-----Original Message-----
From: Roderick Smith [mailto:rodsmith@werple.net.au]
Sent: Monday, 9 July 2018 2:15 PM
To: 'transportdownunder@yahoogroups.com'
Subject: Fri.6.7.18 daily digest.

Attached:

180706 Melbourne 'Age' - electricity. with tdu.

180706F Melbourne 'Herald Sun':
- letters, population, roads, energy.
- energy, coal exports. with tdu.
- Flinders St kiosks.

Roderick.

Fri.6.7.18 Metro Twitter.
Long lists of bustitutions.
14.53 South Morang line: Minor delays (an ill passenger requiring medical assistance at Reservoir). Trains may be held.
15.00 Grab a chocolate on your way through Dandenong station this afternoon..
15.57 South Morang line: Minor delays (police attending to a trespasser near Reservoir. Services may be held.

Melbourne Express, Friday, July 6, 2018
The 7.45am Flinders Street to Craigieburn service has been cancelled.
The 7.29 down Sydenham Watergardens has been cancelled, also the 8.11 up.
The 6.50 up Upfield has been cancelled (a train fault), leaving a 40 min gap.
<www.theage.com.au/melbourne-news/melbourne-express-friday-july-6-2018-20180706-p4zpt6.html>

Pedestrians crossing the street in Brisbane CBD. Picture: Liam Kidston.
Brisbane to introduce blanket speed limit of 30km/h to protect pedestrians, cyclists.
news.com.au July 6, 2018.
BRISBANE City Council has announced how it plans to tackle an increasing number of deaths and accidents in its CBD — by slashing the speed limit down to 30km/h.
Lord Mayor Graham Quirk has announced a review into the city’s road safety, calling for a year-long trial of the slow speed limits.
The review came after 16 cyclists and pedestrians were killed on Queensland roads in the past six months.
In May, Brisbane mum Anne-Marie Stent died after she was hit by a city bus while crossing Ann St.
The council’s proposal would also cut speed limits on Ann St and Turbot St down to 50km/h.
Despite the council’s attempts to improve safety, the state’s peak motoring board RACQ said it would not support a blanket speed reduction.
RACQ’s head of public policy Dr Rebecca Michael told 2GB the council shouldn’t be rushing the solution.
“We would consider, on a case-by-case basis, looking at a reduction, particularly for those areas where there’s high pedestrian or high cyclist activity,” Dr Michael said.
“Most important, we’re keen not to rush towards a solution before we really understand what the problem is we’re actually addressing.”
The proposed changes were discussed on Studio 10 Friday morning where co-host Angela Bishop applauded the speed limit drop.
“The sad reality is pedestrians are getting more dangerous to themselves and it has a lot to do with mobile phones,” Bishop said.
“Pedestrians are becoming less and less alert and if you combine that with drivers also playing with their phones, the slower you’re going the better.”
Harold Scruby from the Pedestrian Council supported the slashed speed limits — even if it were to increase gridlock in the already notoriously slow packed city.
Brisbane is well-known for having some of the worst CBD traffic in the country.
“We’ve got to find ways to minimise the harm our roads. We were here first, pedestrians were here first,” Mr Scruby said.
Brisbane City Council also scaled back its “left turn on red” rule in June in order to mirror NSW’s laws.
The “left turn on red” law is only allowed on intersections in NSW where less than 120 pedestrians cross per day.
RACQ’s head of technology and safety Steve Spalding told 4BC earlier today the adoption of NSW regulation will give Brisbane the opportunity to fix its busiest intersections.
“Now is the time to look at those sites, then to work with Transport and Main Roads and work out how can that site be improved so they can continue to use the left turn on red facility like they do now,” Mr Spalding said.
Originally published as City where you can’t drive faster than 30km/h
<www.heraldsun.com.au/motoring/on-the-road/brisbane-to-introduce-blanket-speed-limit-of-30kmsher-to-protect-pedestrians-cyclists/news-story/df280d6b4df94897314d0e4948f7736e>

'Like playing Russian roulette': ACTION drivers' concerns over seats 6 July 2018.
Talking points:
•ACTION bus drivers are concerned about seats being overloaded
•Seats in Canberra's public buses are built to withstand either 130 or 150kg, but drivers are not weighed to ensure they comply with the manufacturers' specifications
•One driver had to take more than a year off work after being injured when a seat "bottomed out", with Comcare accepting liability for his injury
Concerned ACTION bus drivers say going to work is "like playing Russian roulette" because overweight drivers are damaging seats, creating a risk that they could "bottom out" or collapse mid-trip.
A public interest disclosure made by two drivers last year shows that one of them had to take more than a year off work after being injured by a seat that "bottomed out" during a test run that he was directed to undertake in 2016, after raising concerns about the seat three days earlier.
An ACTION bus, which concerned drivers say is not guaranteed to be safe because there is no requirement for drivers to be weighed. Photo: Jeffrey Chan
"Bottoming out" means that a metal-on-metal jarring occurs at the base of the seat because of a pneumatic air-ride failure.
The public interest disclosure shows that Comcare accepted liability for the driver's lower back injury, which was described as an aggravated lumbar sprain, and that he has since returned to work.
The injured driver, who did not want to be identified, said he and a colleague had spent about four years trying to get ACTION to ban drivers who weighed more than 130kg.
Driver's seats on Canberra's public buses are built to withstand either 130kg or 150kg, and ACTION's bus driver recruitment information tells prospective drivers that they are required to weigh less than 130kg at all times.
However, the two concerned drivers, who both weigh less than 100kg, said they had never been weighed at work, or been required to inform ACTION of their weight.
They made a "conservative estimate" that dozens ACTION drivers would be heavier than the seats' load-bearing capacities, and with drivers circulating through ACTION's fleet of buses, getting behind the wheel was "like playing Russian
roulette".
"Any given driver could circulate through 30 buses in a 12-month period," the injured driver said.
"It's like a virus."
The injured driver said that without a mandatory requirement for drivers to be weighed, there was no way ACTION could guarantee its seats were safe for drivers of any weight.
He said this created the potential for seats to "bottom out" or collapse.
"If a seat collapsed, a driver could lose control of the vehicle, which could be catastrophic," he said.
The Canberra Times asked Transport Canberra and City Services, which is responsible for ACTION Buses, a series of questions including whether a program was in place to monitor drivers' weights and ensure they complied with the seat
manufacturer's specifications, and if so, how many drivers exceeded the safe weight limits.
Rather than answer the questions individually, the government directorate replied with a list of bullet points that it said "should address" the questions.
It said Transport Canberra was "working with other ACT government departments on systems and process for monitoring driver body weights", and that Transport Canberra made "every effort" to ensure the safety and wellbeing of drivers.
All drivers were required to undergo an annual medical assessment to confirm they were "medically fit to do their job safety".
Drivers have told The Canberra Times the assessment does not include being weighed.
Transport Canberra also said that its buses travelled about 26 million kilometres each year, and that in 2017 there were just four reported incidents of seats "bottoming out".
Driver's seats were replaced every four years, or sooner if required, and 105 seats had been replaced or refurbished so far this financial year, the directorate said.
Lawyers acting for the injured driver and his concerned colleague sent a public interest disclosure to Workplace Safety Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith in August last year, raising their safety concerns.
The ACT government solicitor responded on behalf of Transport Canberra in December, saying the issues raised did not amount to disclosable conduct under the Public Interest Disclosure Act, and that Transport Canberra had already taken a number of steps.
These included establishing its bus seat replacement and refurbishment program, and having a process in place for drivers to report issues.
<www.canberratimes.com.au/national/act/like-playing-russian-roulette-action-drivers-concerns-over-seats-20180705-p4zpkw.html>