PT Problem of the Day: Poor information during disruptions

POTD: Tram disruption information poor

There were widespread disruptions to CBD trams last Friday due to police clashes with Occupy Melbourne protestors.

Trams in Swanston Street didn’t run for several hours, but for much of the time there were no indications of the blockage on the “realtime” information screens provided at stops.

While some passengers at nearby stops could (provided they had good eyesight) look down the street and see the tracks were blocked, others further away or believing the screens might not be aware they could be waiting several hours before any trams would arrive. TramTracker and the Metlink web site were updated, but not everybody uses those, or would think to check them.

Surely the whole point of realtime information is that it can be updated to alert people of major disruptions?

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