Categories
transport

Sydney vs Melbourne PT patronage

Last year I wrote a blog pondering why Sydney’s rail patronage is 50% higher than Melbourne’s. This has got a fresh airing amid speculation that Melbourne’s COVID-19 spread is linked to greater urban mobility in Melbourne compared to Sydney. I thought I’d quickly look at public transport patronage specifically. Here it is summed up in  ... [More]

Categories
Health

Go get vaccinated (if you can)

In our last exciting chapter, back in March, COVID-19 had settled down in Victoria, and largely disappeared. Life pretty much returned back to normal except overseas travel was near-impossible, and you had to wear a mask on PT. It couldn’t last. Another outbreak is now upon us in Melbourne. My view: no matter where you  ... [More]

Categories
Health transport

Masks on PT: the rules

There’s been a bit of confusion about the rules around masks and public transport. I’m not here to speculate on whether the rules are needed. I’m not an epidemiologist and probably neither are you. While there’s been no COVID-19 community spread in Victoria for many weeks, the recent case of the gentleman who unwittingly caught  ... [More]

Categories
News and events

A year at home

A year ago today it all went off. The talk of theoretical disruptions from the COVID-19 virus became very real in Australia. I thought I’d look back over the past 12 months. Hopefully I haven’t messed up any of the chronology, but if so, please leave a comment. March 2020 It seemed sudden – cases  ... [More]

Categories
transport

What does the COVID roadmap mean for PT?

The Victorian Government has released its roadmap out of COVID-19 restrictions. I’ve been pondering what this means for travel demand and public transport in Melbourne, and activity in the CBD, which largely drives PT patronage. The steps in the roadmap (*which are mostly subject to case numbers) start from Sunday night. 1st Step (14th September)  ... [More]

Categories
Health

Time to mask up, Melbourne

It’s been almost two week since the recommendation to wear masks when you couldn’t stay 1.5 metres away from others. This includes public transport. With COVID-19 case numbers rising, on Sunday they upped the ante: masks (or other face coverings) will be mandatory outside your home (with a few exceptions) from Thursday. Interestingly this is  ... [More]

Categories
Health transport

How PT networks are handling COVID-19

Comparing different city public transport networks and their COVID-19 responses

Categories
Home life

Some personal metrics

Public transport use down, electricity consumption up, mobile internet down, home internet up. Grocery spending up… then almost back to normal. Some personal metrics in the age of COVID-19.