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Month: May 2011

  • PT Problem of the Day: No fulltime bus lanes on Melbourne’s busiest bus street

    By our count, Lonsdale Street gets more than 35 buses per hour in each direction in off-peak hours — quite a few more at peak times. This includes four Smartbus routes. And yet, despite Lonsdale Street being rightly declared a Bus Priority Route in the VicRoads “SmartRoads” network operating plan developed with the City of…

  • PT Problem of the Day: Nightrider buses packed

    Melbourne is now a 24-hour city, and the half-hourly Nightrider buses on Friday and Saturday nights are increasingly popular… so much so that there is now overcrowding on some services, with passengers sometimes left behind, unable to fit on board. These photos are of the 3am service to Knox and Belgrave. (Photos from Robert and…

  • PT Problem of the Day: Two ticketing systems causing confusion and adding to costs

    It’s coming up on a year since both Myki and Metcard have been operating in parallel on all Melbourne public transport services. The government continues to dither over making a decision on whether they’ll keep Myki or not. While it’s been hugely expensive and problematic, Myki largely works now — in fact many of its…

  • PT Problem of the Day: The Chadstone crawl [video]

    The 903 Smartbus to Chadstone on a Saturday. Not only is it standing room only, it crawls at a snails pace from Holmesglen to Chadstone because of a lack of bus priority. Join our Facebook group: Better Public Transport to Chadstone Are you unhappy with public transport? Use our online tool to write to your…

  • PT Problem of the Day: Long waits for replacement buses during disruptions

    This crowd was at Dandenong on a recent Saturday night. A track fault resulted in trains being suspended between Dandenong and Pakenham around 6pm, but by 6:47pm when this photo was taken, there was still a shortage of buses to replace trains. Are you unhappy with public transport? Use our online tool to write to…

  • PT Problem of the Day: Accessible tram stops built where no accessible trams run

    It seems illogical: a number of wheelchair accessible (DDA) tram stops have been installed on tram routes that never get a low-floor tram. They include stops along St Kilda Road south of the junction (routes 3 and 67), along route 59, and this stop on route 64. While able-bodied passengers may enjoy the improved amenity…

  • Shuttle bus shows urgent need for rail

    The Public Transport Users Association (PTUA) has endorsed the new route 601 express bus service operating between Huntingdale railway station and Monash University Clayton campus, but said it should be seen as an interim measure only. The PTUA warned that the service will not entirely solve Monash University’s transport woes and proves that the Rowville…

  • PT Problem of the Day: New trains’ automated signs badly placed

    The new X’trapolis trains have been rolling-out onto the rails for just over a year now. They’ve been wisely designed with lots of hand holds, but whose bright idea was it to place the internal signs behind them? As a result the next station and destination of the train are often obscured. Are you unhappy…

  • Rail investigation finds great prospects

    On Friday 20th May members of the Outer East Branch of the Public Transport Users Association (PTUA) together with representatives of the City of Knox inspected the route for the proposed Rowville railway line. “We saw the great potential for this railway line to revolutionise transport and the economy by creating over 15,000 jobs in…

  • PT Problem of the Day: More buses getting crowded

    It’s not just trams and trains that are getting increasingly overcrowded: buses are too. (Admittedly on this particular bus, there is still room for some extra passengers; some are much more squishy.) While there are 50 new trams, and dozens of new trains on the way, there’s no big push for more bus services. In…

  • PT Problem of the Day: Yarra Trams’ new map better, but lots of errors

    Metlink and Yarra Trams have issued a new tram map. Unlike some older versions, this one actually allows you to see where all the trams go and how they connect. Unfortunately the map has quite a number of minor errors in it. In this excerpt from the St Kilda area, errors include: Windsor Station is…

  • PT Problem of the Day: Bins – which one’s for litter, which is for recycling?

    It’s only a little niggly thing of course, but many of the relatively new bins around the rail system have lost their markings. Unless you can remember that yellow is for recycling, you’re likely to end up putting your rubbish in the wrong bin… which doesn’t exactly help public transport be as environmentally friendly as…