The other day I retired one of my oldest web pages, an FAQ on Melbourne public transport. It started life (I think around 1993, before the Web was around) as a Usenet FAQ for the misc.transport.urban-transit group. In 1994 it was posted (with an incomplete attempt to convert it to HTML) on Railpage — where ... [More]
It’s a year today since Myki was switched-on in Melbourne. There were a lot of problems on day one, and many others have been highlighted in the last twelve months. In today’s Herald Sun, Paul Mees argues Myki should be scrapped and replaced with a system from elsewhere, such as Perth’s SmartRider. I argue that ... [More]
Sick of how Metro’s running? Then build your own! (ABC News, 26/12/2010.)
Some thoughts on the new state government, and trams
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]
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]
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]