Category: PT Problem of the Day

If you noticed problems with station gates last week, you weren’t alone. Many (both the older Metcard gates retro-fitted with Myki readers, and the newer Myki-only gates) didn’t respond, and at one stage at Parliament station, all gates were thrown open to prevent huge delays to peak hour crowds. We received unverified information that the…

Continual delays to Myki have led to many regional stations having equipment for the new ticket system which is still not in use, some years after it was installed. This reader at the unstaffed Trafalgar station is looking very much the worse for wear. Who knows how much taxpayer’s money has been wasted following vandalism…

Punt Road on the weekend — it’s not surprising there are so many cars on the road. The Punt Road 246 bus runs every 20 minutes on Sundays, which is better than most other buses, but not great if you’re making a connection from other services. More significantly, many of the suburbs these cars are…

They’re called “safety” zones, but for passengers packed into a narrow strip of bitumen between the traffic and the trams, they can seem anything but. While some such tram stops have been replaced by platform stops, which provide seating, shelter and accessibility for wheelchair users, many safety zones remain, including at busy CBD stops such…

Much has been spent on providing many tram platform stops around Docklands, with shelters, realtime displays, and level access — nothing less than tram users deserve. But the 220 bus, which provides a frequent seven-day-a-week link from Docklands to Footscray, has been neglected. All bus users get is a bus stop sign. No shelter, no…

One of the basic requirements for a shelter is that it should provide shelter. This clearly isn’t the case at North Melbourne following the $35 million upgrade completed in 2010. Many have noted the escalators are somewhat open to the weather, but this picture shows that even the platform shelters are inadequate; for some reason…

As noted in The Age recently, Metro has changed its Twitter feed, with minor (less than fifteen minutes) disruptions no longer posted, and instead more interaction with other Twitter users. But it appears this has also led to problems with major disruption information. Yesterday was a prime example: there was a suspension of services on…

“Bringing Stations to Life will turn train stations into hubs of community activity.” — Metro The theory of Metro’s “Bringing Stations To Life” programme makes sense: encourage development around stations, to help provide passengers with services nearby, boost safety through “passive surveillance” (a place busy with people is safer than one that’s empty) and grow…

We’ve highlighted before the lack of planning coordination in public transport — the myriad of organisations involved, and the problems that ensue when they don’t talk to each other. So what’s the problem this time? The problem is that the bus zone for this bus stop matches the hours the bus used to run. This…

At many stations, Metro has commenced more stringent enforcement of parking regulations. But the new signage is contradictory. Warning notices inside stations say that parking is for Metro customers only, but signs in the car park say it’s for users of rail or other public transport — meaning passengers catching nearby trams, buses or V/Line…

The rules around tram lanes are reasonably easy to understand: basically, stay out of the way of trams. But lots of motorists block trams, and it’s unclear if they are ever penalised for it. In cities such as London, cameras on buses catch motorists illegally using bus lanes. Perhaps it’s time these were used on…

There are two problems here: firstly, it’s been more than two years since Connex departed Melbourne, so why are their Rail Substitute Bus Stops still displayed at numerous locations around Melbourne, particularly as newer Metro signs can be found as well? Secondly, and more seriously: Metlink’s standardisation of signage, and detailed bus stop signs and…