Categories
transport

New fares – comparing cost per kilometre

While some are hailing the government’s plan (backed by Labor) to apply zone 1 fares (as a maximum) right across Melbourne, I thought it might be worth looking at the per kilometre cost for various trips — including some V/Line trips. The table below shows a sample of trips, both with the current fares, and  ... [More]

Categories
Bentleigh Photos

Rainbow

Sorry, no time to do a proper blog post, so here’s a photo of a rainbow I snapped in Bentleigh on Monday, as dark clouds loomed:

Categories
transport

Coalition fares announcement: free CBD trams; zone 2 gone [Updated]

The Herald Sun reports the government is planning big changes to Melbourne public transport fares: The radical changes, being unveiled today ahead of the State Budget, would cap maximum daily fares at the Zone 1 rate across Melbourne’s entire tram, rail and bus network. And CBD and Docklands trams would be free under the changes,  ... [More]

Categories
Retrospectives transport

Smoke, steam, nostalgia: Steamrail Open Day 2014

The Steamrail Open Day a couple of weeks ago was good fun, though in some ways very similar to the previous one in 2012… But I’ll post some pics anyway. This is a Tait train (“Red rattler”) — dating back to the 1910s, and very common when I was growing up, but phased-out in the  ... [More]

Categories
transport

PTV’s plan for a frequent network

We could have a vastly more usable PT network; PTV has a plan. It just needs funding.

Categories
Consumerism transport

Spot the difference – transport advertising in the lead-up to elections

I was thinking the government ads about transport upgrades back in 2009-10 (Labor) are pretty similar to 2014 (Coalition). How would it be if I got them both and dubbed the audio of one over the video of another? The 2010 version is mostly about trains; the 2014 one has been chopped a tad to  ... [More]

Categories
transport

The curse of dead running – enemy of the passenger

One of the issues in public transport is “dead running“. This blog post cites a local example, but it’s a widespread issue. At various times of day, trams trains and buses move out of service between their runs and their depots or stabling. This is dead running. Sometimes this is taken to extremes. Most route  ... [More]

Categories
Health TMI

Ouchy

Those Swiss Army knife people certainly know how to make knives. Very sharp knives. While using one of their kitchen knives earlier in the week, I carelessly took a small chunk out of my thumb. Be warned: slightly gory picture ahead.

Categories
Photos from ten years ago

Photos from March 2004

Continuing my series of ten year old photos… The serene setting of Caulfield South Primary School, where my kids went. Like many schools of that era, the original main building is lovely, and conceals the portable classrooms out the back. The old Elizabeth Street tram stop on Collins Street, westbound. It’s not hard to see  ... [More]

Categories
transport

The Dandenong line upgrade: What’s included, what’s missing?

To the surprise of many, the state government yesterday announced a major $2 billion upgrade of the Dandenong/Pakenham/Cranbourne lines — they’re saying it’ll be enough to boost capacity by about 30%. The government’s press release is here, or you can watch a video: What’s included? 25 new high-capacity “next-generation” trains. They’ve been talking about this  ... [More]

Categories
Food'n'drink Retrospectives

Your guide to meat

M+J were clearing out some old cook books, and found this gem. It’s not dated, but it does have a decimal price, so it must be post-February 1966. Perhaps not far after though, judging from the style. Much of it is in black and white, but here are a few choice colour pages… And one  ... [More]

Categories
transport

Safety around trams

This short safety video was produced for the new “GoldLinq” light rail system on the Gold Coast, which opens this year… but the tips in it are just as relevant for Melbourne. Of course for our local ads, we’ve got skateboarding rhinos. PS. In light of two newspaper polls over the weekend (they’re like trams/buses,  ... [More]