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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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There are two problems here: firstly, it’s been more than two years since Connex departed Melbourne, so why are their Rail Substitute Bus Stops still displayed at numerous locations around Melbourne, particularly as newer Metro signs can be found as well?

Secondly, and more seriously: Metlink’s standardisation of signage, and detailed bus stop signs and timetables on every metropolitan bus route were very welcome. But many bus stop signs are fading, and the route numbers and destinations are becoming very difficult to read.

At some locations these have been re-done and are readable again, but there are still plenty of locations where it’s nearly impossible to see from the sign which bus departs from the stop.

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