The Melbourne Uni platform stop is surrounded by fences including along
the tram lines where the centre turn-back sidings are located. Oddly
enough for young people, passengers from the Uni heading for a tram do not
seem to cross the road (one carriage way only) until the pedestrian lights
are in their favour. I drive past quite regularly at around 1550 and you
would be hard pressed to get a car onto the platform, the track is usually
full of trams.

The one platform stop that is a big big problem, and a change to the
traffic light cycle would fix it, is that the side platforms with their
narrow ramps lead onto a cross pathway which you need to wait for the
lights to merely get to the footpath and then you have to wait for a
further traffic light cycle to get across Spencer Street to the station.
If an all pedestrian clear cycle could be switched on (like the bottom of
Elisabeth Street at Flinders Street) the huge number of passengers spilling
off the trams from the city centre could clear the platform stop quickly
and safely whereas these days passengers milling and jostling around moving
trams is in my view unsafe.

[image: image.png]
Above: Bourke & Spencer St cnr. Below: Elizabeth & Flinders St cnr.

[image: image.png]

A survey has indicated that -----
*--------- people felt the safest crossings in Melbourne were those where
'pedestrians were given priority over cars', and that a popular crossing
style is similar to the one we have on the Flinders / Elizabeth Street
intersection in the CBD, where traffic is stopped in all directions and
pedestrians can cross any way they choose. *

Fortunately my normal platform stop at Haines Street (route 57) is nowhere
near as crowded as the city stops but the pedestrian cycle is a bit one
sided so I often see people dashing across to catch a tram. Mind you
Abbotsford Street is one of the quietest inner city streets in Melbourne.

--

cheers and best wishes,
David in Avenel.au
[Before you change anything, learn why it is the way it is.]