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Recent photos

You know I’m busy when the blog posts are few and far between, and contain a lot of photos…

There do seem to be a lot sightings of Google Streetview cars recently. Here’s another. This one was resting.
Google Streetview car

Christmas shopping crowds at Southland shopping centre last weekend. It’ll get busier as the month rolls on, of course.
Southland shopping centre: Christmas crowds

Southland’s car park was packed, and the station somewhat… non-existent. If you want to be sneaky during the shopping season, instead of hunting for a car park at Southland, park across the street. But shhhh! Don’t tell too many people! (No, that’s not my Merc.)
Sneaky parking at Southland

“That’s the second biggest inflatable Christmas gift I’ve ever seen!” At Southern Cross station. I think there was a sign saying it’s in support of a charity.
Big Christmas present, Southern Cross Station

Those audio-visual ads at underground stations may be irritating, but occasionally serve up some geek amusement, such as this 404 error. Mind you it disappeared after a few seconds.
404 on web page ad, Flagstaff station

As the city gets busier, motorcyclists are taking up more of the pavement, even in pedestrian mall areas. This kind of unregulated constriction of pedestrian space really needs to be reviewed.
Motorcycle parking in Bourke Street Mall

…and in fact even police motorcyclists seem to be unaware of the guidelines that you shouldn’t park in a bus stop.
Perhaps even police are unaware the guidelines say you shouldn't park motorcycles in bus stops

Spotted in JB Hifi… The Beatles “Help”. Rated MA? Really?
The Beatles "Help" - rated MA?!

Good to see works continuing at Bentleigh station after the election. Ah, removal of the pointless blockage in the exit to platform 3 — good!
Bentleigh station works

Sure enough, passing a day or two later, it was gone, and extra Myki readers are going in too. Not sure of the wisdom on these for the rarely-used platform 3, but extras are going in on platform 2 as well.
Wider entrance and more Myki readers on platform 3 at Bentleigh

It was said the X’trapolis train on the Frankston line was just an election stunt. Some thought it would disappear straight after the election. Then the rumour was it would run for an extra week so it didn’t look like an election stunt. To my surprise, it’s still on the line — maybe they know the rumour got around, so it’s been left for a bit longer. It’s costing more money than the other trains as it has two drivers in the cab (as not all the lineside equipment has been fully modified) and is only scheduled on a couple of morning runs before spending the rest of the day in stabling.
The only X'Trapolis on the Frankston line, still running a week and a half after the election

Baaa! Waiting for trains to pass at Bentleigh station. While grade separation benefits motorists more than other groups, there’s no doubt pedestrians benefit too, though the need would be less great if the underpass had been left operational.
Baaa! Waiting for trains to pass

Birdlife at Albert Park lake. The ID tag on the swan made me ponder if that’s what some have in mind when they demand that cyclists have number plates… not really practical. (Has anywhere in the world done it?)
Albert Park Lake birdlife

By Daniel Bowen

Transport blogger / campaigner and spokesperson for the Public Transport Users Association / professional geek.
Bunurong land, Melbourne, Australia.
Opinions on this blog are all mine.

9 replies on “Recent photos”

A good cross section of life in Melbourne – great photos!
PS “The ID tag on the swan made me ponder if that’s what some have in mind when they demand that cyclists have number plates”. Geez, you certainly have an imagination if a tagged bird makes you think of a number plate! Ha ha.

@Tranzit Jim – I believe that X’Trapolis set 173M-174M + 175M-176M has been used on every Frankston run since they started, but I’m not sure as to what the modifications are.

@Jim/@Marcus, yeah it’s only one train. It has some kind of speed limiter fitted.

@Wilson, I reckon drug references might get something to M at a pinch (though I have the movie; there’s nothing really overt like that in it)… MA would really be stretching it. The Classification web site actually says it’s PG.

The bird tags are for breeding pairs of black swans. The female gets a white one, the male gets a black one of the same corresponding number. They usually get tagged once they establish a nest together. The study is run by a professor in Uni of Melbourne.

Hawaii and Japan supposedly tried bike registration. I don’t know if that is correct but that is what I have read.

Talking of the Beatles… Why are Beatles compilation CDs so expensive? JBHI Fi have complilation discs of nearly every artist between ten and fifteen dollars. Except the Beatles. The cheapest CD I have seen is just under $30.

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