State government annual reports season ended up hitting late this year due to the election. It’s usually in September, but this year everything got tabled in Parliament late on Wednesday. I usually like to browse through the V/Line and PTV reports for interesting factoids… Here are some things I noticed during a quick skim. V/Line ... [More]
The Age’s Timna Jacks got hold of some bus punctuality figures via FOI, and published this story last week, which is worth a read: Late every second trip: Life on the delayed 232 bus The data provides a glimpse of something not normally in the public eye. Regular bus users know that some routes suffer ... [More]
As expected, public transport fares in Victoria go up from 1st January. This time it’s a CPI rise of 2.2% – thankfully not as high as the last four which were CPI+2.5% (budgeted by the Coalition in 2014, delivered by Labor). This takes the standard zone 1 or 1+2 daily fare to $8.80, and the ... [More]
Desire lines are where authorities intend for people to go one way, but people (especially pedestrians) quite logically ignore them and go a different way. Often they indicate poor design. Here are some quick examples from my neck of the woods. You have to wonder whose bright idea this was. Try and divert the pedestrians ... [More]
It’s perhaps a minor thing, but… Back in November 2017 the metro tunnel station names were announced, including a new station called North Melbourne, with the current station to be renamed to West Melbourne. (See update at bottom of article. This plan was cancelled in early 2020.) I don’t have a problem with that. It’s ... [More]
Continuing my series of ten year old photos… The coal industry trying to pretend they’re good guys. I don’t know if they even pretend these days… note yesterday Adani announced it would press ahead with its new coal mine, in the middle of a state bushfire crisis — nice touch. Warrnambool holiday! This was fun. ... [More]
Many people have written about the state election result. I thought I’d add my two-cents worth… noting that as of Wednesday night, some seats are still in doubt. The Coalition crime fear campaign didn’t resonate. The stats don’t match the rhetoric, and while the accounts from actual victims could be harrowing, Melbourne is not a ... [More]
Sometimes my blog posts are like buses or trams. You wait ages, then two show up in close succession. I wanted to get this out before the election: an update on the level crossing removals, a popular project which brings benefits to motorists, pedestrians and public transport users alike. In 2014, Labor pledged 50 by ... [More]
It’s state election day this Saturday, though many people have already voted: Weâre up to 970,454 votes on Day 9 of early voting â 585,869 was the Day 9 early voting total in 2014. The number of postal votes received has risen to 177,572. Want to see how your Districtâs early voting tally compares to ... [More]
Family business took us to Euroa on Saturday. The station is on the western side of the town centre. The main street goes over the railway line to the south of the station — Wikipedia notes that the the road overpass was built in 1960 during the first round of standardisation. The second round, last ... [More]
While my most pressing home renovation need is the bathroom (planning to do this the next time my sons are away on a trip), I was also thinking: Governments should be doing a lot more on climate change, but what are the major emissions in my home, and how could I decarbonise? The car. I ... [More]
Melbourne’s rail network already has some huge car parks, up to 1000 spaces at some stations, as many as a medium-sized shopping centre. There are more than 40,000 spaces across the Metro network, and thousands more on V/Line. Unlike in some cities, they’re all free. The common complaint is that all station car parks fill ... [More]
My monthly post of ten year old photos… My day job had me working in Collins Street, and occasionally we’d get to go to the upper levels and check out the view. That’s Manchester Lane at the bottom left, and near the top left you can just see the Shrine. Newspaper House dates from a ... [More]
Things have been busy, so I’m a bit behind on blogging things. A few things in brief, then the big news. Wednesday night delays Last night saw major delays affecting the Mernda and Hurstbridge lines between about 4pm and 5:30pm, impacting peak hour. This was due to a track fault at Flinders Street, and it ... [More]
Channel 9 and The Age got hold of a previously unpublished rail plan, or at least the summary maps from it. Age: Leaked rail plan shows few extra services for regional commuters Channel 9: I assume the headline-writer got a little carried away. Metro 2 isn’t really a secret. The stages The staging appears to ... [More]
Just a quick post while I work on something more substantive. I want to talk about Passenger Information Displays (PIDs for short) at Metro stations. For a while, it looked like suburban stations would all be getting two line LED PIDs. They show the scheduled time, destination, minutes to departure, and a summary of the ... [More]