Just came across a nicely done alternative car show from Robert Llewellyn (of Red Dwarf fame!) called FullyCharged. (Hat Tip to Gavin)
Fully Charged
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Category Archives: Transport
Bikes and V/Line Survey
The Department of Transport has apparently commissioned a survey on bicycles on V/Line with a view to improving the services they provide. It is only open until the 24th of April. Fill it out here.
Should we fly?
An upcoming talk at the Climate Action Centre: Should we fly? Air travel and climate change.
6.30 pm Thursday March 25
Climate Action Centre
Lvl 5, New Building, Victorian Trades Hall
Cnr. Victoria & Lygon Streets, Carlton South
Dogs on Moscow’s Subway
Two interesting pieces on research into stray dogs use of the subway in Moscow: Moscow’s stray dogs and Smartest Dogs [via The Dish]
Chinese Transportation Growth
A detailed look at China’s transport trends with lots of nice graphs for the text-averse by Stuart Stainford at Early Warning: Chinese Transportation Growth
Kosky Resigns
Victorian Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky has resigned from politics, citing family health issues. More at The Age and The Herald Sun
Update: And now also an article from Paul Mees: Kosky was a transport apologist, not a reformer
Update II: A more detailed article from Clay Lucas in The Age: End of the line
Walk Score
A pretty nicely put together website that ‘scores’ a location based on what you can walk to from there (walkability? walk friendliness?): Walk Score
Interview with Metro CEO
There’s a relatively brief but interesting article in today’s Age that features an interview with Metro Trains CEO: Train timetables ‘too complicated’
A simplified timetable was needed so customers could remember it, and so train controllers could recover the system when things went wrong, he said.
Mr Lezala said he deliberately did not own a car in Melbourne. ”I am an advocate of public transport. I like the tram network because the frequency is such that you do not need to understand the timetable.”
The train network needed that frequency, he said. The Public Transport Users Association campaigned in 2008 to get trains, trams and buses running every 10 minutes. He said this was the correct approach.
The contracts established Connex as train operator, another company, Mainco, as track maintainer and a third firm, United – now part of Metro Trains – as train repairer.
The new contracts bring responsibility for all of this into one company, Metro. Mr Lezala – who repeatedly apologised to the public this week for Monday’s problems – said people should expect excellent service from Metro. ”If it is not going right, we should apologise and let people know what we are doing about it.”
Flinders St Station turns 100
Flinders St Station, one of my favourite buildings in Melbourne (despite the bland modern station concourse), is turning 100. There is an exhibition on in the Degraves St subway to commemorate this. Apparently it will only be there until the 22nd of January (thanks to White Hat for reminding me).
From the Flinders St Station 100 website.
An exhibition celebrating the station’s history, decade by decade, will be available to the public in the Degraves Street Subway from Monday 4 January to Saturday 23 January 2010. This event is supported by Platform Artists. The exhibition, entitled The Station Turns 100, will be launched on Friday 8 January, 6 – 8 pm. No rsvp is required and everyone is welcome!
There is some brief introductory history on the website. There is also a book, by Jenny Davies: Beyond the Façade: Flinders Street
The website also features a call to lobby for refurbishment of the station and returning it to the public domain.
The exhibition is supported by Platform Artists Group Inc.
Update: Some positive noises at least from the new transport minister – At 100, grand old station in line for arts refit
Victoria’s new Public Transport Minister, Martin Pakula, said the Government was considering a proposal from the Centre for Adult Education ”for an arts and cultural hub with exhibition, classroom and studio space” for the building.
”We understand there’s a big community push to use Flinders Street and the department will further investigate the CAE proposal, and we will continue to work with the City of Melbourne, transport operators, arts, transport and other groups … to test this proposal and see if the station building can be returned to the community.”
It has been estimated refurbishing the station would cost more than $10 million. It has had many uses over its 100 years including holding concerts and acting as a sports venue.
Trains and Red Lights
A somewhat concerning piece from Reid Sexton in The Age: Train drivers put lives on the line
Sources say the incidents had increased markedly in the past 20 years, and they blame poor driver training, decaying infrastructure and lighter penalties for drivers who breach red lights.
The July incident is one of 141 red light breaches recorded in the first 10 months of 2009.
While all Metro trains brake automatically if they run a red light, a train travelling at top speed needs at least 500 metres to stop in time. ”Even one signal passed at danger is too many,” said a Metro source. ”This is going to end in disaster at a level crossing.”
New Trains!
The first of Melbourne’s new X’Trapolis trains was rolled out yesterday. Then promptly rolled back. Per Clay Lucas at The Age: New train: catch it if you can
But immediately after the Alstom X’Trapolis train had finished two runs on the suburban network – one to Glen Waverley and back, and another to Epping – it was returned to the Newport rail repair yards.
Thirteen new trains are scheduled to be introduced in the lead-up to next year’s state election in November, as the Government tries to relieve commuters from severe overcrowding at peak times.
Myki Has Arrived
The famed myki is off and running, or something, well, at least if you’re catching trains only.
The official website is myki.com.au. They didn’t take care of myki.org.au though, which belongs to the Myki Users Group.
There’s a bit of coverage in the local media.
The Age: Myki rolls out – but only on city trains and Kosky takes the myki: no trams, buses, tickets
ABC: Myki rollout leaves trams, buses behind
There’s free registered myki cards to be had from their website. Think it is for registered cards only though. Normally they’ll cost $7 concession or $10 full fare (if I’m remembering correctly).
Taxi Fare Estimator
File this one under you learn something new every day.
The Victorian Department of Transport has a Taxi Fare Estimator which is pretty cool!
Ticket Inspectors (Authorised Officers)
An interesting article in today’s Crikey by Luke Williams (subscriber only) providing some details on Melbourne’s lovable public transport ticket inspectors.
Choice excerpts include
The latest report by the Public Transport Ombudsman shows 38% of its complaints are about fines and the conduct of authorised officers
Of the complaints, 31% were about intimidation, 22% about the use of force, the rest were largely about officers not listening or acting aggressively.
Also, he notes a project undertaken by YouthLaw, called Campaign Respect, looking at young people’s experiences at the hands of ticket inspectors.
$8 Billion for High Speed Rail in the USA
The White House puts High Speed Rail into the spotlight in the US. About time.
“My high-speed rail proposal will lead to innovations that change the way we travel in America. We must start developing clean, energy-efficient transportation that will define our regions for centuries to come,” said President Obama. “A major new high-speed rail line will generate many thousands of construction jobs over several years, as well as permanent jobs for rail employees and increased economic activity in the destinations these trains serve. High-speed rail is long-overdue, and this plan lets American travelers know that they are not doomed to a future of long lines at the airports or jammed cars on the highways.”
Should be a good thing for the well and truly in-progress plans for a HSR network in California (more at CalHSR blog).
The corridors designated are as follows.
Swanston Street Redevelopment Consultation
It has begun. Participate here… Open until May 8.
OpenStreetMap
The Wikipedia of maps? OpenStreetMap is an interesting idea. Perhaps a little harder to get into than Wikipedia, but still. Seems quite good for bike paths and the like.
Victorian Cycling Strategy
A bit of fanfare from the Victorian Government with the release of their cycling strategy. Good to see them doing something, but still, it is hard not to be more than a bit skeptical. More around the interwebs…
Avalon Airshow Flight Tracking
With the airshow on at Avalon this week, the Melbourne Airport flight activity tracker can provide some interesting viewing. You probably need to look at the historical data to find something interesting. Click on the plane icon and select ‘show static track’ to see more than a little bit of tracking. Here’s one example from about 1pm. Limited time offer! The historical data is only viewable for about 24 hours.
