In yesterday's Sunday Age, Jason Dowling offered an opinon on why Premier Bracks doesn't want to take public transport back into public ownership: because he fears his government would be blamed for late trains!
Standing on a cold and windy platform on a Monday morning, few things make a commuter more angry than an announcement that their train has been delayed or cancelled and that "Connex apologises for any inconvenience caused"&helip;
The last thing the Premier would want is for commuter anger to be redirected at his Government.
If this is what Bracksy is really thinking, he's being poorly advised: the commuting public already blames his Government for the pathetic state of the public transport system. But the ill will is compounded by the fact that public money is being thrown at a foreign-owned company to provide this sub-standard service.
Don't talk to me about Connex's being fined tens of millions of dollars because of late or cancelled trains
: if they weren't turning a profit, they wouldn't be in the game. And they certainly wouldn't be asking for a 30 month extension of their contract!
If the Bracksy thinks he can keep commuter dissatisfaction at arm's length by leaving public transport in private hands he's sadly deluded about the perceptiveness of the average citizen.
Tram-Cam
On a more positive note, The Age reported today about the testing of video and still cameras on trams on route 112. Says Dennis Cliche of Yarra Trams:
"We are hoping to be able to, basically, photograph motorists who are passing stationary trams, and motorists who are blocking tram fairways."
[For Sydneysiders and others mystified by trams: the Australian Road Rules prohibit other vehicles passing a tram while it is stationary at a tram stop that doesn't have a safety zone. Tram fairways are special purpose lanes with simliar rules to bus lanes.]
It's a damn fine idea, and one for the "Why didn't I think of that?" basket. It's only testing at the moment
But if the trial succeeds, it will open the way for the police and the department to lobby the State Government to introduce legislation for fines.
Can anyone see a reasonable argument to oppose such an initiative?
To paraphrase rules 163 and 164 of the Australian Road Rules:
- If you are behind or beside a tram when it stops at a tram stop that doesn't have a safety zone, you must stop also.
- After stopping, you may proceed at no more than 10km/h if the tram doors are closed and nobody is crossing to or from the tram.
- You can also proceed past a stationary tram if you are told to do so by "an authorised person".
But let's not get side-tracked while I'm sticking it to Bracksy!
Wow, road regulations that don't take 3 readings to understand them!! :)
Eh, if you want something to get annoyed with, take a look at the bike track being built between Huntingdale and Monash along north road. Up the middle of the road, on the rail reserve. I give it 6 months before a cyclist is run over by someone doing a turn through one of the gaps.
Comments
Technically, you can only not pass a stationary tram that is unloading/loading passengers. There's a few timing spots in eastern Melbourne where trams sit for a good couple of minutes...