One day in 1992, I had a joyous moment when I walked most of the length of Swanston Street — in the former traffic lanes — for the first time. It was a wondrous thing, and while Swanston Street still sees delivery vehicles, taxis and the odd errant car, with the wider footpaths and cyclists ... [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]
1. Dear driver of EML 925, How about you get off the phone? Then you might be paying enough attention to remember to indicate when you turn. 2. Good on you for driving a Prius. But parking in a Bus Zone? Not so good. Oh, unless… I don’t suppose you’re a substitute service for the ... [More]
I’ve been looking for this video for ages: why Alanis Morrisette doesn’t understand “ironic”. I couldn’t find it because I thought I needed to find Sean Hughes, but it’s actually Ed Byrne.
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]
I’m not one to blindly believe corporate propaganda, but Telstra’s latest promotion pointing out they have better mobile coverage certainly rings true for me and my (now almost due for an upgrade) GSM (2G) phone. While I’m not much of a wireless data user like the people in the adverts, it’s pretty obvious just with ... [More]
In the late 80s, the then PTUA committee got together a group respected community leaders, including prominent figures from both sides of politics, to be patrons of the organisation. Here’s a picture of three of them, from The Age in June 1989: One of them, Frank Crean, father of Simon, and former Treasurer in Whitlam’s ... [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]
Spotted a few minutes ago. Apparently it’s Venus and Jupiter, as well as the moon. Thanks to my mum for pointing it out. It’s still up there right now, in the western sky, for those in Melbourne. PS. SMH article (from before the fact)
A few quick reviews. No Country for Old Men — great stuff from the Coens. Gripping. Quite violent though; bits of it almost gave me nightmares. Is it trying to make a point at the end? Ummm… probably. Burn After Reading — more Coen brothers. Some very funny characters, and genuine surprises along the way. ... [More]
ABC Childcare is in big financial trouble, has been for weeks. The crazy thing is childcare is in heavy demand, and there are government subsidies which should make it all very profitable. I guess not if your childcare company gets too ambitious and borrows heavily to expand and then comes up against a worldwide financial ... [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]