(Backdated. Posted 14/11/2014.) During the Sydney trip I tried out Opal card, and M got one as well to try. It’s worth remembering that although the system is provided by Cubic, who built London’s Oyster system, its cost is not insubstantial — $1.2 billion over 15 years. It’s not quite as expensive, but is in ... [More]
Here is my collection of Australian public transport smartcards. The ones I’m missing are Adelaide, Canberra and Tasmania — all of which have been introduced since my last visits there. Notably Perth’s SmartRider is the only card that is blank on the back, which is why the card number (which I’ve blacked-out) is on the ... [More]
Last weekend I tried an experiment, for a PTUA video… In the highly marginal electorate of Bentleigh, having just missed the bus, is it quicker to wait for the next service, or walk to Southland? Given walking speeds and a five kilometre distance, perhaps the answer (at least for reasonably fit, able-bodied people) is obvious… ... [More]
You’d think from the tweets from Coalition MPs this morning that the arrival of the first X’trapolis train in service on the Frankston line was a miraculous huge leap forward for train travellers — a rocket-powered, laser-guided teleportation device that can get you to your destination in seconds. Great to travel in the new X'Trapolis ... [More]
Here’s an interesting issue with Myki which has always been around to an extent, but which has got worse with the switch to exact two-hour fares. The problem The Myki software uses the two hour expiry of a fare as the time after which it assumes the next touch of your card is also a ... [More]
It’s not uncommon to see trams stopped at traffic lights along Bourke Street, sometimes in queues, at locations where there is no stop. If you’ve wondered why your tram journey is start-stop, it won’t surprise you to learn that the lights are all over the place. With the handy-dandy stopwatch function on my mobile phone, ... [More]
The Public Transport Not Traffic campaign organised a story in this week’s local paper, via campaigners Tony, Danita and Oscar setting up a fake bus stop to call for better bus services. Among the quotes in the story from locals is this one from me: “Bentleigh has less frequent buses than it did 25 years ... [More]
Tackling the big issues today… Two different winter PT philosophies: That awkward moment when you sit on a seat that someone just got off and you feel their left-over bum heat on your bum — Mo on Twitter …compared to… Two people got off the train at Clifton Hill so I grabbed their seats… Benefit ... [More]
Do I win a prize? Following on from my photos a couple of years ago of a train, tram and bus in one shot, I’ve managed to get another (at the same location) of the three of them in the PTV livery. Common livery is not the most important thing in a public transport network, ... [More]
The July 27th public transport network changes are pretty big. Some of the information is a bit vague, so here are some points I’ve gleaned from looking around, as well as chatting to Transdev, who run a lot of the bus routes that are changing. V/Line The big thing in rail is V/Line trains from ... [More]
Some bits of transport news worth noting today: July: new services The Herald Sun has the scoop on public transport service upgrades from late-July: Work commute eased as new train, tram, bus services announced (a very narrowly focussed headline given the upgrades benefit a lot more than 9-5 workers). Details are still a little sketchy, ... [More]
This was posted on Facebook by a Melbourne train driver last week. It’s well worth a read. Given he says “please share this” (and other copies doing the rounds are screen dumps, making it difficult to read, especially for those with vision issues), I’m posting the text in full here: I try to keep my ... [More]
I was chatting on Friday to a colleague who has just bought a house with her husband. They ended up in an area they are familiar with and like, and as a bonus, she said, it’s in zone 1. I was the same when I bought my house back in 2005 — it wasn’t necessarily ... [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]
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]
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]