Most will agree that public transport in Melbourne is terrible, though we all know that it could be much worse. Given that commuters travelling in the city and inner suburbs pay over $7 per day full fare to use it and around $3.56 per day if they have a concession- that's around $1750 per year if the full fare traveller only travels on week days, and half that for the concession holder. Now multiply that by the increasing number of commuters. If there were 100,000 full fare commuters then over the year this adds up to around $175million annually. We all know that there are far more commuters than this using the system- in fact just yesterday I had to cram onto a train that was bulging at its seams at 11am. This was due to major delays caused by track faults, and a backlog of commuters, but the problem is they "temporarily fix" the issue and it becomes a problem a few days later again. That is the actual notification that is sent through the alert app "the problem has been temporarily fixed". What's more, they also don't count the full train or the train after it when checking if overcrowding is an issue on public transport, likewise they probably don't count the delayed train or the train after it if they're checking for punctuality. If they did, they would have a lot of non-arriving or late services and could not possible uphold that 90-something percent punctuality rating, they would be reimbursing a lot of daily customers if that were to happen!
Frankly, may of the trams, trains and buses used by the transport system in Melbourne are old and disgusting. Old buses have uncomfortable seats, stairs to climb and smell really badly- the elderly, disabled or injured would never be able to negotiate those stairs safely! Back when I was on crutches a few years ago, I would have been terrified to try and get up some of the bus stairs I've had to use. Bus drivers have severe road rage at times and some drive like bats out of hell. I've been told off by one driver because I didn't "wave my arm" at him, even though I was at the bus stop and standing under the sign, told off by another because HE was late and I happened to be checking my phone when he arrived (how would he know, I could be checking the app to see when the next bus was?!). Trams are death traps, wet days means increased passengers, less seats, more standing and dangerous conditions. I have fallen on trams a number of times, the first time I injured my back on a myki reader, the second (memorable) time I fell onto a container in my bag and injured my back again (which resulted in me not getting to touch on), my 2hour pass had expired about twenty minutes prior and I was nabbed at the next tram stop and given a $120 fine- which despite me having moved to Melbourne only a month or so before and having reasonable reasons, stood and had to be paid. Most recently, I fell on a tram during bad weather, the driver braking suddenly at the stop lights (I don't think he slowed down for them), resulting in my laptop screen being damage so badly that half of it no longer works. BUT Yarra trams refuses to take responsibility due to their signage saying to hold on (bit hard if you're on a tram with about 50 other people). So that happened in November 2013, Yarra Trams ignored following up on my emails in December (or before) and then when I contacted them this year (in January) they told me that too much time had passed and they had no records and wouldn't pay for the repairs to my laptop. It is now being dealt with by the Public Transport Ombudsman.
Mykis are so annoying too. Back in the days of the metcard, you could just throw it in a recycle bin when it expired or not worry if it accidentally got lost because you had probably used up all the trips on it anyway beforehand. Not myki, you have to guard that thing with your life. Within three days last week, I lost two. My concession myki and my original personalised myki. I logged into the concession account and discovered that someone had found and USED my myki until the money had run out- blast! Now the website has refused to allow me to log into the other account yet, so I can't tell if it suffered the same fate (I assume it has!)
Wishing you a rainbow,
For sunlight after showers-
Miles and miles of Irish smiles
For golden happy hours-
Shamrocks at your doorway,
For luck and laughter too,
And a host of friends that never ends,
Each day your whole life through!
Frankly, may of the trams, trains and buses used by the transport system in Melbourne are old and disgusting. Old buses have uncomfortable seats, stairs to climb and smell really badly- the elderly, disabled or injured would never be able to negotiate those stairs safely! Back when I was on crutches a few years ago, I would have been terrified to try and get up some of the bus stairs I've had to use. Bus drivers have severe road rage at times and some drive like bats out of hell. I've been told off by one driver because I didn't "wave my arm" at him, even though I was at the bus stop and standing under the sign, told off by another because HE was late and I happened to be checking my phone when he arrived (how would he know, I could be checking the app to see when the next bus was?!). Trams are death traps, wet days means increased passengers, less seats, more standing and dangerous conditions. I have fallen on trams a number of times, the first time I injured my back on a myki reader, the second (memorable) time I fell onto a container in my bag and injured my back again (which resulted in me not getting to touch on), my 2hour pass had expired about twenty minutes prior and I was nabbed at the next tram stop and given a $120 fine- which despite me having moved to Melbourne only a month or so before and having reasonable reasons, stood and had to be paid. Most recently, I fell on a tram during bad weather, the driver braking suddenly at the stop lights (I don't think he slowed down for them), resulting in my laptop screen being damage so badly that half of it no longer works. BUT Yarra trams refuses to take responsibility due to their signage saying to hold on (bit hard if you're on a tram with about 50 other people). So that happened in November 2013, Yarra Trams ignored following up on my emails in December (or before) and then when I contacted them this year (in January) they told me that too much time had passed and they had no records and wouldn't pay for the repairs to my laptop. It is now being dealt with by the Public Transport Ombudsman.
Mykis are so annoying too. Back in the days of the metcard, you could just throw it in a recycle bin when it expired or not worry if it accidentally got lost because you had probably used up all the trips on it anyway beforehand. Not myki, you have to guard that thing with your life. Within three days last week, I lost two. My concession myki and my original personalised myki. I logged into the concession account and discovered that someone had found and USED my myki until the money had run out- blast! Now the website has refused to allow me to log into the other account yet, so I can't tell if it suffered the same fate (I assume it has!)
Wishing you a rainbow,
For sunlight after showers-
Miles and miles of Irish smiles
For golden happy hours-
Shamrocks at your doorway,
For luck and laughter too,
And a host of friends that never ends,
Each day your whole life through!
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