All forms of transport, including gunzelly
I was going to post a photo showing the ugly truth of working at home with no aircon when it’s 43.2 degrees outside and nobody else is home. But I think the world can be spared that. Instead I’ll ponder this: why are the trains so bad this summer? Were they always this bad and ... [More]
A comment from Anna the other day: A letter in The Age today outlined what happened to an inconvenienced train traveller in Britain recently: after an hour delay, each passenger was personally given a form to claim reimbursement for the trip. The train management apparently have an agreed passenger treatment charter, and they abide by ... [More]
She looked about twenty. She sounded upset on the phone. She wasn’t quite sure where she was going, and her phone battery was running out. The heat in the tram was stifling. She hung up and started to sob. Then she collapsed. She mostly fell downwards, and didn’t seem to bump her head. A couple ... [More]
Attributed to a government spokeswoman: as part of the Victorian Transport Plan, 38 new trains would be put into the system in 2009, increasing the train fleet by 40 per cent. — The Age: One in 10 trains either cancelled or delayed WRONG. We already have: 95 Comengs, 7 Hitachis, 36 Siemens, 29 X’Trapolis = ... [More]
Tramcar of the Beast… The next station is Connex… I don’t think I’ve ever been there.
Unlike the last one, I can’t claim a role in this: a hilarious video parodying the Victorian Transport Plan TV commercials. Meanwhile, over at the Sunday Herald Sun, they’re running an online survey on peoples views of PT. Click through and have your say. Finally, answer me this: if Sir Rod Eddington was very specific ... [More]
On the subject of mobile phones, it’s astounding after all these years how many people look surprised when their phones (on any network) drop out in the City Loop. Perhaps half of people, including myself, know this’ll happen. If I’m on the phone going into the tunnel, I’ll tell the other party I’m about to ... [More]
The bad news is that as expected Metcard prices will jump by 5% from January 1st. Stock up now! It’s a curious thing. If you have to increase fares, CPI rises are probably the most logical way to do it. But this time around, the September quarter CPI figures were heavily influenced by petrol price ... [More]
I was a bit busy yesterday. Took a few hours off work to deal with the Transport Plan release — the presentation to stakeholders and skulking around at Treasury Place to talk to media. In summary? Well although I’m at home today, I’m a bit rushed again, so maybe I’ll just paste in my two ... [More]
Including: Don’t come up with another half-baked transport plan! Click here to join the related Facebook group
I was going to rant about how the word “shuttle” is now added to bus services to make them sound more desirable, and that while the Skybus Super Shuttle, the express bus between Southern Cross Station and Melbourne Airport, is a shuttle, most of the others aren’t… including the Melbourne City Tourist Shuttle, the Western ... [More]
The Consumer Price Index for the year ended September 2008 was 5.0% — unusually high, for Australia. As the ABS says: This is the largest annual change since December quarter 1995, excluding the period associated with the introduction of the GST. This figure is used as the basis for the increase in public transport fares ... [More]
It’s easy to see why motorcycles are offered free kerb parking around the CBD. They take up less space on the road, and (with typically one rider, not much difference to the 1.22 average people per car) burn less fuel and generate less emissions than cars (though more per person than public transport, cycling or ... [More]
This survey of candidates was not on behalf of the PTUA. I’ve got responses back from four of the council candidates for Tucker ward in Glen Eira. All four responded positively when asked about transport (in particular public transport) issues. A number of them highlighted the issue of a lack of direct bus service from ... [More]
A reminder in this morning’s paper of why you should look before you step out of a tram: The 12.14am kid arrives, the blue light case. The paramedics got him in quicker than 15 minutes. He’s a mess. He’s collided with a car allegedly travelling 70 km/h in Preston as he stepped out of a ... [More]
From today’s Herald Sun: Eastlink labelled a disaster A NEW report has told us what motorists already know – the southern end of EastLink is a traffic disaster. … Toll company ConnectEast is suffering a $227,000 a day shortfall in EastLink tolls it expected to rake in. Trading in the company’s shares remains halted ahead ... [More]