The old FBT company car rules resulted in some quite ridiculous outcomes. In fact they still do, because apparently they still apply for existing leases. Basically the rules meant that the further you drive, the less tax you pay. Which means people were strongly encouraged to drive long distances to save money — often driving ... [More]
Category: transport
All forms of transport, including gunzelly
Apparently there were some delays in getting these decorations up, but now they’re in place, I do think they look rather splendid, don’t you? (Click here to view bigger) Anybody know if this lights up at night? Myki news In today’s news, the Herald Sun reports that from January, Myki cards are to be reduced ... [More]
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Myki’s “headless” mode
This is Myki’s “headless mode”. It’s the Myki driver console, but temporarily shifted into a spot out of the way, while tram and bus drivers (in Melbourne) continue to use the Metcard consoles instead. (You can just see the old console at the top of the picture.) It means drivers currently have no interaction with ... [More]
Last week the first of the new Swanston Street tram superstops opened. On Monday I went down at lunchtime to have a look, and came across Lord Mayor Robert Doyle, City of Melbourne planner Rob Adams, and Yarra Trams’ Michel Masson all down there having a look, and talking to the media about it. Robert ... [More]
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Beating the Metcard/Myki fare rise
As feared, the government will go ahead with the 5% plus inflation public transport fare rise in January, for a total of 8.6%. (It’s unclear if they’ll go ahead with the second one that Labor planned, in January 2013.) Metlink has posted the full list of metropolitan fares for 2012, as well as regional fares. ... [More]
This afternoon I heard steam train whistles, and after some digging, discovered it was R-class R707 headed down to Frankston, and that it would be coming back a little later. Happy to take a break from the sorting out of paperwork that I’d been doing, I took a punt at the time it would pass ... [More]
Last Wednesday the Ombudsman/Auditor General report into government ICT (Information & Communications Technology) projects was released. Included in the list of projects gone bad that it investigated was our old favourite Myki, with some interesting findings on the timings and costings: The TTA business case dated 27 April 2004 had forecast total expenditure of $741.9 ... [More]
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Coke ads on the sides of trains
It was bound to happen once they started putting advertising on the sides of trains: Coke ads. Given trains are seen not just by passengers but also by motorists and pedestrians at level crossings, it could be quite lucrative for Metro. One can only hope the money goes into better services. My guess is we ... [More]
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How much does a train cost?
Sometimes when the media or politicians want to highlight what they see as massive government waste (particularly in the transport arena, but also in other areas), they compare it to how many extra trains could have been bought instead. While it may seem a little myopic, I think overall it’s a good thing. It’s a ... [More]
Some reasons why the Rod Eddington-proposed east-west road tunnel makes no sense: 1. Eddington’s own study showed the road tunnel would have a benefit/cost ratio of just 45 cents in the dollar. 2. Even including the rather wobbly “wider economic benefits” only got it up to 72 cents. (Only by lumping in other projects including ... [More]
If you won’t donate for me growing a moustache, how about for getting this picture? Train, tram and bus in one pic. Despite a train theoretically every minute or two between Flinders Street and Southern Cross, three tram routes (excluding the City Circle) and numerous bus routes passing this intersection, it took a surprising amount ... [More]
Last Friday MX ran a story about Metro plans to shut down its SMS text alert service, in favour of pushing people towards the mobile web site and Twitter. This was sparked by an ad earlier in the week in MX, station posters, and an email sent to SMS subscribers, all encouraging people to “say ... [More]