-----Original Message-----
From: Roderick Smith [mailto:rodsmith@werple.net.au]
Sent: Wednesday, 15 August 2018 10:51 AM
To: 'transportdownunder@yahoogroups.com'
Subject: Tues.14.8.18 daily digest

Attached.

180322 Metro Twitter: Melbourne. Adam Ford. I can't find any caption
information. If that is Melbourne Town Hall, the church has to be the
version of St Paul's before the current one. However, Princes Bridge Hotel
was Young & Jacksons from 1875, predating the Town Hall. The image predates
cable trams. If that isn't Melbourne Town Hall, what streets are shown?

180523 Melbourne 'Age' - walking to work. [belongs with an item posted at
the time].

180814Tu Melbourne 'Herald Sun':
- letters, rail & road.
- Colonial Tramcar Restaurant.
- energy, NEG. with tdu.
- bus-driver strike.
- South Morang tram?

180814Tu Metro Twitter:
- Elsternwick 1913 electric trams (SLV).
- Keith Kings Collection (SLV).
- Flinders St ~1900 (Adam Ford).
- Pakenham.

Roderick.

Tues.14.8.18 Metro Twitter.
6.30 We're at Pakenham station this morning with Great Australian Bakehouse
handing out yummy treats to say thanks for giving the bus a go!
- 7.27 Please visit Westall station. Trains are leaving empty because
passengers can't get into the station without touching on myki with the
officers. There needs to be a better system!
- 7.38 Get some buses also to pick people.
- 7.50 Maybe focus more on getting some buses instead of donuts, we can give
a go.
- 9.26 If I go to a restaurant and the meal is late I get the meal
discounted. If I order something online and it doesn't arrive on time the
postage is waived. Metro however make me travel for 90 minutes for a journey
that usually takes 15 minutes and they still insist on full payment.
- 9.28 Oh wow they were offering free coffee. Such a great idea except that
there were 100 people waiting for it and only one person serving.
- 15.02 Why only Pakenham?
- 18.36 How about coming to Lynbrook instead and treat the hundreds of
people waiting ages for buses; buses were bypassing because they were full
already from Cranbourne and Merinda Park.
- 18.38 I hope the hard working Customer Service staff and bus drivers got
looked after too.
14.43 Sandringham line: Minor delays (a faulty train between Ripponlea and
Balaclava).
18.46 Werribee line: Minor delays (an ill passenger requiring medical
assistance at Laverton).
20.22 Frankston line: Minor Delays (a fallen tree near Edithvale).
Birds eye map view of Melbourne c1900 including Yarra River, Western Markets
and Metropolitan Markets (which no longer exist).
https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/753719687612954925.
1913 Elsternwick new electric trams.
http://search.slv.vic.gov.au/MAIN:Everything:SLV_VOYAGER1686693.
Check out these shiny and gloriously retro tram badges and buttons and read
all about the Keith Kings Public Transport Collection at
http://bit.ly/KeithKingCollection. It is the most comprehensive collection
of
its kind known to exist in Victoria.
Miniature trains from our Melbourne Harbour Trust collection.
Transdev: Because of industrial action, buses will not run on Thursday 16
August. Plan ahead and seek alternative travel arrangements where possible.
CDC Victoria has been advised by Transport Workers' Union that its bus
drivers will be taking industrial action by stopping work for 24-hrs on
Thurs, 16 August. There will be NO services on CDC Victoria bus routes on
16.8. Services by Tullamarine Bus Lines are not affected.
PTV Because of planned industrial action, CDC and Transdev buses in
Melbourne will not run on Thursday 16 August. School bus routes will be
impacted. Consider the need to travel, and explore alternative travel
options.

Melbourne Express, Tuesday, August 14, 2018.
Coming up today, the next instalment of our very long-running debate on
national energy policies. Coalition MPs are debating the issue in the party
room this morning. If approved, the vote will clear the way for the carbon
reduction bill to be introduced. The government still needs agreement from
the states to implement the National Energy Guarantee.
Melbourne has lost the title of world's most liveable city. Wien has
dislodged Melbourne for the first time at the top of the Economist
Intelligence Unit's Global Liveability Index. Check back on the website soon
for more details.
Coalition members will meet today to decide on the future of its National
Energy Guarantee.
The government is confident of getting the numbers, clearing the way for it
to introduce the carbon reduction bill - a federal law that will guide the
NEG - this week.
But Malcolm Turnbull faces a determined challenge from opponents including
former PM Tony Abbott, who has declared the NEG "dead wrong".
Melbourne's dams are at their lowest August level in eight years, likely
triggering the largest water order yet from the state's desalination plant.
Find out how the big dry could hit your hip pocket.
7.59 A three-car crash in Glenferrie Road near Barkers Road in Hawthorn.
They're laying on the pastries this morning to celebrate the last day of bus
replacements at Pakenham Station.
7.07:
.. There's an accident in Glenferrie Road, at Barkers Road (Hawthorn).
.. northbound lanes are still closed on Chapel Street in St Kilda East
between Argyle Street and Alma Road because of a burst water main.
Melbourne's dams are at their lowest August level in eight years, likely
triggering the largest water order yet from the state's desalination plant.
Find out how the big dry could hit your hip pocket.
Coalition MPs will meet today to discuss energy policy. Former PM Tony
Abbott stepped up his attack on the National Energy Guarantee last night,
declaring the policy "dead wrong".
5.59 All clear on the trains so far. Last day of buses on the Cranbourne and
Pakenham lines.
<www.theage.com.au/melbourne-news/melbourne-express-tuesday-august-14-2018-2
0180814-p4zxa8.html>

Taxi deregulation has destroyed licensees' lives, Melbourne Transport Forum
hears Leader August 14, 2018. Paywalled, with tdu.
<www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/news/taxi-deregulation-has-destroyed-licensees-
lives-melbourne-transport-forum-gears/news-story/3ae0958c078a820190febf1e20b
becf7>

Bundoora: Tram 86 extension to South Morang derailed by State Government
Whittlesea Leader August 14, 2018.
video: Survey reveals 49 per cent of Victorians don't catch public
transport.
THE State Government has dashed hopes the route 86 tram line will be
extended to the booming outer northern suburbs, on grounds not enough people
would use it.
Following a feasibility study into extending the route to South Morang, a
government spokesperson told the Leader on August 9 they would not go ahead
with an extension past Bundoora due to a perceived lack of commuters over
the next three decades.
Friends of South Morang tram extension campaign spokesman Trevor Carroll
said the Leader, not Transport Minister Jacinta Allan had informed them of
the knock-back.
The minister's failure to respond to the group showed "utter contempt for
the people of Whittlesea and their transport needs", Mr Carroll said.
Lobbyists say they will keep fighting for the tram extension.
The decision "lacked transparency" because the terms of reference and
findings had not been made public, Mr Carroll said.
He said the group would continue to campaign for the extension.
Government spokeswoman Hayley Bester said the feasibility study reviewed
seven possible routes, with a route from Bundoora RMIT along Plenty Rd, Bush
Blvd and McDonalds Rd to South Morang favoured by a working group including
Transport for Victoria, VicRoads and Whittlesea Council.
"An economic analysis found none of the options for extending the line would
be viable for at least the next 30 years because of forecast low patronage,"
Ms Bester said.
The study found patronage would be low because of "low dwelling and
population density along the route" compared with other tram corridors in
Melbourne.
The government did not respond to questions about why the findings of the
study had not been released last year and why there had been no public
consultation.
ARE BUSES THE SOLUTION TO MELBOURNE'S CONGESTION WOES?
PLAN TO BRING MORE TRAMS TO MELBOURNE.
* That's an odd decision considering that the new rail extension from South
Morang to Mernda begins services in 2 weeks.
This area is one of the fastest growing around and is a long way from
finishing development..The population explosion over the past few years (and
continuing),has been staggering, so this decision is quite bizarre.
Why is our government not being transparent about the real reason why this
tram extension is not going ahead? Infrastructure for Mernda and Doreen and
close by areas have been left in the wilderness when it comes to
development. We've been left so far behind,it's not funny.
* Time Airport West trams ending just a 1km from Mickelham Road was extended
to the airport and continued up Mickleham Road to Greenvale where
development further on has boomed but no public transport, nearest train
station is Craigieburn or Broadmeadows.
* why would you use the tram look at all the other choices there are out
there just spoilt thats all.
* This is all about you and the Car etc and Petrol as usual. Nothing less.
* No, here's the thing. It would be used by a lot of people, but full by the
time it reaches Preston. Forget the rest of the way line.
* no space for it now seeing that they are duplicating plenty road and
taking the available space in the middle. Plus who i gonna take the tram
from south morang to the city?
* The stops ibtn is more the thing, that helps?
* Next thing they will say is they want it to plenty valley or mernda.
* Takes an hour by tram to city from Airport West, then you're offloaded
before your destination to wait for the next tram and they want us to use
public transport, trains are not safe and not convenient when stations don't
have parking
* "There won't be enough public transport customers in the next few
decades"? Are you kidding me? That area will be saturated with houses.
* Why is there an issue about extending it so it reaches the South Morang
station?
Obviously anyone who argues against it doesnt catch public transport much.
Letting services connect to other transport options means you can catch a
train out to South Morang then catch a tram to Rmit, instead of a 90 minute
tram from the city to Rmit. Buses are poor service in comparison.
Get better tram & trains.
* I tend to agree that with the train now going to Mernda it sort of negates
the need for a tram extension that already takes 1.5 hours to get to
Melbourne.
* It's always good to have extra options, just in case the Trains or Buses
don't run. And vica versa.
<www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/north/bundoora-tram-86-extension-to-south-moran
g-derailed-by-state-government/news-story/4b7e0c63045d3b533dbbb3ae497fb91a>

'Like a death in the family': cafe owners to shut up shop as Sydney CBD
light rail action mounts 14 August 2018.
Angela Vithoulkas is in the middle of a process she "never expected".
And she's not referring to the campaign she's currently running to sign up
businesses across Newcastle to a possible class action against the NSW
government.
Angela Vithoulkas will shut her Vivo cafe on August 24. Photo: Jessica
Hromas
Vithoulkas and her brother Con are in the last two weeks of trade for their
Sydney cafe Vivo, which will shutter on August 24.
It's a situation she blames on the CBD light rail construction project in
Sydney, claiming the cafe had suffered from a lack of trade over the past
three years due to its proximity to the route.
"It's like a death in the family - it's a process we never expected,"
Vithoulkas tells Fairfax Media. "I know exactly what every single other
business owner affected is going through."
However, it's understood the cafe site's closure is also affected by a
development application for the retail space at the corner of King and
George Streets. Vivo Cafe's lease finishes at the end of the month.
Related Article Businesses up in arms over city's lengthy road closures.
Vithoulkas is an independent councillor for the City of Sydney and also
looking to make a tilt at an upper house seat in NSW through her Small
Business Party. She has been rallying businesses to register interest in
planned class actions to gain compensation for the disruption of rail
projects across the state, including light rail in Sydney and Newcastle.
On the weekend, she formally launched a campaign for Newcastle businesses to
sign up to potential action and says there are currently 50 organisations on
the books.
Mitry Laywers is looking to bring two separate actions, one for affected
Sydney business owners and one for Newcastle businesses.
The belief is that operations close to the construction were not adequately
protected or assisted with the impacts these builds have had on trading.
The actions are still in the early days and have not yet been filed, but
Vithoulkas says her conversations with business owners show how critical it
is that someone works to unite small businesses nationally so they have a
seat at the table early on during planning issues.
Angela Vithoulkas addresses Newcastle businesses at a meeting last Saturday.
Photo: Supplied.
She says while both sides of politics claim to support the SME community,
small businesses rarely get a first say in projects that are likely to
affect their trade.
When she hears political parties claim they support SMEs, "my only ladylike
response is 'liar, liar, pants on fire'".
The impact of large-scale construction works on local traders has been a hot
issue for years, with Melbourne businesses also highlighting disruptions due
to the construction of the Metro Rail project.
Swanston Street pub The Oxford Scholar told Fairfax Media the disruption led
to it closing its doors last year.
Fairfax Media has contacted the light rail project for comment.
video: Timelapse: Walking around George St's light rail construction
Sydney's CBD has been the centre of a light rail project since late 2015.
Vision: Christopher Pearce.
<www.smh.com.au/business/small-business/like-a-death-in-the-family-small-bus
iness-party-leader-shuts-up-shop-as-light-rail-action-mounts-20180814-p4zxbk
..html>
* Somehow I think the redevelopment of the building has more to do with them
closing now:
https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/sydney-city-landmark-set-for-a-75-
million-refit-20180808-p4zw6w.html

New school zone to reduce a CBD street speed limit to 40km/h. 14 August
2018.
<www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/new-school-zone-to-reduce-a-cb
d-street-speed-limit-to-40km-h-20180814-p4zxer.html>

Deadlock in Parliament follows Turnbull victory on energy 14 August 2018.
<www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/deadlock-in-parliament-follows-turnbull-
victory-on-energy-20180814-p4zxh1.html>

Abbott isolated in a meeting that put a premium on unity 14 August 2018. 85
comments.
<www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/abbott-isolated-in-a-meeting-that-put-a-
premium-on-unity-20180814-p4zxgc.html>

Tens of thousands to be stranded in suburbs as huge bus strike looms 14
August 2018.
Buses on most of Melbourne's busiest routes are expected not to run on
Thursday, leaving entire suburbs without any public transport in what is
likely to be the largest bus strike in Victoria's history.
About 120 routes will be bus-free for 24 hours, as more than 1000 drivers at
Transdev and CDC Victoria walk off the job amid a pay dispute.
The wait for a bus will be longer on Thursday. Photo: Daniel Pockett.
Transdev's 46 services, which include many of Melbourne's busiest Smart Bus
routes, make up 30 per cent of the metropolitan bus network. It operates
more than 120 school bus routes.
The government appears to have no plan to run any replacement services,
leaving tens of thousands of commuters without any public transport to get
to work and school.
Andrew Conlon, the Mayor of Manningham in Melbourne's north-east, where the
only form of public transport is the bus said traffic on Thursday would be
"mayhem".
Students may struggle to get to school and workers will find it hard to get
to work, he said.
Public Transport Victoria's chief executive Jereon Weimar said schools
affected by the strike had been contacted.
Staff will be on site at key bus stops to help passengers and PTV was
looking into whether extra services could be added to the tram and train
network.
''It's disappointing that our passengers have to face widespread disruptions
on Thursday," Mr Weimar said.
''We're urging passengers to reconsider any non-essential travel and to use
our website to stay up to date with the latest information."
The looming strike comes weeks after CDC drivers walked out for 24 hours,
and could mark the start of a wave of industrial action rippling over the
industry, as the union fights to improve wages at every bus company.
The Transport Workers Union is pushing for an industry-wide fixed annual 4
per cent wage increase plus 1 per cent for superannuation, over three years.
Transdev is offering a much lower 2.5 per cent fixed annual increase.
The union is also pushing for a 15 per cent afternoon shift loading and
double time for rail replacement services and Saturday shifts at Transdev.
It is understood that negotiations between the union and the bus operators
broke down on Friday.
Branch secretary John Berger said drivers were under more pressure with the
growth of the city, rail replacement services and worsening congestion.
"The expansion of suburbs between Williamstown and Geelong means more
services need to go in there ... and that means our guys need to work a lot
harder to get the job done," he said.
"These companies are making record profits ... and the people who make that
money for them need to be remunerated."
Transdev's general manager of operations George Konstantopoulos has asked
workers to reconsider the strike.
"We are encouraging our people to turn up at work on Thursday so they can
get paid - we'll provide them with alternative duties for the day," Mr
Konstantopoulos said.
"We urge the TWU to reconsider the proposed industrial action and to
continue negotiations for a fair and sustainable pay increase for our
drivers."
The action follows a 24-hour strike at CDC a few weeks ago, with three
four-hour stoppages over three weeks.
The operator's 74 routes in Melbourne, Geelong and Ballarat make up 13 per
cent of the state's network.
CDC's chief executive Nicholas Yap said he was "disappointed", as the
company and union were making "good progress" in recent weeks.
Transdev, which runs a combination of buses, light rail and ferries in
Sydney, Brisbane and Perth, won a $1.7 billion franchise agreement to run
Melbourne's bus services for up to 10 years in 2013.
The contract was unique for Melbourne because it included performance
targets for punctuality, reliability and passenger growth, and was hailed by
then-PTV chief Ian Dobbs as the beginning of a transformation of the city's
bus networks.
But many of the French-based multinational company's plans have failed to
materialise.
Transdev gained agreement from the previous Coalition government to
radically rewrite its bus routes and timetables to attract more passengers,
but Labor blocked its plans in 2015.
Last year, it rejected the company's unsolicited $500 million proposal to
build a dedicated busway in the median of the Eastern Freeway.
Transdev inherited an ageing fleet and maintenance problems have dogged the
company, with Transport Safety Victoria ordering it to take a dozen of its
buses off the road last year due to serious defects that endangered
passengers.
The company runs Melbourne's orbital bus routes that are among the
Transdev's longest routes internationally, which has made their performance
targets difficult to meet.
Data obtained by the Age revealed the company had never met its contractual
monthly punctuality targets.
Further stoppages are possible, as the union negotiates with other bus
operators, including Ventura and Dysons.
Prior to CDC's actions last month, the last time that bus drivers went on
strike was 28 years ago.
* Commuters need to remember that both CDC and Transfer are overseas owned
corporations. The profit they extract from Victorians goes to middle class
Singaporeans and French investors....think about that on Thursday.... As you
enjoy your commute!
* What are Transdev's profit margins?
* I am confused. If this was a train strike or a tram strike it would be
bloody murder all over the front pages.
Why is a looming bus strike not HUGE news. HUGE? I am thinking that 150,000
people on Thursday may go to their stops and wait.
* "Staff will be on site at key bus stops to help passengers and PTV was
looking into whether extra services could be added to the tram and train
network."
That won't help.
Because the train and tram lines only extend so far, and a bus is the only
or main means of public transport in the outer suburbs and getting to
shopping malls like Forest Hill, etc.
Some bus routes fail to run at all on the weekend.
And some bus routes operate only every hour.
No wonder so many people in the outer suburbs rely on their cars, instead of
public transport.
* Leaving school children is no way to get public sympathy. Hope they get a
big fat zero increase.
* Not sure why this link to affected services wasn't included with the
story.
<www.ptv.vic.gov.au/live-travel-updates/article/planned-industrial-action-on
-cdc-melbourne-buses-thursday-16-august-2018>
<www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/tens-of-thousands-to-be-stranded-in-sub
urbs-as-huge-bus-strike-looms-20180814-p4zxff.html>

'World's worst park': WestConnex's new St Peters spaghetti junction. 14
August 2018. 84 comments.
<www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/world-s-worst-park-westconnex-s-new-st-peters-s
paghetti-junction-20180814-p4zxel.html>