jeremy.id.au

Last night was the committee meeting for the Public Transport Users Association (PTUA), so it seems appropriate to talk about public transport. Although the meetings are held every month, I’ve only just started going regularly again, as well as occasionally dropping in at the office to clear the mail, answering machine, etc. There are some great people involved with the PTUA, working towards avoiding any further detriment to public transport.

Unfortunately these days, more energy is expended on campaigning against destruction than seeking improvements. Certainly the State Government is doing more damage than they are making things better. This is especially true with all the spin we get from Bracks & Co how public transport is their highest priority despite the fact that they are doing nothing for it, while continuing to spend millions on roads. The greatest example of damage they’ve done recently is Melbourne Central. Just try going through that place in peak hour. It is absolutely chaos getting from the concourse level to platforms 3&4 unless you want to take a long detour to the direct escalators. Of course, it wouldn’t be a detour at all if the old entrance arrangements still existed.

But it doesn’t stop there, the government now has plans to close three out of nine tram stops in Collins St and overall 20% of stops across Melbourne. This has been met with strong opposition from traders and the PTUA. Earlier this week a funeral was held to better facilitate mourning. You may have seen it on TV. Though of the current state of affairs continues, with more damage being done than improvement, we’re going to need many more funerals for all the mourning there is!

The other obstacle you encounter when pushing for better public transport is many many myths. Over the years this has accumulated to quite a sizeable number. Once again the PTUA has got to it, collected them in one great big list and debunked them all, one-by-one. You can see the results at:
http://www.ptua.org.au/myths/

What a busy week and a half it has been! I should start with the weekend of the 29th/30th November. It was the planning weekend for the Public Transport Users Association. Ironically it was held as far away from public transport as possible, out near Seymour! So up we went the night before so a few (five) of us could get good sleep. The rest arrived the next day. Was an interesting weekend none the less, we discovered that burs had evolved so that when explorer socks came along 10,000 years later they’d all collect in them (either that or they were designed to annoy the hell out of kangaroos!). Luckily I wasn’t the one wearing them though.

The proceeding Tuesday I had an interview at RMIT. Not sure how I went though I’ll have to see when my results come out in Janurary. Spent the rest of that day in the PTUA office (well several hours). Nothing too exciting!

To fill the gaps I’ve been cycling a little, as well as to keep fit. Well guess the next big event will be the release of VCE results on Monday, lets see how well I didn’t do. Followed by that, Christmas!

Shit they’re planning to close the Swanston St enterance of Melbourne Central station! :S

This means that people will have to go into the shopping centre on the ground level to somewhere as far as the shot tower, then down a set of escalators to the lower ground level, before *another set of escalators to the station concourse and *finally down a third set of escalators* to the station platform!

It’s school holidays now, however I’ve been busy as I had to write a financial report for the Linux Users of Victoria Inc. AGM. Not only that, but I have worked a little and I will have to start on getting my school work done.

Today in my local paper I came accross a letter that I wrote to the editor in response to their article Tram plan a twist for residents by Leonora Elliott, so here is my letter as published:

Negative reponse
I’M DISAPPOINTED to see the negative response from residents regarding the route 109 tram stop. It would seem that they have not considered the increased property value as a result of not only having a tramway outside their house, but having a modern tram stop right at their footstep.

From what I have heard, the tram stop will consist of a long narrow speed hump that will be level with the footpath at the side of the road and act as a platform for the low-floor Citadis trams.

This form of tram stop is much safer as it requires cars to slow down and watch for pedestrians, and it’s much more accessible to elderly and disabled people. I can not see where any fencing would fit into this scheme as pedestrians need access to the trams from the side of the road.

As for the assumption that it would increase traffic, it is quite likely that it will reduce traffic as the number of trips that can be made by public transport increase.

Forcing traffic into one lane is no different than having parked cars on the road.

Just got back from doing the weekly shopping on this fine Sunday evening… I hate doing those sort of things… people seem to walk so slow as if they have a year to get out of the place… it’s a bit like my local railway station… who ever thought of putting a shopping centre right on top of that thing?!?