Month: October 2012
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PT Problem of the Day: Metcards not available anymore – so why list them on this huge poster at Flinders St?
Luckily there are staff nearby, but why do they still list Metcard fares on the board at Flinders Street Station when they are no longer available for sale at any railway station? In fact some of those listed (all of the Value Metcards, including 10x, weekly and monthly tickets) haven’t been available since June. There’s…
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Broken promises
THE disappointing result for the Baillieu government in the latest Newspoll survey comes as little surprise if we recall the reason it was elected. Its promises included a clear commitment to fix public transport. The Coalition picked up a swag of seats along train lines that had hitherto been treated with indifference. There were promises…
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PT Problem of the Day: Cryptic #Myki messages
PTUA member Kevin spotted this: if you travel on an already-active Myki Pass (such as a Yearly), but forget to touch-on (being an active Pass, you are not fare evading), when you get to a Myki gate at the end of your journey, you get this cryptic error message telling you to contact the Myki…
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PT Problem of the Day: All-over train advertising severely limits visiblity
Advertising brings in valuable revenue to help support public transport. But this new advertising on trains makes it impossible to see inside carriages — meaning it’s difficult to see which door/carriage is least crowded, and difficult for staff including police and PSOs to see what’s happening inside. And of course windows covered like this also…
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Going Loopy: maps to help fight City Loop confusion – simplified operation needed
To combat continuing confusion over operation of the City Loop, the Public Transport Users Association (PTUA) has released a series of maps explaining how it works.[1] Outgoing PTUA President Daniel Bowen said that both occasional and regular passengers had been baffled by the Loop for more than 30 years since its original opening in 1981.…
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PT Problem of the Day: Lack of frequent services across most of Melbourne
As highlighted in a study released last week, most of Melbourne lacks frequent public transport services. Frequency is often overlooked, but is probably the number one factor in convincing people to get out of their cars and onto public transport. If you have a choice of driving or a public transport service every 30, 40…
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Frequent services: Trams lead, trains improving, buses still lag
A study of Melbourne public transport timetables shows much of the city is still lagging on providing frequent, easy-to-use services that will encourage people out of cars. PTUA outgoing president Daniel Bowen said that the study confirmed what most Melburnians think – that trams run frequently, trains are a mixed bag, and that most buses…
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PT Problem of the Day: #Myki machine smashed – staffed stations would reduce vandalism
We’re told it takes substantial force to smash the screen on a Myki vending machine, but vandals at Hughesdale evidently achieved it, preventing passengers from topping-up their Myki at the station. Hopefully they were captured on CCTV and will be caught, but is enough being done to prevent this type of damage? Hughesdale is an…