Categories
transport

Airport rail myths

Airport rail myths and infrastructure priorities

Categories
transport

Are PT services keeping up with population?

The State Budget was last week, and included some good investments in public transport. I haven’t had time to write up everything (so busy!), but I thought I’d quickly show a couple of key indicators. Total public transport service kilometres (in blue; left axis) Public transport service kilometres per person (in red; right axis) Service  ... [More]

Categories
transport

East-west motorway: how much of inner-northern Melbourne will need to be flattened for interchanges?

The flaws of the proposed east-west road are well-known, but let’s briefly re-cap. Most traffic from the Eastern Freeway is headed for the city, not cross-town. It wouldn’t be a backup for the M1 (Westgate/Citylink), because it would have its own traffic, and for most road users, it’s too far north. It wouldn’t prevent traffic  ... [More]

Categories
transport

While we wait for Southland Station, road funding rolls on. #SpringSt

Next Tuesday’s state budget is probably the last chance the government has to fund Southland station as promised and have work well underway by the time the next election comes around. Given a string of seats along the Frankston line swung on public transport issues, if it doesn’t get funding, I reckon there’ll be some  ... [More]

Categories
transport

Myki cost over ten years has gone up to $1.5 billion

Last month the total budget for Myki (over ten years) quietly got increased, from $1.35 billion to $1.5 billion. It was revealed in the Budget Papers, and thanks to the torrent of other budget coverage, barely got noticed: MELBOURNE public transport commuters received little relief in this year’s budget, which revealed the cost of the  ... [More]

Categories
Politics and activism

Would you like a jellybaby? (Making of a visual stunt)

The first Tuesday of May is Victorian State Budget day. On Budget day, journalists and some interest groups (well, those that have the resources) attend the Budget Lockup, where from about midday to the 3pm public release, they get to peruse the budget papers, but can’t communicate what they find with the outside world. They  ... [More]

Categories
transport

How much does a train cost?

Sometimes when the media or politicians want to highlight what they see as massive government waste (particularly in the transport arena, but also in other areas), they compare it to how many extra trains could have been bought instead. While it may seem a little myopic, I think overall it’s a good thing. It’s a  ... [More]

Categories
Politics and activism transport

The 2011 state budget

One would hope that the budget following an election would fulfil the promises made during that election, although it would not be beyond the bounds of reasonableness to spread them out over the term of government. Somewhat surprisingly, at least to me, the Baillieu government has largely fulfilled all of its promises with its first  ... [More]

Categories
Politics and activism transport

The State Budget in summary

Stakeholder and interest group commentary on the State Budget usually happens out the back of Parliament. And when it starts raining, everybody huddles under the shelter near the back door. Here’s my State Budget summary — well, the PT bits: Four new stations on existing lines to be built — Caroline Springs (V/Line), Williams Landing,  ... [More]