[publictransport] response re booking system

[Labyrinth]

Hi Julia,
I agree that its " sensible to pursue improvements for cycle tourists  
as well
as for commuters. No problem with the booking system  you detail.

However Minister Kosky is the minister for transport not the
minister for tourism or regional development so it would be wise to  
take that
up with the other ministers as well . If we remember that most  
bicycle tourists and
occasional recreational riders are car drivers there is also a need  
for bike
hire facilities in most provincial cities.

There are new opportunities and we need the State Bicycle Advisory  
Committee
to be given more priority like it had when Minister Brian Dixon  
chaired the
Committee or years later when the Committee chairman reported back  
directly
to the Minister for Transport. There are lots of initiatives that  
Minister Kosky
could be thinking about.

Bye Alan



On 08/02/2008, at 8:20 PM, Julia Blunden wrote:

> Hi Alan and Jill
>
> I am not suggesting a booking system for all or even most V/Line  
> trains.
> However if you look at the V/Line timetables
> (http://www.vline.com.au/timetables/timetables/timetables.html )  
> you'll see
> that some trains have 'R' beside the start time meaning that a  
> reservation
> is required. One example of this is the 8.13am train running from  
> SC to
> Albury on Monday-Friday mornings. This is the sort of train that cycle
> tourists would want to catch, perhaps to Wangaratta or Wodonga, and  
> that
> probably would not have any bike-train commuters on it at all.
>
> For these trains would be cycle tourers must purchase their  
> tickets, usually
> at least a week ahead of travel. Needless to say various other  
> arrangements
> need to be made if you're planning to be away from home for several  
> days and
> accommodation may need to be booked as well. It is a bit of a  
> concern that
> you could turn up with your laden bike bright and early on the  
> morning only
> to be told that there is no room for it on the train. Unlike commuters
> tourers could probably rejig the date/time of their journey if only  
> they
> knew for sure when there would be space for their bikes.
>
> While we have the attention of the authorities it seems only  
> sensible to
> pursue improvements for cycle tourists as well as for commuters.
>
> Julia
>
> Address: 29 Elgin Street, Hawthorn, Vic 3122
> Phone/Fax: 9853 5095
> Email: jblunden at bigpond.com
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: publictransport-bounces at yarrabug.org
> [mailto:publictransport-bounces at yarrabug.org] On Behalf Of Labyrinth
> Sent: Friday, 8 February 2008 7:50 PM
> To: Public transport access for all users
> Subject: Re: [publictransport] response re booking system
>
> Hi Julia and Jillian,
> I have just extracted data from the census journey to work data for
> Victoria and deducted from it data from the  Melbourne (SD). This
> data is referred to as the "full classification list by sex " it is
> based on usual place of residence. Chris is familiar with the
> Victorian data and I collated the Melbourne data with it.
>
> It appears that on Census day in the rest of Victoria there only 89
> bicycle and public dual and  triple mode journeys to work : only 57
> of these where by train and bicycle. Another 4 where by "train, bus
> and bicycle" and 13 by "train , car as driver,  and bicycle". It
> appears that given the total number of trains it would be ridiculous
> to put a booking system in for such a small number of cyclists.
> Especially when a unknown number of them park their bike at stations
> and dont put them on the train.
>
> Note that in Melbourne on Census day 1142 person travelled by train
> and bike and most of them parked their bike at a station or where not
> travelling with the peak hour flow and put their bikes on  trains
> which had plenty of room going in the other direction . A survey
> (DOI) estimated that only 100 of these bike rail commuters actually
> put their bikes on the trains, travelling with the flow, in the rush
> hours.  In the rest of Victoria we know very little because the rail
> companies have never known who is travelling where and what there
> special needs are.
>
> What we are looking at seems like is a storm in a teacup but its not
> really because so many cyclists drive to work because there is no
> secure parking for
> bikes at most rail stations. At the 110 or so stations that are not
> staffed from the first to last train no cyclist in his right mind
> would park their bike. And on such stations there are very few bike
> lockers and most are not used because they have never been managed
> competently.
>
>
> Bye Alan
>
>
>
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