Re: Horrible Hillside (Melbourne, Vic.)

[amorton@mullian.ee.mu.oz.au (Anthony Morton)]

Michael Walker <walker@hotkey.net.au> wrote:

>Given I had to continue my journey on
>a tram down Sturt Street, that added 8-15 minutes (8 advertised, up to 15 in
>reality depending on how long you were stuck on the viaduct for) to the
>trip. It made the trip more unreliable and added time unnecessarily.

Even under the old PTC regime, it was apparently assumed that nobody actually
transferred from trains to trams or buses.  Everything was still operated as
if there was still a separate Railways Department for the trains and a
Tramways Board for the trams and never the twain shall meet.  Even today,
any Dept of Infrastructure bureaucrat will tell you that transferring is
such a horrible experience to contemplate that no-one does it.  You do not
exist: go away!

Now of course the Kennett Government has split everything up again -
presumably so trains and trams can openly compete for passengers once more.

>What's the point of having a 24 hour 7 day a week city if
>public transport is till running as though we were in the 70s and 80s?

Never mind the 70s; we're still stuck in the 50s.  Why else do trams still
revert to 20-minute frequencies on Friday evenings?

>I get
>equally annoyed that there are no real bus services on Sundays too despite
>the fact that it is a busy shopping day. It would probably be cheaper to
>introduce weekend bus timetables than weekend rail timetables too.

This is where genuine public transport 'reform' has to start.  Poor off-peak
services and unreliable trains are bad enough, but the real scandal is the
abysmal bus services people in the suburbs must put up with.  Like weekday
services that stop at 4:30pm so the operator doesn't have to pay overtime to
the drivers.

Regards,
Tony M.