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Much has been spent on providing many tram platform stops around Docklands, with shelters, realtime displays, and level access — nothing less than tram users deserve.

But the 220 bus, which provides a frequent seven-day-a-week link from Docklands to Footscray, has been neglected. All bus users get is a bus stop sign. No shelter, no seat, not even a footpath to the stop. (And the eastbound stop is so hard to find we ended up having to hunt down a the picture of it from Google Streetview.)

So while some may argue that a tram route should run between Docklands and Footscray, a quicker and cost-effective first step might be to make sure the bus stops are useable.

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(Tip-off: Melanie. Eastbound pic source: Google Streetview)

One of the basic requirements for a shelter is that it should provide shelter. This clearly isn’t the case at North Melbourne following the $35 million upgrade completed in 2010.

Many have noted the escalators are somewhat open to the weather, but this picture shows that even the platform shelters are inadequate; for some reason they finish well short of the edge of the platform, ensuring that passengers getting on and off trains are exposed to the rain.

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As noted in The Age recently, Metro has changed its Twitter feed, with minor (less than fifteen minutes) disruptions no longer posted, and instead more interaction with other Twitter users.

But it appears this has also led to problems with major disruption information.

Yesterday was a prime example: there was a suspension of services on the Sydenham line, and this information was posted on Metro’s web site, which led to it being relayed onto Twitter by unofficial feeds at around 5:20pm.

But for followers of the official Metro Twitter feed, this news didn’t come through until 5:50pm, at least half-an-hour later.

Worse, this was followed by an offical but incorrect post that replacement buses were arriving at Flinders Street — despite train services only being affected between Footscray and Sydenham. This was eventually corrected some fifteen minutes later.

This is not good enough, and shows the clear downgrade in Metro’s Twitter service in the last few weeks. Until recently it was both timely and accurate. Yesterday it was neither.

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“Bringing Stations to Life will turn train stations into hubs of community activity.” — Metro

The theory of Metro’s “Bringing Stations To Life” programme makes sense: encourage development around stations, to help provide passengers with services nearby, boost safety through “passive surveillance” (a place busy with people is safer than one that’s empty) and grow public transport usage (particularly outside peak times) by providing destinations close to stations. It could also raise money that could (hopefully) be invested into better rail services.

But Caulfield so far is a bit of a flop. The “Metro Cafe” adjacent to platform 4 faces away from the railway station. There’s no visibility from the platform into the cafe, and it’s thoroughly uninviting for passengers. And a year after opening, reviews indicate even the cafe itself isn’t anything to write home about. (Not that Metro can be blamed for that.)

Metro also claimed the programme would better integrate Caulfield’s train, tram and bus services, but as far as we can see, little has changed.

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We’ve highlighted before the lack of planning coordination in public transport — the myriad of organisations involved, and the problems that ensue when they don’t talk to each other. So what’s the problem this time?

The problem is that the bus zone for this bus stop matches the hours the bus used to run. This route was extended to run later, and seven days a week, over five years ago.

But nobody has updated the bus zones to reflect the longer hours, so cars can legally park at times when buses need to use the stop. And there are other cases like this elsewhere around Melbourne.

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The Public Transport Users Association (PTUA) has warned that expansion of the Chadstone Shopping Centre will lead to greater mayhem on roads and buses around the centre if high quality public transport is not provided.

PTUA President Daniel Bowen said that the expansion should not take place unless it was accompanied by an overhaul of public transport in the area: a railway connection, an extension of the number 3 tram route and major upgrades to bus services.

“The car parks at Chadstone are already unable to cope with the volumes of visitors, and nearby roads are regularly gridlocked”, said Mr Bowen. “If public transport services remain as they are today, it would be a disaster to upgrade the shopping centre.
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The Public Transport Users Association has described as “pure spin” Public Transport Minister Terry Mulder’s excuse for regional trains not stopping at North Melbourne station under the Regional Rail Link (RRL)

“The minister is trying to dress up a downgrade as an improvement,” PTUA regional spokesperson Paul Westcott said.

Mr Mulder has said that continuing to allow V/Line passengers to use North Melbourne would “add to congestion” at the station, yet it was recently rebuilt at a cost of $30 million to increase its capacity.

“It’s nonsense to claim that regional trains will suffer delays from congestion by stopping at North Melbourne because they will now all stop at Footscray instead,” Mr Westcott said.
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At many stations, Metro has commenced more stringent enforcement of parking regulations.

But the new signage is contradictory.

Warning notices inside stations say that parking is for Metro customers only, but signs in the car park say it’s for users of rail or other public transport — meaning passengers catching nearby trams, buses or V/Line services can also use the car park (which has long been the case, and is reasonable, given our multi-modal public transport system).

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Route bus services along Point Nepean Road face collapse over the Christmas/New Year period as thousands of revellers descend upon bayside holiday spots.

“What is supposed to be a relaxing family time of the year is likely to be reduced to bedlam as visitors try to cram on to infrequent bus services, while the road network and car parks overflow,” said Public Transport Users Association spokesman Jeremy Lunn.
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The rules around tram lanes are reasonably easy to understand: basically, stay out of the way of trams.

But lots of motorists block trams, and it’s unclear if they are ever penalised for it.

In cities such as London, cameras on buses catch motorists illegally using bus lanes. Perhaps it’s time these were used on Melbourne trams (and also to catch vehicles not stopping for passengers to board and alight).

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