As an occasional cyclist, nothing puts me off like feeling unsafe. Bike lanes help me feel safer, but tend to fizzle out before intersections — just where many cyclists would consider that you need them the most. It doesn’t have to be that way. Here’s a real life example of continuous bike lanes: the corner ... [More]
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RIP Rik Mayall
BBC: Rik Mayall, star of The Young Ones, dies aged 56 I’m quite upset by this news. As a teenager, I grew up with – and adored – the shows he was in… The Young Ones of course, but I went hunting for those that people may have since forgotten (or never seen, because they ... [More]
One of the great things about Melbourne’s CBD (the Hoddle Grid) is that it’s so easily navigable. There are lots of parallel streets and laneways, so when walking around it’s pretty easy to take an alternative route, and still not get lost. You can use this to avoid Chuggers. Charity Muggers are notorious for getting ... [More]
I finally got around to going to look at the new Myki gates at Springvale station the other day. They’ve also been installed at Mitcham, and will be put in at Richmond soon. From what I’d heard, they are faster than the existing older Myki gates installed in 2012-13. The stories were true. They are ... [More]
Yep, it’s June, so time again for another batch of my old photos from ten years ago. It seems that for some reason I didn’t take very many photos in June 2004. A Hitachi train pulls out of Richmond station. Note the markings of the then five-years defunct PTC on the shelter glass. Other than ... [More]
You might have seen media coverage (Age / Herald Sun) of the new City of Melbourne Draft Walking Plan. There’s lots of interesting stuff in the document (PDF, 35Mb). Below are some notes from a skim through. (Page references refer to those at the top of the page, eg numbered from the start of the ... [More]
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Keep clear: Pedestrians walking!
I was pleased to see a couple of articles on page 5 of the May 2014 City of Glen Eira council newsletter, about the rights of pedestrians on footpaths. The first notes the rules around keeping footpaths clear: Clearing the way for walking During community consultation for Glen Eira City Councilâs Walking Strategy, various concerns ... [More]
In this blog post I hope to address a few myths around Melbourne’s rail system that I’m seeing floating around. The Loop tunnels have hardly any trains! I’ve heard from a couple of sources in the past week (one on mainstream radio) the claim that nothing needs to be done about rail capacity in the ... [More]
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Rego stickers are *so* last year
Lots of cars still seem to have rego stickers on them, even though they are being phased-out — you haven’t needed to have one on your car since the end of last year. …from 1 January 2014, Victoria will abolish registration labels for light vehicles, including passenger cars. … How will people know when they ... [More]
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When the trip home goes wrong
Obviously I wouldn’t normally do this, but let me tell you about my trip home last night. And then I’ll look beyond it to the big picture. I wouldn’t normally do it, because despite problems, it’s usually pretty smooth. Last night… not so much. 5:20. Check Metro web site to see how the trains are ... [More]
It must be autumn. PS. Just noting the passing of Sir Jack Brabham, the only Formula 1 driver to ever win in a car he built himself. I couldn’t but help recall Herge’s nod to him in Tintin: The Calculus Affair. (Apparently in the original French, it’s Fangio instead.)
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So, is this a zebra crossing, or not?
Dear City of Maribyrnong and/or VicRoads, I’m confused. Is this a zebra crossing, or not? This is the corner of Nicholson and Droop Streets, in Footscray. It appears the lights were originally a conventional non-zebra crossing when the road was narrowed a few years ago. But with only a single lane of traffic (which very ... [More]
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Can you spot the problem here?
Back in the day, the PTUA ran a campaign called “Problem Of The Day“. It highlighted a basic problem on the public transport network each week, by a way of a photo or a video. It was a good way of highlighting that many of the issues are not those that require billions of dollars ... [More]
Mckinnon station was the site an infamous incident in 2010 that perhaps, more than any other, solidified popular support for the state Coalition’s policy of two Protective Service Officers on every station after 6pm. It was an unusual event, but very frightening for those involved: passengers coming home from Friday night football. Passengers had to ... [More]
Here’s a puzzler for you: look at this lovely old house. Can you guess the suburb it’s in? Update 12:50pm: Mike got it, by tracking the posts to my Flickr account! It’s in Nicholson Street, central Footscray. While I don’t subscribe to the generalisations of the run-down inner-west, I was delighted to find such a ... [More]
I’ve remarked upon this before in comparisons with Perth and Brisbane, but of all the flaws of Myki, the top one must be the inconsistent and slow response times. Marcus Wong has captured this superbly in a video: Note that many of the people in the queue know that you can touch before the gate ... [More]