-----Original Message-----
From: Roderick Smith [mailto:rodsmith@werple.net.au]
Sent: Saturday, 19 August 2017 9:21 PM
To: 'transportdownunder@yahoogroups.com'
Subject: snippets, Sat.19.8.17

Attached.

170819Sa Melbourne 'Herald Sun':
- fined for failure (NSW).
- bollards.

170819Sa Metro Twitter - Flinders St safety screening.

170819Sa 'Brisbane Times' - windfarm. with tdu.

Roderick.

Lifesaving technology to prevent vehicle ramming terror attacks closer than we think. with tdu.
News Corp Australia Network August 18, 2017.
<www.heraldsun.com.au/technology/lifesaving-technology-to-prevent-vehicle-ramming-terror-attacks-closer-than-we-think/news-story/0684ed6d18e64f4173d8dca572cef916>

Racist stickers seen on Melbourne trams.
Herald Sun August 18, 2017.
A WHITE supremacist group has vandalised a Melbourne tram with stickers promoting the Nazi swastika.
The route 72 tram was seen on on Thursday, defaced with 3-4 stickers advertising the Antipodean Resistance, a self-proclaimed Nazi group.
Chairman of the Anti-Defamation Commission, Dr Dvir Abramovich, said it was troubling to see white supremacists “openly brandishing their racist and violent ideology”.
“This ugly act of vandalism, which violates our community’s values of acceptance and respect, is absolutely deplorable and is part of a spike in the number of such incidents,” he said.
Racist posters seen at Melbourne high schools this week.
RACIST POSTERS TARGET CHINESE UNI STUDENTS.
“The response by government, police and leaders to this surge in extremism must be serious and tough so as to send the message that such brazen prejudice will never find a home in our city.”
Yarra Trams confirmed the stickers were removed when the defaced tram was returned to the depot.
Earlier this week, the Antipodean Resistance claimed responsibility for racist posters plastered across two elite Melbourne high schools.
Melbourne Grammar and Melbourne High School were targeted with posters advocating to "keep Australia white”, “stop the hordes” and even called for the killing of Jewish people to be legalised.
<www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/racist-stickers-seen-on-melbourne-trams/news-story/bb7cc05dc173b1b7d89ca86d7543d7db>

You can be fined $550 for not buying a ticket, even if the only machine to do so is broken.
news.com.au August 18, 2017.
THIS morning I was met with another reminder why Sydney is a backwards city, with terrible infrastructure for its residents.
My grievance comes from being threatened with a $550 fine for not having a valid light rail ticket, despite the ONLY ticket machine at my stop being out of order.
I generally ride my pushbike everywhere I go because it’s a cheaper and healthier alternative to public transport, but circumstances forced me to catch the light rail to work this morning.
As it was the first time in months since I had used public transport, I knew my Opal card would likely need to be topped up — only I was advised this wouldn’t be possible.
“Sorry, this machine in temporarily closed,” the message read.
When the only ticket machine within kilometres is broken, but it's still your fault.
With the light rail quickly approaching, I snapped a picture of the sole ticket machine on the platform to prove my story to any ticket inspectors and hopped on board.
When the ticket inspectors boarded a few stops later, I thought it would be as simple as showing them their infrastructure was broken and carrying on with my day.
And this is when things started to get ridiculous.
After being advised I was facing a maximum fine of $550 for travelling without a ticket, I questioned how this was even a possibility given the circumstances at hand.
The ticket inspector said it didn’t matter that the machine was broken because there are other ways to top up my Opal card before boarding.
His first argument was I should have walked to the nearest Opal retailer, topped up my card and then returned to the light rail station to board the next train after this task was done.
But given I was in Rozelle Bay, the closest retailer was just under one kilometre away and would have been a 10 minute walk each way, plus however long it took me to get served.
Oh and this isn’t even to mention the store didn’t open until I was already on the light rail, so I would have had an extra-long wait to appease the ticket inspector.
Oh our machine is broken. Just walk 20 minutes to ensure you are doing the right thing.
After I pointed out how preposterous such an idea was, the ticket inspector told me I should have not gotten on the light rail until I had used the online service to top up my Opal card.
While I could have done that, I don’t see why I should have to wait at least 15 minutes for the next light rail and be late to work because the system Transport NSW had in place was broken.
And given Rozelle Bay is a single trip ticket machine, why am I being forced to take the more expensive option?
Given I rarely catch public transport; I should be allowed to only pay the bare minimum needed to get me to work if I so choose.
Or what if it was the end of my monthly pay cycle and I didn’t have the $10 minimum to use the online top up service, but had just enough for single ticket. Surely, you cannot be fined for that.
Well according to the ticket inspector, yes you can because you are breaking the law.
I thought my arguments were valid and logical, but the ticket inspector was not done yet.
So even though the broken machine removes an option, I am still at fault?
After the “great” advice of telling me to walk to the ends of the Earth or spend more money than required because of Transport NSW’s mistake, his lecture got even more absurd than I thought was possible.
When he scanned my Opal card, he saw the balance was low and even made comment that I hadn’t used it for months.
Then he said I could still be fined because I should have topped up my card when I last used it to ensure I had money in case the machine was broken.
So hold up. Clearly the lack of use shows I rarely use public transport, so why would I spend money topping it up well in advance when I should be able to do it easily at the station when I next decide to use the light rail.
Or what if I had no money at the time and that’s why I had let it fall so low?
Apparently this doesn’t matter and I deserved to be treated like a criminal when using a tax payer funded service that is inadequate.
In the end, I was let off with a caution because a search of the database showed I had a clean record when catching public transport.
While some might consider this a win, it’s hard not to feel annoyed at the fact I was publicly lectured for Transport NSW’s lack of ability to provide to a sufficient service.
Shame on you, Transport NSW.
News.com.au has contacted Transport NSW for comment.
Have you had a similar experience? Continue the conversation in the comments below or with Matthew Dunn on Facebook and Twitter.
<www.heraldsun.com.au/technology/you-can-be-fined-550-for-not-buying-a-ticket-even-if-the-only-machine-to-do-so-is-broken/news-story/f33e5f5cc17ba06061266f9ded5ce646>

Victoria Police want local council, business cash to help protect public areas from ­terror attacks.
Herald Sun August 18, 2017.
BEACHES, ski resorts, shopping centres, cinemas and music festivals in Victoria have all been flagged as potential targets for terrorists.
Victoria Police wants local councils and business owners to stump up cash to help protect public areas and mass gatherings from ­terror attacks.
Following the wave of ­attacks in Europe, our police are putting plans in place to foil deadly plots.
Assistant Commissioner Ross Guenther, Victoria Police’s head of counter-­terrorism command, said the public and private sector needed to work together to stop terrorists from launching outrages similar to those seen in Barcelona, London, Nice and Paris.
Victoria Police’s head of counter-­terrorism command, Assistant Commissioner Ross Guenther, says the public and private sector needs to work together to stop terrorists. Picture: Susan Windmiller A mixture of public and private investment is seen as the key to foiling terrorism here.
Discussions are under way with operators of ski fields and music festival promoters to toughen ­security.
“We are a big state covering a large area,” Mr Guenther said.
“From Mildura to the ski fields, to Portarlington and Lorne ... we have a lot of areas which will need significant co-operation between the entities.
“The risk predominantly still sits around the city,­ ­because the terrorists will want ... something for the greatest impact.
“That will be for something to happen in the city of Melbourne rather than up at Falls Creek or Mt Buller.”
A new national strategy around crowded places will be released by the federal government on Sunday.
The strategy will give owners and operators of places such as shopping centres, cinemas and sporting stadiums guidance about security.
“We look at attacks in Spain, France, the UK ... often these happen in open shopping malls,” Mr Guenther said.
“Ownership is difficult. If anything, it is probably local government. Either side of those areas they are privately owned.
“There is public and private investment in working out how we protect those areas — and the ski fields and those bigger festival areas where people go in summer.
“It has been acknowledged that it is next to impossible to mitigate against every threat. But that does not take away from our desire to do so, and we will do everything we can.”
Lord Mayor Robert Doyle said he was pleased that Melbourne had started installing bollards through the city as an anti-terrorist measure.
“We took police advice and we put bollards where we were told to put them,” he said.
“On reflection people would say, ‘Even though they are not a thing of beauty, I’m pleased that they’re in place’.”
Lord Mayor Robert Doyle says he is pleased Melbourne had started installing bollards through the city. Picture: Stuart McEvoy Cr Doyle said he remained very concerned about areas such as Princes Bridge across the Yarra in the CBD because of the high pedestrian volumes and potential for cars to speed up on the bridge.
The bridge has plastic barriers along the footpath and there was the option of planter boxes being used as a security measure.
The Lord Mayor said the council was also looking at bollards which looked unobtrusive but were connected to each other underground.
“So that if you hit one, you’re not just hitting one bollard, you’re trying to drag them all because they are all connected,” he said.
Bollards were recently installed in Olympic Boulevard as part of a strategy to protect crowds in the sports precinct.
BARCELONA TERROR ATTACK: LATEST NEWS.
BARCELONA TERROR ATTACK: MELBURNIANS’ HOLIDAY NIGHTMARE.
CONCRETE BOLLARDS FOR MELBOURNE CBD TO AVOID CAR TERROR ATTACK.
<www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/victoria-police-want-local-council-business-cash-to-help-protect-public-areas-from-terror-attacks/news-story/352fab5906316731e16b94ffbf6dd5a9>

August 19 2017 Australia's biggest wind farm to be built near Bunya Mountains (Qld) . with tdu.
<www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/australias-biggest-wind-farm-to-be-built-near-bunya-mountains-20170819-gxzv66.html>