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Roderick

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Sun.27.9.20 Metro Twitter
Buses replace trains Newport - Werribee until 8.00 (works).
Buses replace trains on sections of the Upfield line until the last train of Sun 15 Nov (level-crossing works at Coburg and Moreland).
Buses replace trains Ringwood - Lilydale until the last train of Sun 27 Sep (level-crossing works).
Buses replace trains Dandenong - Pakenham from until 7.00 (works).
7.37 Sunbury line: Buses to replace trains Sunshine - Sydenham Watergardens (a person hit by a train). Buses have been ordered but may take over 60 minutes arrive.  Consider alternative transport [at this time on a Sunday?]
- 7.46 Consider bus routes 408 and 421.
- 8.03 Anticipate bustitution until at least 10.30. 
- 8.25 Two buses are in operation, extending journey time by 40 min. 
- 8.44 Buses are departing every 20 mins.
- 9.04 Five buses are in operation
- Some time after 9.24 trains have resumed.
12.09 Buses to replace trains Dandenong - Cranbourne (a track-equipment fault between Dandenong and Lynbrook). Buses have been ordered, but may take over 60 minutes arrive.  Consider alternatives.
- 12.15 consider local bus route 890. 
- 12.36 Anticipate buses to replace trains until at least 14.30. 
- 12.46 Buses are enroute, and are expected to arrive within 30 min
- 12.56 Buses have begun operation, with more enroute.  Journey time extended by ~30 min.
- 13.03 Trains 'begin to resume', with minor delays.
Buses replace trains Newport - Werribee from 19.00 until the last train (works).
Buses replace trains Clifton Hill - Mernda from 19.30 until the last train (maintenance works).
Buses replace trains Dandenong - Pakenham from 20.00 until the last train (works).
Are night services going back to normal now that the curfew has been lifted?

Man hit by Canberra tram while walking through intersection March 9, 2019.
A man is in a stable condition after he was hit and injured by a tram undergoing testing on Canberra's light rail tracks, about a month out from the network's planned start date.
An ACT government spokeswoman said initial investigations suggested the pedestrian had stepped in front of the light rail vehicle against a red signal while wearing headphones.
Emergency services at the scene of a collision between a tram and a pedestrian in Canberra on Saturday morning.Credit:Elesa Kurtz
Firefighters and paramedics responded to the incident, which happened at the intersection of Northbourne Avenue with Barry Drive and Cooyong Street, at 7.47am on Saturday.
An Emergency Services Agency spokesman said the man suffered upper body injuries and injuries to both legs.
The man remained conscious after the collision and was not trapped under the tram. He was taken to Canberra Hospital in a stable condition.
The ACT government spokeswoman said the tram driver applied the emergency brakes and an initial review of the incident suggested emergency protocols "worked well and were followed".
Emergency services tend to a pedestrian after they were hit by a tram on Canberra's light rail network.Credit:Katie Burgess
"Operations and testing were immediately halted following the incident, but resumed following viewing of the incident when operators were confident of safety along the route," she said.
Trams are currently being tested on the light rail line between Gungahlin and the city, with stage one of the network expected to start taking passengers on a Saturday some time in April.
After Saturday morning's collision, a large crack was visible in the windshield of the tram involved.
Sharna Thompson, a window washer who witnessed the incident, said it left her feeling shocked.
"Out of the corner of my eye, I saw it happen," she said.
"I turned around and [the man] was on the ground.
"He'd hit the windscreen, but I'm not actually sure what caused [the collision]."
Ms Thompson said she hadn't seen any near misses involving trams while washing windows at the intersection where the crash happened.
Emergency services at the scene of a collision between a tram and a pedestrian in Canberra on Saturday morning.Credit:Elesa Kurtz
She said the tram driver had reversed the vehicle after the collision and alerted emergency services.
Speed limits for light rail vehicles match the limits on the roads adjacent to the tracks, up to a maximum of 70 kilometres an hour.
Northbourne Avenue, which has a speed limit of 60, has the highest incidence of pedestrian collisions in the ACT. The Sunday Canberra Times reported in November that more than one in 10 of the territory's crashes involving pedestrians happen on Northbourne Avenue.
The ACT government spokeswoman urged all Canberrans to be aware of their surroundings and obey the road rules in the light rail corridor.
"Light rail vehicles are travelling the full length of the alignment between Gungahlin and the city at both day and night," she said.
"Light rail vehicles are quiet and large. It is important Canberrans pay attention near the light rail tracks."
In April 2018, Transport Minister Meegan Fitzharris launched the "Rail Ready" light rail safety program, which included a video with tips for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers to stay safe around trams.
"If everyone follows the rules, we all stay safe," Ms Fitzharris said at the time.
The ACT government spokeswoman said the safety campaign had been "communicated to the community continuously" since it began.
"At every opportunity, the ACT government and Canberra Metro are reminding the Canberra community of the need to obey traffic rules and to be aware of your surroundings in the light rail corridor," she said on Saturday.
"We hope this morning’s incident serves as another reminder to Canberrans to pay attention when around light rail."
Related Article Canberra Metro and the ACT Emergency Services Agency staged a car versus light rail vehicle crash to test the responses of firefighters and paramedics.  Whatever you do, don't argue with a tram.
<www.canberratimes.com.au/national/act/man-hit-by-canberra-tram-while-walking-through-intersection-20190309-p512ww.html>

Melbourne’s security bollards criticised by architect.
Herald Sun March 9, 2019.
Bollards on Princes Bridge. Picture: Jake Nowakowski.
Security bollards installed across Melbourne’s CBD have been criticised for making people feel threatened and scared.
Top architect Peter Maddison said he believed the bollards had caused people to feel especially conscious about the danger of being in the city.
Hundreds of the permanent and temporary anti-terror structures have been installed at nine key city locations to stop rogue vehicle attacks.
Princes Bridge with additional bollard works underway. Picture: Jake Nowakowski
The bridge before bollards. Picture: Susan Windmiller
Mr Maddison told the Sunday Herald Sun: “Because they’re so prominent and visual, it makes the threat palpable.”
“They instil a sense of fear in the public the way they’re currently presented,’’ he said.
Mr Maddison, founding director of Maddison Architects and host of popular Foxtel show Grand Designs Australia, called for a rethink in the way bollards were presented.
“It’s how you integrate the structures, aesthetically, so they don’t end up looking like an entrance to a military camp,” he said.
Mr Maddison said bollards designed as street furniture and planter boxes, and the use of kerbside treatments, should be encouraged.
Fellow architect Karl Fender, from Eureka Tower design firm Fender Katsalidis, said there was an understandable quick response to terror and other threats.
“A lot of the protection barriers that went up, went up very quickly as immediate safety precautions,” he said. “And now you’re seeing more thought being given to how they can become part of the public infrastructure in a less perhaps threatening way visually.”
Flinders Street station in 2016. Picture: Alicia Bee
Flinders Street Station today. Picture: Jake Nowakowski
Mr Fender said part of the answer was to make bollards look like part of the furniture.
“We’ve never minded bollards before — bollards are all over Europe — they’re just a gentle way of separating pedestrian traffic from vehicular traffic without becoming huge barriers,” he said.
Mr Fender said that noise prevention walls on freeways turned into artworks were an example of how necessary urban measures could be softened.
Bourke Street Mall in 2010, before bollards. Picture: Carla Gottgens/Bloomberg News
Bourke St Mall today. Picture: Jake Nowakowski
“If we have a need for separation of traffic from pedestrians you could look at it in the same way — it’s an opportunity, it could just soften it and make it part of the city fabric,” he said.
In January, Lord Mayor Sally Capp said that barriers planned for places such as Princes Bridge had been designed in consultation with Heritage Victoria and heritage architects.
Southern Cross Station before.
Southern Cross Station today. Picture: Jake Nowakowski
Last month, James Gargasoulas was jailed for life after being convicted of murdering six people while driving along Bourke St in 2017.
Melbourne City Council started installing concrete blocks as a temporary measure, and now works have started at busy areas such as Flinders St Station to put in permanent bollards.
PLAN FOR NEW BOLLARDS AT KEY MELBOURNE SITES
EMERGENCY SPEAKER ROLLOUT IN MELBOURNE
The city council is working with the Andrews Government over its $50 million CBD security upgrade.
<www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/melbournes-security-bollards-criticised-by-architect/news-story/42dfda79d50a302fcfbe6d684b6eaa99>

COVID-19 takes a toll on public transport, speed camera revenue in Qld Lucy Stone September 27, 2020
Queensland's public transport network recorded a drop in patronage of almost 20 per cent over the past year, costing more than $71 million in fare revenue.
In March, when most of Queensland ground to a halt, public transport figures collapsed as people turned to walking, cycling, private transport and working from home.
Quiet streets in March left buses, trains and ferries travelling empty.CREDIT:LUCY STONE
Across the financial year, none of the state's targets for patronage on state-government-owned transport were met, according to the Department of Transport and Main Roads' annual report.
The network's total targeted patronage figures were set at 193 million trips, but only 152 million were actually taken. That was down from the 2018-19 figure of 189 million trips, which exceeded the estimated target of 186 million.
South-east Queensland's bus network met about 80 per cent of its target of 119 million trips, with 95 million trips across the network.
Trains also reported only 76 per cent of the 56-million-trip target, recording 43 million in total across the financial year.
Gold Coast trams reported 8 million trips, missing their target of 11 million, and ferries recorded 5 million, missing the target of almost 7 million.
"The variance between the 2019-20 target/estimate and the 2019-20 actual results can be attributed to the travel restrictions introduced for the COVID-19 response and recovery in March 2020, including restrictions on work and travel associated with lockdown," says the annual report, tabled this week.
"The target/estimates for these measures will be reviewed in subsequent years to take into consideration the longer-term impact of COVID-19."
The department paid Brisbane City Council $328 million to operate its buses, $20 million for the ferries, and $57 million to GoldLinQ to operate the Gold Coast's light rail system.
Revenue from the state's speed cameras was also down on the previous year, with $172 million in fines collected through the Department of Transport and Main Roads and the State Penalties Enforcement Registry.
That figure was down from $191 million in the 2018-19 financial year.
The department issued 480,207 mobile speed camera infringements across the 2019 calendar year, more than 80 per cent of which were for travelling less than 13 kilometres over the speed limit.
But on the other end of the scale, 632 fines, or 0.13 per cent, were issued to people recorded travelling more than 40 kilometres over the speed limit.
More than 30,000 infringement notices from red light cameras were issued during the 2019 calendar year, and 67,161 from fixed speed cameras.
More than 73 per cent of those infringements were for travelling less than 13km/h over the speed limit, and 292 fines, or 0.64 per cent, for travelling more than 40km/h over the limit.
The report noted the $71 million in lost fare revenue hit the department's bottom line, but it still managed to record an operating surplus of $126 million across 2019-20.
<www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/covid-19-takes-a-toll-on-public-transport-speed-camera-revenue-in-qld-20200927-p55zlz.html>
* Fortunately both are a public service and not just cash cows, am I correct?. Public transport will bounce back as people regain their confidence and then the status quo between fares collected and dollars from the treasury added to provide this public service will normalise. As for speed camera revenue. I didn't think it was about revenue for the coffers but to ensure more Queenslanders got home to loved ones through learned behaviour not to speed or you may part with cash and demerit points. Hopefully the cameras aren't just a revenue source for the government of the day or they have defeated their alleged reason to exist.

Melbourne CBD bollards: Permanent security measures coming for parts of the city
WES HOSKING September 27, 2020 Herald Sun 17 comments [mainly sarcastic; just three attached]
New anti-vehicle bollards in Melbourne’s CBD will be installed to guard pedestrians against rogue attacks when visitors finally return. This is where they’ll be set up.
video: Restrictions lifted: This is what's allowed in Melbourne. Here's what you need to know about the new COVID-19 lockdown rules in Victoria.
New anti-vehicle bollards are being installed at Southern Cross Station and Federation Square as Melbourne’s CBD is further fortified against attacks.
Works — to begin this week — will see temporary bollards replaced.
Upgrades at Southern Cross Station’s main entrance will include new protection measures along Spencer and Collins streets.
Almost a dozen popular city sites have already had security overhauls in the wake of the deadly Bourke Street attack.
Police and Emergency Services Minister Lisa Neville said the latest works would boost safety, especially for pedestrians, even further.
“With security measures now completed for most sites, the next stage of the CBD security upgrades is now underway, with construction starting on another three key pedestrian thoroughfares to support a safer Melbourne,’’ Ms Neville said.
“These important security upgrades will ensure these much-loved parts of Melbourne are safe for the millions of people who pass through them every year.”
Permanent bollards will be installed at Southern Cross Station and Federation Square. Picture: Nicole Garmston
Concrete Bollards were installed following the Bourke Street attack. Picture: Nicole Garmston
The Federation Square security upgrade started near Birrarung Marr earlier this month with further works to follow in Swanston Street.
Security measures being used in the city include permanent steel bollards, architectural blocks and custom upgrades depending on the site.
Steel bollards were installed at Flinders Street Station as part of a safety upgrade. Picture: Jay Town
Security experts, transport professionals and architects have all been involved in the $52.5 million overhaul with Southbank Promenade the latest location where works are now complete.
Bourke Street Mall, Flinders Street Station, the State Library, Queen Victoria Market, Princes Bridge and Olympic Boulevard are among high-profile locations which also have permanent bollards.
<www.heraldsun.com.au/news/melbourne-cbd-bollards-permanent-security-measures-coming-for-parts-of-the-city/news-story/3e01e0ab57c35a5b885123232bd56e15>
* Why did they not plan and install permanent bollards in the first place?
* These revolting bollards could not be more uglier.  Why can't a design team, somewhere, design something that is both practical and also an aesthetically pleasimg structure?
* Works have been happening on this at Southern Cross for months. Also at Southbank.