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Category: News

  • Study Casts Doubt On Extended Clearway Benefits

    A seven-month travel time study has found no noticeable improvement in tram travel times from extended clearway hours on Sydney Road in Brunswick. For some time, PTUA Secretary Tony Morton has been travelling to and from work with a stopwatch. His aim is to measure—carefully and scientifically—what it is that’s making Melbourne trams so slow.…

  • The truth behind South Morang

    Originally posted at Transport Textbook.com and (in abridged form) in the PTUA Newsletter. Ever since the Victorian Transport Plan last December flagged that the South Morang rail extension would finally be built, there has been speculation as to why the cost was so high. At $650 million for a 3.5 kilometre extension, many pondered if…

  • Rail Inquiry submission released

    The PTUA submission to the Victorian upper house Select Committee on Train Services has been released. PTUA submission (PDF, 449Kb) Summary: The present inquiry has been prompted by an ongoing and widespread pattern of failure in Victoria’s train services, culminating in the near-total shutdown of the metropolitan system in extreme heat conditions in late January…

  • Brumby to blame for poor Federal transport priorities

    Public transport infrastructure announced for Melbourne in this year’s “nation building” Federal Budget may not deliver any real benefit to passengers – and the Brumby State Government is entirely to blame, says the PTUA. “All indications are that when it comes to Victorian public transport, Wayne Swan will be ploughing all the available money into…

  • PTUA Advances Liveable Transport Plan Alternative

    Melbourne’s train services would double, buses would run every 10 minutes on every arterial road, and more country rail lines would be restored. And this would only cost 40% of the government’s $38 billion transport plan, according to a new report released today by the PTUA. The Connecting to the Future report is billed as…

  • South Morang rail extension welcomed

    The Public Transport Users Association (PTUA) has welcomed the government’s commitment of funding to the South Morang rail extension. PTUA president Daniel Bowen said it was vital that outer-suburban areas were provided with fast, frequent, high-capacity public transport services, to relieve traffic congestion and take the pressure off household budgets. “Residents of South Morang will…

  • March 2009 newsletter

    Please join the PTUA to receive regular newsletters. March 2009 edition articles: Summer: Trains breakdown, tracks buckle, industrial disputes — what next? Is 20/2020 to be dumped? Decisive action on emissions critical Myki: We told them so Connecting to the future: An alternative plan Smartbus an improvement, could be smarter Big spending plan falls short…

  • Transport Plan: Little difference for most Melburnians

    PTUA President Daniel Bowen’s 200 word response to the Victorian Transport Plan, for The Age: Little difference for most Melburnians TWO-AND-A-HALF years ago, the government issued Meeting Our Transport Challenges, its long-term vision for Melbourne’s transport system. That document is now in tatters, replaced by the new transport plan. While some communities will welcome new…

  • How to make our public transport better for everyone

    Ahead of the release of the Transport Plan next week, our new video highlights how public transport can run more smoothly for everyone. And for those people on Facebook, you can now join our new group: It’s time for great public transport in Melbourne and across Victoria.

  • Frank Crean 1916-2008

    The Public Transport Users Association notes the passing of Frank Crean on 2nd of December. Frank was a patron of the PTUA from 1989, and participated in a number of PTUA events along with our other patrons, Winsome McCaughey, Sir Rupert Hamer (both pictured here with Mr Crean) and Dame Phyllis Frost. We offer our…

  • PTUA joins YCAT to score City of Yarra candidates

    Yarra Campaign against the Tunnel (YCAT) and the Public Transport Users Association (PTUA) have joined forces to score candidates in the forthcoming elections for the City of Yarra. Candidates were asked to respond to survey questions on the Eddington Report and the proposed Victorian Transport Plan – which though not yet released will almost certainly…

  • PTUA scores Lord Mayor candidates: update

    The Public Transport Users Association has updated its scorecard for the 2008 Melbourne Lord Mayor election, following late responses received from the Robert King Crawford / Michael Kennedy team and the Shelley Roberts / Abdiaziz Farah team.