Ah, the fascinating world of manhole covers. For you youngsters, the MMTB (Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board) ran the tram system from 1919 to 1983 when it was merged into “The Met”. NTS (New Ticketing System) was the working name for Myki. It still shows up in internal literature, and in things like URLs on ... [More]
I’m sure (more than usual) people were staring at me on the train today. And you should see the amount of gunk that was in it this morning. The doctor’s given me some eyedrops for it.
Categories
Renovating the roof
Got an attic ladder put in a while back. The bloke did a lot of chopping and cutting, and an electrician moved one of the lights to make way for it. The result is very pleasing, and it makes a real difference to getting up into the roof space. Stage 2 was getting some of ... [More]
Before last week I’d never seen this view of Southern Cross Station. It looks quite unworldly. CL was giving me a quick tour of Media House — as he commented, it looks like something from Dune. What you can’t see from the photos (not even zoomed-in) is that some sections closest to the edge, and ... [More]
Pic taken this morning, if you wondered. Disclaimer: actually bus 223 is pretty frequent, because it’s a former tram route. (Spotted by J.) Update: BBC News: ‘Rapture’: Believers perplexed after prediction fails
This is officially awesome. My stepfather Peter features on one of the banners at the Immigration Museum, promoting the new Identity — yours mine ours exhibition. I’ve suggested to him that he ask them if he can keep the banner when they’re finished with it.
Categories
Yesterday’s morning commute. Not good.
8:17 or so, boarded train train at Mckinnon. Not my usual station. Long irrelevant story. Happily got a seat. 8:36. Train stops at Hawksburn. Driver on PA tells us that the train will be delayed at least ten minutes due to signal failures near Richmond. He advises us to go to platform 3. 8:37. Most ... [More]
Categories
Are the trains getting less crowded?
Here’s the good news: the October 2010 Metro Load Standards Survey (released to the Greens under FOI) shows that overcrowding has dropped markedly. Measured in terms of (deep breath) Rolling Hour Average Loads Above Desired Standards, the number of breaches has dropped from 38 in October 2007 to 6 in October 2010. Part of this ... [More]
Categories
Quest for the ultimate umbrella
Thankfully my umbrella was not in as bad a state as this one, but it was in need of replacement. And of course via procrastination it was only on Thursday, when it had been raining, that I got motivated enough to go out and look. This is in part because I’m a terrible shopper. Or ... [More]
Categories
RoadMorons strike again
Sometime last night, it seems. Update: Marita says it was Thursday night.
One of the things planners should be aiming for in making public transport easy to use is ensuring that the choices are few. The new Frankston line timetable does this in the off-peak (and evenings) with a consistent pattern: Frankston to Flinders Street (direct), stopping all stations. In peak, in theory, there are two patterns: ... [More]
Categories
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden is a good example of a moral issue that for me is more grey than black and white. I would like to think that I would never wish anybody dead, nor be glad at hearing of someone’s demise. But if ever I were to waver on that, it would be for someone ... [More]
Categories
Less vs Fewer – gets me every time
“Less loop trains” isn’t true in peak. 7:01-9am Richmond to Parliament: was 73, now 77, because more trains on most lines #MetroTrains — Twitter Sorry, but Less vs Fewer gets me every time. I know the rule (“fewer” should be used when what you’re talking about can be counted)… I just never remember to invoke ... [More]
Categories
Changing trains is not evil
There’s intense interest in the new train timetable, which technically started today, but has its first actual changes tomorrow. The level of interest should be a reminder to politicians that public transport is still very much a live issue. It should (hopefully) bring some genuine benefits in helping to fix punctuality and overcrowding. There are ... [More]
Probably just as well for this onsert: …that this story landed on page 6, not on page 1: The full story text is here: Stations to lose peak services. And here’s a big version of the map. The document the article talks about is here: Passenger Impact Statement. To decode it, you’ll need to look ... [More]