don’t read the Victorian Fares and Ticketing Manual for fun, here are some rules about Metcard ticketing that you may not know about. These rules ... [More]
An article the other day revealed the latest passenger counts on trains show that overcrowding during peak hour has dropped slightly. I don’t have those figures to hand, but I do have these graphs from 2007 handy, and I thought it might be interesting for people to see how the various lines compare. Patronage has ... [More]
When I’m out walking, I actively (but not foolishly, I hope) defend my rights as a pedestrian. If I have an opportunity to walk safely and legally before a car goes, I will take it. The main rules are not difficult to comprehend, but some motorists just don’t seem to understand them. [Page references are ... [More]
I don’t have a post for you this morning, so here’s something I prepared earlier. This morning I had a chat to the people at 3CR about PT issues, and it reminded me of this recording from Joy FM back in April. I think they’d been intending to post the podcast themselves, but haven’t… so ... [More]
So, both Connex and TransdevTSL (operating as Yarra Trams) are being shown into the departure lounge, with MTM (MTR) and Keolis to replace them. I don’t think the former is a surprise, though the latter is. Some are celebrating. I know this for a fact, as yesterday morning at the station I heard one man ... [More]
The big announcement may well come in the next few days: who will take over running Melbourne’s trams and trains from November? Anybody want to put their predictions on the table? Leave a comment! Your choices: Trains: Connex (Veolia, incumbent) or MTM (Hong Kong MTR consortium) or Keolis Trams: Yarra Trams (TransdevTSL, incumbent) or Keolis ... [More]
When I visited Phoenix, Arizona in 1996, it appeared to be the archetypal car-dominated city. I was told pretty much the only PT was buses once an hour. The freeways were packed at rush hour. Nobody walked anywhere. The downtown area was (especially on weekends) so deserted that they had to have signs saying “Welcome ... [More]
The most efficient way of moving people is using their own two feet. Here’s the statistical measure: (Graph from Teufel, D, 1989, ‘Die Zukunft des Autoverkehrs’ (The future of car traffic), Umwelt und Prognose Institut, Heidelberg — and used more recently in PTUA’s Response to Australia’s Future Tax System Consultation Paper. Here’s another representation of ... [More]