Category: Campaigns
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PT Problem of the Day: @VLine using Southern Cross platforms for stabling means a long walk to your train
Your train to Geelong and Wendouree is about to depart — can you make it to platform 8B in time? Thanks to V/Line’s lack of stabling, they are now routinely leaving trains in the platform at Southern Cross during the day, between the peaks. This means passengers often have to walk a full city block…
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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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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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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…
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PT Problem of the Day: Hope Street bus scrapped – how about a Community Bus service?
Brunswick’s Hope Street 509 bus service runs for the last time this week. Public Transport Victoria is adamant the route’s low patronage does not warrant the cost, and that it is too close to other services. The route is only 2km long, and does not connect to train services. It’s clear that some residents, particularly…
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PT Problem of the Day: New tram stops, new signs, out of date maps
At the brand new tram stops in Swanston Street are these brand new signs. You can tell they’re new because they have the new, up-to-date “PTV” web site address on them. Problem is the maps are out of date. Just like older maps at other CBD tram stops, they still show bus routes that were…
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PT Problem of the Day: Little or no policing of bus zones
It’s common to see vehicles (of all types, not just taxis) stopped in bus zones. There seems to be little or no policing of this — no wonder this bus driver repeatedly beeped in vain waiting for the errant taxi to move, causing a delay to services along Melbourne’s busiest bus corridor, Lonsdale Street. And…
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PT Problem of the Day: Level crossings cause delays to emergency services
It’s not just pedestrians, cyclists, trams, buses and motorists getting delayed by level crossings. It’s also a problem for emergency service vehicles. As one paramedic told The Age last year (about the Clayton Road level crossing, near Monash Medical Centre), “If you go into cardiac arrest, think how much of someone’s brain is going to…
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PT Problem of the Day: Some V/Line train windows so dirty you can barely see out of them
PTUA member Andrew asked V/Line staff why the windows on this Albury train were so dirty, and was told the train could not use the train wash at Southern Cross station. Could it be that V/Line’s train wash can only cope with broad gauge trains, meaning the Albury trains can’t use it? If so, why…