Some thoughts on the new state government, and trams
Tag: public transport
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Standing up for passengers
In a crowded train the other day (caused by a cancellation), both I and another bloke got up at the same time to offer an old lady senior citizen of the female persuasion a seat. He caught her eye first, but as it happens another lady in need of a seat got on at the ... [More]
The PTUA’s Annual General Meeting was last night. There was some optimism amongst the committee and membership about where public transport is going since the change of government, but even before that, the political debate has been moving along nicely. An example we talked about last night… At a parliamentary hearing last year as part ... [More]
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Spot the difference
Victoria: It’s part of the plan. Vancouver: *Be* part of the plan. It’s an important distinction.
Among the 12 (or more) seats lost by Labor in Saturday’s election were four in Melbourne’s south: Frankston, Carrum, Mordialloc, and Bentleigh. What do these have in common? The Frankston line. The Frankston line is the poorest performing in Melbourne. While overcrowding has eased since the June timetable change, punctuality is the worst in the ... [More]
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Voting for PT
So how am I voting tomorrow? No comment. But I will tell you what I know about the policies on my pet topic: The Greens, as you might expect, have the best, most comprehensive public transport policy (though it’s not flawless by any means). Of course, we all know they are unlikely to be forming ... [More]
I’m very pleased. After years of pressure, both major parties have pledged to build Southland station. The Liberals promised it last week, and yesterday the ALP came to the party. (As recently as last week, I ran into ALP’s Rob Hudson at Bentleigh station and he said he was pushing for it. At the time ... [More]
Find out more — and send an email to your local MP and state election candidates outlining your concerns about public transport — at www.PTthatworks.org.au Update Wednesday: Labor has now released its transport policy.
The Public Transport Users Association has outlined the extent of this maze in a diagram showing the many agencies, quangos, private companies and safety bodies running the state’s public transport. — The Age Here is the diagram: Read the full feature article at The Age: The Great Disconnect. PS. Given part of the article was ... [More]
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W-class trams
I love W-class trams. They truly are an icon of the city. In my youth I fondly remember watching the road ahead from the seat just behind (and to the left) of the driver, as we rolled up and down the hills on Balaclava Road. Or hot summers in the seat next to the (open) ... [More]
Herald Sun: Melbourne commuters take free ride with myki card fault About 30 myki users have been affected by a particular fault that has allowed them free travel. Public Transport Users Association president Daniel Bowen has been travelling free for at least a week. Kamco became aware of the problem only when Mr Bowen reported ... [More]
Fantastic: Atomic Tom performing Take me out, live on a NYC subway train using just iPhones. NB. Please don’t try this unless you are actually talented. According to the New York Daily News, the intro text about their instruments being stolen is fictitious. (via Eva Blanda)
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Spinning faster
Graph: The number of transport-related govt press releases is steadily increasing each week
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Who to vote for in Transport?
Please note that as always, the views expressed on my blog are my own, and are not necessarily a PTUA position. The state election’s about six weeks away. The Opposition has been criticised for not having a transport policy, but it’s important to note that Labor hasn’t said much about what they’d do, either. Sure, ... [More]
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Major event at MCG: Sorry, no PT
It’s pretty pathetic when the organisers of a major event at the MCG have to tell thousands of participants that there’s no public transport. With start times of 7.00am, 8.00am and 7.30am respectively, public transport is not an option for Marathon, Half Marathon and 10km competitors. Why? Well despite the MCG being served by Jolimont ... [More]
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New train timetables next month
Tomorrow it’ll be known if Metro has met their monthly punctuality target for the first time. As-of yesterday the daily update on the Metro web site was sitting on 88.7% (last updated 28/9), clear of the 88% cut-off. (That’s 88% of trains less than 5 minutes late.) For the first time in many moons, you ... [More]