Re: Cityrail fare rises suck

["Michael Walker" <walker@hotkey.net.au>]

Sadly, whilst I would like to claim the benefits of public transport, I too
drive for much the same reason as you.

I live in Greensborough, work in Canterbury and go to uni part time at
Deakin Burwood during the day for an hour here and an hour there.

To make the trip by public transport, I would need to get up at 6.40am,
leave the house at 7.05am for the 10 minute walk to the bus stop, the bus
departs at 7.20am and gets to Box Hill just after 8am. Catch the train to
East Camberwell (8.12am - 8.22am except when it gets cancelled and the
8.14am stops all stations) and walk the 5-10 minutes to work. The conditions
on cold days are pretty woeful - 20 minutes of walking in the cold and/or
rain, 10 minutes of a draughty train (if it's a Hitachi - the 4D is pretty
cold too) and 40-50 minutes on a cold National Bus (most of their buses are
cold and at that hour, it's just come out of the depot pretty much and
hasn't had much chance to warm up yet.

To make things worse, I need to leave nearly an hour before my class to
catch the train to Box Hill, 767 to Deakin. (Leave work at 10 past the
hour -easier said than done! - catch train at 20 past the hour, catch bus at
50 past the hour and get to uni 10 minutes late. The bus from uni leaves at
25 and 55 past the hour, ie just before or just as the class ends so there's
either an extra 30 minutes wait or catch the tram to Camberwell, walk to the
station and catch the train the extra stop.

Compare this to a 30 minute drive to work, meaning I can get up at 7.40am
and 8 minutes drive between work and uni in a warm comfortable car with a
radio to whilst away the time and even though the train is probably cheaper,
I drive a fairly modern car so for the difference in running costs for a car
I have to have anyway, I sadly drive instead of use public transport. The
difference in time and inconvenience isn't worth it.

Public transport in Melbourne and most other cities is set up for suburbs to
CBD travel. Most bus companies run a service designed to cater for those who
have no choice and commuters. When I worked in South Melbourne and even
Elsternwick, it was worth commuting from Greensborough because it was as
quick as or quicker than the car and cheaper. But until somebody commits to
diverting even a fraction of the huge money governments spend on roads
towards railways, public transport will be a poor second cousin to the
almighty motor car.

The best suggestion I heard was to set up an agency to manage transport
infrastructure as a whole and build the best solution. If rail can move
people more efficiently for the money spent, build a railway (eg Princes
Freeway upgrade would be better money spent on the railway next to it). If a
freeway is better then build a freeway. If a frequent local bus service will
service a community better than lots of little roads and traffic calming
devices, spend the money on the bus. If not, the roundabouts, speed humps,
chicanes and bitumen get the cash. That way the community gets the
infrastructure it needs rather than the roads getting all the money because
the road lobby is noisiest.