Category: Campaigns

How do you really rub public transport users’ noses in it? Allow parking in the bus stops. This is the outbound stop on Lonsdale Street, near Swanston Street. Outside peak times, not only does the bus lane not operate, but they actually allow cars to park right in front of the bus shelters, discouraging passengers…

It’s not just buses, trams and Metro trains that get packed. This picture was snapped by a PTUA member on the 4:57pm Geelong line train to Marshall. The first stop out of Melbourne to let off passengers was Little River, so passengers would have been standing for at least 43 minutes. Are you unhappy with…

Priority measures such as tram lanes can help prevent delays to trams, which is important, as a single tram may be carrying hundreds of passengers. But those measures only work if they’re used properly. Just like bus lanes, they get blocked by thoughtless motorists driving and stopping where they’re not meant to — and policing…

Footscray is a major interchange location for the western suburbs, with passengers changing between trains, trams and buses. Despite the recent upgrade to the station, with a new multimillion dollar bridge, nothing has been done about bus stop locations, which are spread around numerous locations around the area, with some stops up to 350 metres…

Does anybody actually notice these displays in the Elizabeth Street subway of Flinders Street station, way up above everybody’s heads? The signs (along with all their easier-to-see cousins around the rest of the station) were installed several years ago. They appear to be theoretically capable of showing latest information such as delays and disruptions, but…

This is Footscray’s very impressive-looking new railway station bridge. It opened last year, part of a $61 million investment in urban renewal in the area. Unfortunately shortly after it was completed, the Regional Rail Link project determined that part of the bridge will need to be modified to cater for the extra platforms to be…

Richmond station’s exits provide easy access to the MCG and the Tennis Centre… but only if they’re open. While this is done for big events, often minor events seem to slip under the radar. We’ve had reports of passengers having to inform station staff that an event was on so they would open the exit…

(Click to see bigger) Passengers at Seaholme, Altona and Westona (the Altona Loop) aren’t too happy now that they have to change to and from shuttle trains during off-peak times on weekdays. How would you make them even less happy about it? Give them inadequate and incorrect information! This sign at Southern Cross is full…

Tram conductors weren’t perfect, but they did provide a fulltime staff presence on trams that ensured most people bought a ticket, and thought twice about putting their feet on the seats. Since they’ve been gone, seemingly rare random inspections mean evaders and others who disobey the rules are unlikely to get caught — in fact…

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…

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…