I was wondering if there was any data on how public transport patronage around Australia had fallen COVID-19 took hold, and how it has recovered in different cities. It turns out most jurisdictions provide month-by-month or even week-by-week patronage data. Here’s how 2020 patronage compares as a percentage of 2019 patronage: Some observations: All these […]
Is it the end of the month already? Here’s another of my monthly posts of photos from ten years ago… and this time they’re pretty much all transport-related. As usual, click the photos to see them larger in Flickr. The top of Swanston Street – the Barak Building is yet to be constructed, and the […]
Remember the talk, almost a year ago now, of a shake-up to train timetables, prompted by the introduction of the new trains? These changes are now expected to take effect in mid-December, following on from minor adjustments made in July. Along the way, there have been some tweaks to the plan, but from what I’m […]
This is a follow-up on my post about the roadmap out of COVID. Now I’m pondering the longer term: after COVID has gone. Assuming a successful vaccine comes in at some point, and things like masks and physical distancing are no longer required, will we all go back to how it was before? There’s been […]
Here’s something I learnt yesterday: There’s a small town called Eucla, WA, near the SA border. Population: 53. Get this: It has its own timezone, which is halfway between Perth and Adelaide time. The timezone abbreviation is ACWST, though it’s usually called Eucla Time. It’s shared with a handful of other nearby small towns. It’s […]
The Victorian Government has released its roadmap out of COVID-19 restrictions. I’ve been pondering what this means for travel demand and public transport in Melbourne, and activity in the CBD, which largely drives PT patronage. The steps in the roadmap (*which are mostly subject to case numbers) start from Sunday night. 1st Step (14th September) […]
It’s the end of the month again, so time to post more ten year old photos. I evidently went for a walk across the Latrobe Street bridge north of Southern Cross station, snapping these photos of V/Line stabling and facilities. As noted last month, Metro was using platform staff with despatch paddles on some CBD […]
Last week Gareth Dennis posted this superb and hilarious thread of British PMs as locomotives. It’s very funny, even if (like me) you’re not much of a Brit trainspotter. A friend asked me to do an Australian version. Initially I said I wasn’t sure if there were enough Australian trains to match the multitude of […]
When I last wrote about COVID-19, it was just before we went into Level 4 restrictions in Melbourne. Level 4 has been harder. While I’m not affected in a financial sense, the further closure of businesses is causing stress for people. There are now severe limits on leaving the house: once per day per household […]
Here’s a quick tram video for you. It’s only a couple of minutes long. There’s no sound. It was recorded last month on a Sunday afternoon on St Kilda Road and Brighton Road. (There are a few edits – check the dashcam timestamp if you can’t spot the cuts.) What we’re seeing here is how […]