Categories
Photos from ten years ago transport

Old photos from April 2012

Another in my series of posts of ten year old photos, and this time they’re 100% public transport related. Around the network, Myki was slowly taking over, but some of the Metcard vending machines were still hanging on. One benefit of Myki was that it handled the weekend saver cap automatically. There was a Myki  ... [More]

Categories
Health

Eye tests

Not a transport post I’ve been having annual eye tests for a few years now. It was prompted by noticing floaters for the first time about five years ago. Initially they said there were no issues… well, apart from my right eye which has been nearly blind since birth, but nothing can be done about  ... [More]

Categories
Health transport

PT mask rules around Australia

The continuing use of masks on public transport came up last week when Premier Andrews remarked that they’d be around for some time yet. (For a segment on this topic on ABC Radio Melbourne last Thursday with me, listen here – it starts at roughly at 1:55:40.) So I thought I’d quickly review what the  ... [More]

Categories
transport

Four of the top ten busiest “rail stations” are tram stops

Official data shows the busiest railway stations and tram stops

Categories
Photos from ten years ago

Old photos from March 2012

It’s the end of the month – here’s another in my series of posts with photos from ten years ago. When McKinnon station had a level crossing, this was a common and slightly unnerving sight – cars driving across just before the booms went down and citybound trains (two of them) came through. It’s not  ... [More]

Categories
transport

Touring Arden station

Thanks to the Metro tunnel team (specifically the guys at Cross Yarra Partnership) I managed to get a ticket to the tour of Arden station held yesterday. Arden Station is named after nearby Arden Street, and will be located in a new urban renewal precinct of the same name. The station will be between Footscray  ... [More]

Categories
The week in transport transport

Free PT? Still not the main game

Free public transport is back in the news this week. In the wake of high petrol prices, the Victorian Greens have proposed it to help provide relief and switch people onto public transport. In recent weeks, New Zealand has halved its public transport fares for three months, and Tasmania has made theirs free for five  ... [More]

Categories
Working life

Some thoughts on Work From Home vs Office

We’re now two years into the pandemic. For many Melbourne people, the start was marked by the sudden cancellation of the March 2020 Formula 1 Grand Prix, followed just over a week later by the early start of school holidays and the shift to Work From Home for most white-collar workers – which for many  ... [More]

Categories
TV

Pay TV

Not a transport post. In years gone by, I scoffed at the idea of paying $50+ a month for Foxtel pay TV, and I wasn’t the only one – apparently by 2012, only 28% of Australian homes had a pay TV subscription. I suppose Foxtel needed to cover their delivery infrastructure costs, unlike today’s streaming  ... [More]

Categories
transport

Vic PT patronage: Monthly data now published

I’ve written before that Victoria (and Melbourne) was the only major jurisdiction in the country not publishing patronage data more regularly than once a year. Well, kudos to the Department of Transport: just recently they started publishing monthly patronage data, alongside updated annual station entry data for Metro and V/Line. (I know Philip Mallis had  ... [More]

Categories
transport

A peek at the Metro Tunnel western portal

Sometimes my walks take me to interesting places. On Saturday while walking in South Kensington, I found myself at the site of the Metro Tunnel’s western portal. To my surprise, there was nobody around, no signage saying to stay out, and no closed gate. So I peeked around the corner to snap some photos of  ... [More]

Categories
Photos from ten years ago

Old photos from February 2012

More photos from ten years ago – this time from February 2012 The Metcard to Myki transition was well underway, and Metcard machines were increasingly being removed and replaced. Some Myki card vending machines however were still not vending cards. This Metcard machine at Flinders Street was presumably in the process of removal. Note the  ... [More]