Categories
transport

Chadstone’s shiny new bus interchange – the good, the bad and the ugly

Chadstone Shopping Centre, perpetually in a battle to maintain its status as Australia’s biggest shopping mall, opened a new bus interchange in August. I finally got around to seeing it just before Christmas. My first impressions… The good: All the buses serving Chadstone go to one spot, which is far less dispersed than the old  ... [More]

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transport

Westgate traffic – we shouldn’t expect any other outcome

Given in the past it hasn’t eventuated, I was cynical about the predictions of long delays on the Westgate Bridge this week during roadworks. In 2013, closure of the Domain Tunnel didn’t result in gridlock. It seems drivers were adequately forewarned, and didn’t drive, or found alternative routes, and/or used PT instead. But this time,  ... [More]

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The week in transport transport

The week in transport

The experiment continues. This time it’s turned out to be short posts, rather than a ream of news. Southland Station delayed Monday 2015-12-21 — Southland construction pushed back into 2016. Completion is now expected in early 2017. The Opposition said the construction should have been at the same time as the North/Mckinnon/Centre level crossing removals,  ... [More]

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Photos from ten years ago Toxic Custard newsletter

Old photos from December 2005

Another from my series of ten year old photos. (Marcus Wong has joined in this game.) Alas, not so many interesting ones from me in December 2005. As noted in this post, on a single day, I received a truly dizzying amount of junk mail (plus two local newspapers). It was what finally prompted me  ... [More]

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Home life Toxic Custard newsletter

Heatwave: external blinds under test

Over the weekend Melbourne went through our biggest heatwave so far this summer, and the first real test of my external blinds, which were fitted to the house early this year. Looking at the two nearest weather stations to me, yesterday the temperature at Melbourne (Olympic Park) peaked at 40.7 at 4:27pm. At Moorabbin Airport  ... [More]

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The week in transport transport

The week in transport

Monday 2015-12-14 — Delays on numerous Metro lines (Frankston, Cranbourne, Pakenham, Craigieburn, Sunbury, Upfield, Werribee, Williamstown) following late-running weekend rail works. If you watch the Brit rail docos, this is the sort of thing they are constantly stressing about, so it’s unfortunate but perhaps not a surprise that it sometimes happens here. Monday 2015-12-14 —  ... [More]

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Bentleigh Toxic Custard newsletter transport

A little Bentleigh history has been uncovered

I love a bit of local history, even if it’s fairly recent. For my fellow Bentleigh peeps — as part of the level crossing removal project, the old underpass into the station has been partially uncovered. It looks to have been a similar layout to Mckinnon: steps straight to the street, as well as a  ... [More]

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Toxic Custard newsletter transport

Benefits to non-motorists from level crossing removals

I’ve touched on this before, but I keep seeing comments about it, so I think it’s worthy of a blog post of its own. Some say that motorists are the primary beneficiaries of grade separation, and that they should be classed as road projects. Certainly motorists gain, but so do others. Here are seven benefits  ... [More]

Categories
The week in transport transport

The week in transport

Consider this an experiment… a post each weekend summing up a few things from the week. Tuesday 2015-12-08 — Flagstaff station to open on weekends from January. The Victorian Government finally confirmed what we already knew. Not before time. Tuesday 2015-12-08 — Ventura Buses has its Christmas bus out and about again, and a competition  ... [More]

Categories
transport

Myki improvements are an evolution, not a revolution

One of the things they got right about Myki was designing it to be “open architecture”. This of course came at a cost compared with simply buying an off-the-shelf system, but it does mean that it’s modular — different bits can be improved and upgraded over time without replacing the whole system at enormous cost.  ... [More]

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Sydney 2015 Toxic Custard newsletter transport

Comparing Sydney to Melbourne in transport and urban planning

Each time I travel (which isn’t often enough), I note the things that are different, and the things we can learn from. From my most recent short trip to Sydney, here are some notes — not an exhaustive study, but just some observations. Central Station is a rabbit warren compared to Flinders Street Station, though  ... [More]

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music Toxic Custard newsletter

Ocean Colour Scene touring Australia

Back in the day I watched the 1998 movie Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and liked it. Then I watched the 2001 TV spin-off Lock Stock which was okay I guess (it was notable for having Martin Freeman in a couple of episodes, in one of his early roles). But what really grabbed me  ... [More]