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Subject: Sat.23.5.20 daily digest

Roderick

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23.5.20 Metro Twitter
Buses replace trains North Melbourne - Upfield until the last train of Sun 24 May (level-crossing works).
8.58 Lilydale/Belgrave line: Minor delays (a track fault near East Richmond). Trains may depart from altered platforms.
12.23 Frankston line: Minor delays (an 'operational issue' at Bonbeach). Trains may be held/altered.
- 12.34 Major, but clearing.
12.31 Pakenham/Cranbourne lines: Minor delays (police at Oakleigh). Trains may be held/altered.
- 12.46 Now major, but clearing.
14.26 Pakenham/Cranbourne/Frankston/Sandringham lines: Minor delays (police). Trains may be held/altered.
- 14.39 Now major.
- 15.11 clearing.
14.26 Lilydale/Belgrave/Glen Waverley lines: Minor delays (police). Trains may be held/altered.
- 14.38 Major.
- 15.13 clearing.
Buses replace trains Clifton Hill - Mernda from 22.30 until the last train of Sun 24 May (maintenance works).
Buses replace trains Moorabbin to Mordialloc and Frankston to Stony Point from 22.00 until the last train of Sunday 26 July (Cheltenham and Mentone level-crossing removal).

Commuters face big post-COVID changes May 23, 2020
Victorians should prepare for “fundamental” changes to the way they travel around Melbourne and the rest of the state, health authorities have warned, as it emerges from its COVID-19 shutdown in the coming months.
The Department of Health is meeting daily with public transport agencies, developing plans to move millions of commuters around the city and state each day safely as the economy re-opens.
Public transport advocates are calling for cloth masks to be worn on buses, trains and trams.Credit:Christopher Furlong
Deputy Chief Health Officer Annaliese van Diemen said on Saturday that staggered timetables could be on the agenda as wall as changes to allow social distancing on commuter services.
But no decision has been made on forcing travellers to wear masks on public transport, as demanded by Victoria’s Rail Bus and Tram Union on Friday with the backing of a leading international public health expert.
video Victoria Deputy Chief Health Officer COVID update Victoria has recorded another death. A man in his 60s died in hospital with COVID-19, the 19th death in the state.
The Deputy CHO also said there were no new cases associated with the four Melbourne aged care homes that had been worrying authorities but the state’s death toll from the virus rose to 19 with the death of a man in his 60s in hospital.
At the request of the dead man’s family, no other details are being disclosed and Dr van Diemen would not say if the case was linked to any of the state’s COVID-19 clusters.
A Melbourne retirement village is asking family and friends to voluntarily postpone planned visits to their Balwyn residences due to coronavirus.
None of Aveo's aged care homes, which operate across Australia, have had a positive case of COVID-19.
An Aveo spokeswoman said the number one priority was their staff and residents' wellbeing.
"Due to a number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in aged care communities across Melbourne in recent days, we are seeking the cooperation of all residents, family and friends to voluntarily postpone planned visits to Freedom Balwyn specifically as this village is in the location that is being monitored," a spokeswoman said.
Management sent letters to residents on Friday with the request.
Nine people remain in Victorian hospitals with coronavirus, three of them in intensive care.
Dr van Diemen warned public transport users and the order Victorian community to prepare for “fundamental changes” to everyday life as the state begins to get moving again after the lifting of many restrictions on June 1.
“We are under no illusions that the way we function as a society and that includes how we use public transport will need to change fundamentally," she said.
“This is not an immediate resumption of life as usual or life as, as it was before COVID and that's something that's been acknowledged across the world.”
Dr van Diemen said that planning was underway, in consultation with public transport providers and unions, for a more COVID-safe commuter network.
“We are working very closely with, with the Department of Transport and providers and unions to look at ways to alter the way the public transport is is used ... including cleaning, including requirements for how people seek to distance themselves on public transport," the Deputy CHO said.
She said that the current medical advice from the nation’s top infection control experts was that masks were not needed by public transport users but that the final position for a post-lockdown plan for trains, trams and buses was not yet finished.
“Our advice on top of that is for commuters to again be exceedingly vigilant," she said.
“Please don't take any form of public transport if you're sick.
"Please be very very aware physical distancing and and ensure really good cough and sneeze etiquette if you do happen to be on public transport and need to cough or sneeze.”
Related Article Sharan Coulter tests Shi Yang Liu at St George Hospital in Sydney in May. I got tested for coronavirus and you probably will too. Here's what you need to know
<www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/commuters-face-big-post-covid-changes-20200523-p54vre.html>
* I am so interested to see how the trains will operate, I am in Geelong and before Covid 19 our peak hour services between Geelong and Melbourne were 2 to 3 carriages short every single service. And every Saturday during footy season, each train was crowded and crushed with people standing face to face in the aisles and the front and back entry of each carriage. I know the numbers won’t be the same on 1 June but if before this the railways didn't have the extra carriages or didn't think providing extra carriages financially viable then how can that be different now with Covid19 requirements.. At a minimum, I foresee long term Govt support and increased fare pricing. In fact, eventually everything is going to be much more expensive due to reduced participant numbers and increased labour intensive cleaning requirements everywhere. Watch out for pressure to reduce wages and employment benefits as businesses everywhere attempt to reinvent themselves to survive. We are certainly living in interesting times.
* If you’re not going to have enforceable restrictions on public transport you may as well lift all restrictions as peak hour PT is the perfect environment to spread disease. All other restrictions are inconsequential in comparison
* During my last train trip last week, there were already people coughing and sneezing without covering their mouth. Luckily the carriage was fairly empty still, so I could avoid them. But I’ll definitely wear a mask on trains as the numbers travelling increase, it’s just easier to minimise exposure to virus-laden droplets and aerosols that way.
* The health department needs stay completely out of any and all public transport policy discussions in the public domain. Any Talking of a faux policy for numbers per transport carriage that can never happen will means the commuters will believe they can and they will police it. which is far more dangerous. The public already does much of the passenger carriage number policing on public transport. Think about it , We have a train system bursting at the seams because people do not have a choice. No-one can afford city parking or the mental strain of the Monash carpark twice a day. It's public transport or nothing to get your income. Commuters already police the passenger numbers per carriage themselves , pleading while yelling "please move down the Isle so passengers can get in this door" If the health dept starts talking numbers per carriage in the public domain. Some passengers will believe they can and they will try to police it as that is the Melbourne culture. .Other passengers will believe they have a right to get home before 7pm if they finish work at 5pm , if they can fit anywhere . It will end in arguments , pushing and shoving and injuries. Social media will be flooded with passenger arguments. "Do not get in this carriage , the 1.5 metre spaces are full!". "I don't give a stuff , I'm going home , I have kids at childcare to collect !!" It will be on. Whether its Public transport in 1788 or in 2020 the health dept needs to stay out of the discussion in the public domain. By all means discuss it with the Gov but let the gov decide how much it wants the public to get into daily fight videos on social media about passengers movements .

No parking, on your bike
Sat.23.5.20 Melbourne'Herald Sun'
Kicking cars off Sydney Rd for cyclists ‘inexpensive’ A CONTENTIOUS push to replace car parks along one of the busiest stretches of Sydney Rd would cost just $300,000, the state’s Parliamentary Budget Office has found.
The new modelling comes as debate rages over the future of the busy shopping strip, as the Department of Transport is yet to decide how it will proceed with improvement plans.
The proposal, first put forward by Moreland City Council last year, would include a six-month trial in which car parks were replaced with cycling lanes that included a physical barrier between cars and cyclists between Glenlyon Rd and Brunswick Rd.
But some traders have railed against the plan and other proposals to cut parking in the area because they believe it would be detrimental to business.
Greens state Member for Brunswick Tim Read said Victoria should follow other cities that were becoming more friendly to cyclists.
“Building protected bike lanes along Sydney Rd is an inexpensive and sustainable way for the government to support the increasing number of cyclists on our streets during COVID-19,” Dr Read said.
“Before the crisis began, more people rode to work from Brunswick than from anywhere else in Australia.
“And now, with even more people riding, we need to ensure they’re protected.”
Department of Transport has been deliberating on the future of the road for nearly a year after releasing four draft designs and calling for community feedback.
Its understood just over half of those who responded to the department supported removing all parking along the road in favour of footpaths and protected bike lanes.
“The results from the Vic-Roads survey have only confirmed what we learned at the last state election,” Dr Read said.
“That people in Brunswick want protected bike lanes, wider footpaths, more trees and accessible tram stops.
“Cities all over the world are using this as an opportunity to re-imagine how people move around and we should be doing the same.”
Bicycle Network chief executive Craig Richards said now was the perfect time to trial bike lanes in the area.
“Sydney Rd businesses no doubt need more business and we know that whenever protected bike facilities are built, more people come, they stay longer and spend more,” he said.

SOCIAL worker Ryan Purdie is on a mission to shine a light on road safety education in our schools.
Sat.23.5.20 Melbourne'Herald Sun'
Got a light? Ryan Purdie collects and restores disused traffic lights to donate them to preschools for road safety education. Picture: DAVID CAIRD
The 30-year-old aged care worker collects traffic lights and poles destined for landfill and upcycles them to be functioning educational tools.
“I started in 2017 with an idea of recycling old hardware and stuff that usually gets thrown away,” Mr Purdie said.
“I now have an arrangement with VicRoads where they give me damaged or older model traffic lights to repurpose.”
Mr Purdie has donated educational traffic lights to more than 170 schools across Australia, including in remote communities.
“I buy sequencers from America and install them to make the lights work as they would on the road,” he said.
“The kids love being able to interact with the lights, and you can tell they’re really engaged when they’re learning.”
With more than 100 refurbished traffic lights in his backyard, Mr Purdie said he can’t wait for schools to reopen so he can continue his work. To help, head to Traffic Lights For Kinders on Facebook.