Every time your train is stuck inexplicably in a tunnel, every time a service is cancelled, the experience is not just eroding your quality of life. It is eating away at our cityโs global competitiveness. — Boris Johnson, Mayor of London in the London Evening Standard, 15/10/2009 A power problem at Southern Cross Station has ... [More]
Category: transport
All forms of transport, including gunzelly
A journo mentioned a certain MP this morning was quoting some transport-related sections my blog — presumably the favourable ones, such as the post that talked about the Myki transition plan. While my posts here do not necessarily represent PTUA policy, I suppose this blog is part of the mix of being an advocate — ... [More]
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Myki arrives on trams and buses
The government announced today that Myki will be valid on trams and buses from Sunday. Finally, Myki goes multi-modal in Melbourne! Assuming they stick to the rollout plan they had last year, which was pretty logical, it’ll go like this: (Graphic originally from the Myki web site. Taken down but re-posted via Whirlpool by Mathew.) ... [More]
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You passenger. Me train.
This picture has not been digitally altered. Maybe they got halfway through putting the stickers on the front, then realised the train was needed to run a service. In other news, while Metro got their June performance figures out almost two weeks ago, and Yarra Trams and V/Line have also published theirs, the Department of ... [More]
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Moving forward
Julia Gillard apparently mentioned “Moving forward” some 22 times during her press conference today announcing the election. “Moving forward.” It sounds vaguely familiar. Ah yes: Well, it worked for them. Update: Had a text message from an ex-Connex management person saying they are “very proud” their slogan has been recycled! Also: Renowned author and former ... [More]
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Bike share – is it working?
A commenter challenged me to learn a bit more about bike sharing before writing about it again (previous post), but didn’t point me to a specific URL. So I did a little digging. As it happens the Melbourne Leader had an article on it this week: The State Government-funded scheme has attracted just 185 subscribers ... [More]
That tram must be really old… it still says “Telstra Dome.” (Pic taken on Friday.) I wonder how much it costs to get the old pre-digital/dot-matrix destination rolls re-done. Or indeed if there are many people who remember how to do it.
Blog: Nice ad placement; was that Part Of The Plan? And what’s the effect of the new timetables?
The government may be embarassed by crowded trains and Myki, but what they should be embarassed about is the sheer number of people who never use public transport because it simply isn’t a viable option for them for any of the trips they make. So many areas in Melbourne have no PT other than local ... [More]
As reported in The Age, the US Health Effects Institute recently published a report on the effects of living near busy roads. Its conclusion was that: …there is sufficient evidence that exposures to traffic-related air pollution cause asthma exacerbation in children and suggestive evidence that they might cause other health effects. …the zones most impacted ... [More]
I’m probably reading too much into this, but here’s a PT stereotype: Lego’s Duplo bus. It appears that in the view of whoever designed this set, only old people and kids ride the bus. Okay, okay, we all know that in some cases this is probably very realistic. Many services simply aren’t good enough to ... [More]
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Bentleigh station looking grey
Metro must have been buying a lot of grey paint. All of the graffiti on the retaining wall opposite platform one at Bentleigh has been painted over, as have the sides of the platforms. There’s been a similar frenzy of painting grey on the walls in the cuttings around South Yarra. I wonder if people ... [More]