Watering down safety

PTV saw quite some media attention to their tone deaf “Let’s Go Work From Work” advertising campaign encouraging people to not work from home. The messaging through the lockdowns and restrictions were just as bad, and some still remain.

City of Melbourne road diet backdown

With mobility restricted during the pandemic and vehicles off the streets, Melbourne city quietly started their plan to cut back on private motor vehicles and improve access for public transport, pedestrians, and bicycles. Restrictions gone and the public returning to the roads has produced the predictable backlash, but how should the road space be divided between modes?

Voter Congestion

Another federal election rolls around and hits a day with perfect weather, how do people go to their polling stations?

Wait as long as you want, the lights wont change

There is an explicit requirement for bicycle riders to use lanes where they are marked. But many (most?) bicycle lanes at intersections have no sensors to detect the presence of a waiting vehicle. What to do?

Richmond dead end

Straddling across Punt Road, Richmond station should be a convenient way to access the Melbourne sports precinct to the west. With the Australian Open tennis currently underway and the station carrying 8 of Melbourne’s 15 metropolitan lines, its still wildly under utilised.

Melbourne not Shutdown

With a State of Emergency declared across Victoria the seriousness of the worldwide pandemic has arrived to Melburnians. But despite consistent messaging from the Premier, action from the public is still lacking. Accurate and clear reporting of the situation is essential to prevent apathy towards the control measures, but the media is dropping the ball.

Wilful Blindness

Following a week of protests consistently targeting peak hour CBD road transport there has been a growing conspicuous police presence around the city of Melbourne. But with dozens of officers waiting around for the action to kick off, they chose some rather odd activities to fill the time.

Impediment upon hinderance

Walking around Melbourne it is clear motorised transport is still the favoured method when it comes to provisioning space and resources. Its not just about the odd corner cutting for pedestrians and cyclists but a consistent and determined effort to exclude them from any priority. Possibly one of the worst examples sits at the top of the city.

Service in plain sight

Cycling infrastructure doesn’t have to be exclusive or even delineated. Along wide roads with lower speed limits the sharing of space is natural without conflict. Melbourne has numerous service roads of exactly these characteristics paralleling major traffic routes, but it all falls apart at the intersections.

Pedestrian downgrade at Flinders St Station

Sneaking in reductions in utility and safety while claiming the opposite, politics at its worst. The recent redevelopment of the Flinders St Station forecourt facing onto Swanston St was promoted explicitly as improvements to protection by the City of Melbourne but the majority users of the intersection have been short changed with an absolute reduction in accessibility.