Latest news with #PublicTransportUsersAssociation
The Age
2 days ago
- General
- The Age
Fares aside, Hailey pays a ‘physical cost' for each trip on Melbourne's old trams
Disability Resources Centre advocate Andrew Bretherton said it was 'ridiculous' such little progress had been made in making the network accessible, more than 20 years after the Disability Discrimination Act was passed. Victoria missed a deadline imposed by that law to make all tram stops accessible by 2022, and now faces an uphill battle to make the entire tram fleet accessible by 2032. Six routes now operate entirely with accessible trams, but 11 routes still exclusively use high-floor rolling stock. 'What they're doing is segregating a whole community from society by not letting them have access to an everyday need, which is transport,' Bretherton said. 'Almost everyone's going to be affected by disability at some point. You're secluding disabled, injured people, elderly people from the community.' Bretherton said that while public transport could be especially inaccessible for wheelchair users, there should also be more awareness of people whose disability might not be obvious to others but who still needed ramps, level-access stops, and use of priority seating. People with these 'hidden disabilities' sometimes wear sunflower lanyards or badges when they travel. Victoria's new G-Class trams will start testing on the network later this year, with 100 due to be delivered through a $1.4 billion order. Operating out of a new depot in Maidstone and designed with extensive input from accessibility advocates, the G-Class will first be deployed on the routes 57, 82 and 59, which currently have no accessible trams and few accessible stops. A spokesman for Public Transport Minister Gabrielle Williams said two new level-access stops would be built in the 2025/26 financial year, at the Moonee Ponds Junction, which serves routes 82 and 59. Fourteen more have funding in the pipeline, including eight along Droop Street, Footscray, announced in last month's budget. Public Transport Users Association spokesperson Daniel Bowen said the 100 G-Class trams were a 'good start', but 130 high-floor B-Class trams would be left on the network which also needed replacing. 'We've got some areas which are very reliant on tram services, and if you're able-bodied, that's great. [But] if you're a parent with a pram, it can be very difficult to use the high-floor trams. If you're using luggage, it can be difficult. And if you've got a wheelchair or some other sort of mobility aid, it's basically impossible.' An Allan government spokesperson said the Labor government had upgraded 98 tram stops since coming to power a decade ago, and delivered 50 accessible E-Class trams. 'We know there is more to do, and we're working with accessibility groups to ensure we are prioritising the upgrades that will make the most difference to them,' the spokesperson said. The Transport Department has shifted to an approach of upgrading a group of stops along an entire 'corridor' of the tram network rather than on a stop-by-stop basis. Design work and consultation was undertaken to upgrade stops on route 86 along Gertrude and Smith streets in Fitzroy and Collingwood, and on High Street in Thornbury and Northcote last year, but the state government has not committed to implementing those upgrades. A 2020 Victorian Auditor-General's Office report found the Transport Department had estimated the cost of upgrading all tram stops in the network to level-access would cost at least $2 billion. A spokesperson for the City of Stonnington said it was working with the department on long-term planning for accessible tram stops on Chapel Street as part of 'broader discussions about the future transformation of the precinct'. Loading 'This planning work will consider how best to integrate tram accessibility upgrades with streetscape improvements and the needs of other road users, including pedestrians, cyclists and local traders,' they said. Yarra Trams recorded almost 16 million passenger trips last year on Melbourne tram network, which is the world's largest.
Sydney Morning Herald
2 days ago
- General
- Sydney Morning Herald
Fares aside, Hailey pays a ‘physical cost' for each trip on Melbourne's old trams
Disability Resources Centre advocate Andrew Bretherton said it was 'ridiculous' such little progress had been made in making the network accessible, more than 20 years after the Disability Discrimination Act was passed. Victoria missed a deadline imposed by that law to make all tram stops accessible by 2022, and now faces an uphill battle to make the entire tram fleet accessible by 2032. Six routes now operate entirely with accessible trams, but 11 routes still exclusively use high-floor rolling stock. 'What they're doing is segregating a whole community from society by not letting them have access to an everyday need, which is transport,' Bretherton said. 'Almost everyone's going to be affected by disability at some point. You're secluding disabled, injured people, elderly people from the community.' Bretherton said that while public transport could be especially inaccessible for wheelchair users, there should also be more awareness of people whose disability might not be obvious to others but who still needed ramps, level-access stops, and use of priority seating. People with these 'hidden disabilities' sometimes wear sunflower lanyards or badges when they travel. Victoria's new G-Class trams will start testing on the network later this year, with 100 due to be delivered through a $1.4 billion order. Operating out of a new depot in Maidstone and designed with extensive input from accessibility advocates, the G-Class will first be deployed on the routes 57, 82 and 59, which currently have no accessible trams and few accessible stops. A spokesman for Public Transport Minister Gabrielle Williams said two new level-access stops would be built in the 2025/26 financial year, at the Moonee Ponds Junction, which serves routes 82 and 59. Fourteen more have funding in the pipeline, including eight along Droop Street, Footscray, announced in last month's budget. Public Transport Users Association spokesperson Daniel Bowen said the 100 G-Class trams were a 'good start', but 130 high-floor B-Class trams would be left on the network which also needed replacing. 'We've got some areas which are very reliant on tram services, and if you're able-bodied, that's great. [But] if you're a parent with a pram, it can be very difficult to use the high-floor trams. If you're using luggage, it can be difficult. And if you've got a wheelchair or some other sort of mobility aid, it's basically impossible.' An Allan government spokesperson said the Labor government had upgraded 98 tram stops since coming to power a decade ago, and delivered 50 accessible E-Class trams. 'We know there is more to do, and we're working with accessibility groups to ensure we are prioritising the upgrades that will make the most difference to them,' the spokesperson said. The Transport Department has shifted to an approach of upgrading a group of stops along an entire 'corridor' of the tram network rather than on a stop-by-stop basis. Design work and consultation was undertaken to upgrade stops on route 86 along Gertrude and Smith streets in Fitzroy and Collingwood, and on High Street in Thornbury and Northcote last year, but the state government has not committed to implementing those upgrades. A 2020 Victorian Auditor-General's Office report found the Transport Department had estimated the cost of upgrading all tram stops in the network to level-access would cost at least $2 billion. A spokesperson for the City of Stonnington said it was working with the department on long-term planning for accessible tram stops on Chapel Street as part of 'broader discussions about the future transformation of the precinct'. Loading 'This planning work will consider how best to integrate tram accessibility upgrades with streetscape improvements and the needs of other road users, including pedestrians, cyclists and local traders,' they said. Yarra Trams recorded almost 16 million passenger trips last year on Melbourne tram network, which is the world's largest.
Scoop
05-06-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Trains To Huapai Public Meeting
Press Release – Public Transport Users Association Transport advocacy groups the Public Transport Users Association (PTUA) and Campaign for Better Transport (CBT) are hosting a public meeting to discuss Trains to Huapai at St Chad's Church, 7 Matua Rd, Huapai, at 1.30pm on Saturday 7 June 2025. Northwestern residents in urban Huapai-Kumeu and surrounds, arguably have the most stressful commute in the country, and inadequate public transport. The two-lane State Highway 16 has 16,000 more vehicles than the Waikato Expressway, 10,000 more than Transmission Gully and 12,000 more than the Puhoi to Warkworth motorway. Auckland Transport's 'solution' only offers a rapid busway in 10-20 years which will require the demolition of the Kumeu/Huapai central business the people need public transport now and rail is the best and easiest option which could be delivered in short order. Trains to Huapai services could use existing infrastructure. A crossing loop is available at Waitakere to run an hourly shuttle to Swanson and half hourly in the rush hour. The Waitakere tunnel is fit for electrification, hybrid-electric, or fully diesel trains. Three privately owned train sets are available for use. A four carriage train set could be provided for $150k within six months – so a rail service could be in place when the City Rail Link opens. A private investor is prepared to pay for the service for five years. KiwiRail initially said the cost for such a service was $145m. They now say it is now $20m. PTUA analysis says it could be done for $8.2m to $9.2m. So it's affordable, doable and timely to deliver comfortable, efficient and fast Train services to Huapai now. Campaigners have had the Trains to Huapai proposal blocked by Auckland Transport and more recently, by KiwiRail with a very 'can't do' attitude which they say 'is now bordering on ridiculous.' PTUA chair Niall Robertson says 'We believe that both AT and KiwiRail are reneging on their responsibilities to provide appropriate and needed transport services to the Northwestern community, especially as funding will be provided for five years from a private source with no need for ratepayer or taxpayer input.' CBT convener Jodi Johnston says, 'This is an innovative, novel solution to this problem at no cost to ratepayers or taxpayers which is being deliberately blocked by officials, despite support for the idea from both local and national politicians'. The PTUA and CBT urge Auckland Transport (AT) and KiwiRail to acknowledge the need for the service and for the politicians to deal with AT and KiwiRail and get things moving now! Guests invited to talk at the public meeting are: Greg Sayers, councillor for Rodney, Guy Wishart, local Rodney board member, Kerrin Leoni whau councillor and mayoral candidate, Niall Robertson, chair of the Public Transport Users Association, Jodi Johnston, convener of the Campaign for Better Transport. The MC will be Christine Rose, Local resident, past chair of the PTUA and past Auckland Regional Councillor. We have apologies from, The Honourable Chris Bishop, Minister of Transport, The Honourable Winston Peters, Minister of Rail, the Mayor of Auckland, Wayne Brown, the Honourable Chris Penk, Rodney-Mahurangi MP.
The Age
04-06-2025
- General
- The Age
It took a decade for Southern Cross Station to install bins. This might be why
Melbourne's second-busiest and arguably most-maligned train station – Southern Cross – has reinstalled rubbish bins on its platforms, more than 10 years after they returned to other inner-city stations. It's a small win for commuters that also raises the question: what took so long? Public Transport Users Association spokesman Daniel Bowen said he suspected it was because Southern Cross is the only privatised train station in Victoria. 'Southern Cross was always the exception – they removed the bins completely, and it's not until now that they've bothered to put anything back,' he said. Terrorism and other security threats have made bins a tricky problem for transport operators, given their potential to conceal bombs and other dangerous devices. London transit authorities removed metal bins – which can turn into shrapnel and make a blast even deadlier – from the city's railway stations after the Irish Republican Army planted a bomb inside one in a fatal 1991 attack. Victoria replaced its metal bins with transparent plastic ones at inner-city stations in the lead-up to the 2006 Commonwealth Games. But even those plastic tubs were deemed too risky and were ripped out amid heightened terrorism threats in September 2014. Metro Trains installed new bins six months later based on a design now used on the London Underground, consisting of clear plastic bags hanging from metal hoops.
Sydney Morning Herald
04-06-2025
- General
- Sydney Morning Herald
It took a decade for Southern Cross Station to install bins. This might be why
Melbourne's second-busiest and arguably most-maligned train station – Southern Cross – has reinstalled rubbish bins on its platforms, more than 10 years after they returned to other inner-city stations. It's a small win for commuters that also raises the question: what took so long? Public Transport Users Association spokesman Daniel Bowen said he suspected it was because Southern Cross is the only privatised train station in Victoria. 'Southern Cross was always the exception – they removed the bins completely, and it's not until now that they've bothered to put anything back,' he said. Terrorism and other security threats have made bins a tricky problem for transport operators, given their potential to conceal bombs and other dangerous devices. London transit authorities removed metal bins – which can turn into shrapnel and make a blast even deadlier – from the city's railway stations after the Irish Republican Army planted a bomb inside one in a fatal 1991 attack. Victoria replaced its metal bins with transparent plastic ones at inner-city stations in the lead-up to the 2006 Commonwealth Games. But even those plastic tubs were deemed too risky and were ripped out amid heightened terrorism threats in September 2014. Metro Trains installed new bins six months later based on a design now used on the London Underground, consisting of clear plastic bags hanging from metal hoops.
