[publictransport] Herald Sun: Angry cyclists win train backflip

[Rob Eke]

At $50,000 a cage , sure sounds like it
, I bet there will be a lot hands
open as the cages come past towards the platforms
.

 so what are the figures saying
.Assuming a cage holds up to 20 bikes (
according to BV if I remember correctly), that’s $2,500 per bike storage
space of dubious security and will probably be charged out to users. (20 X
20  into $1M.)
Now remember, this State Govt allocated $90M last July for 5000 extra car
spaces at stations, that’s $18,000 per car and at no charge to the user.
Unlikely that $90M will add any new commuters or benefit much to the system
or the environment

 also the Govt is spending $500M on MYKI 
 I think they
have their priorities somewhat skewed.

But 400 new spaces is paltry, Melbourne needs 4500 secure spaces for bikes,
based on the costs benefits study done for Brisbane when they introduced
1700 new secure lockers up there with Federal Funding.  It ($1M) is a
necessary drop in the bucket but I fear it  will be miss-spent unless extra
lockers are also added and extra security measures implemented, plus a
dedicated bicycle manager at Connex to oversee how the stations deal with
these cages and lockers  and to ensure uniformity,  fairness and improvement
across the system


the bicycle debacle on PT is the way it is because it was wrongly, advised,
especially last August, it was underplanned, badly implemented and
hopelessly funded.

With our continued protest and input from the fabulous ensemble of community
pressure and lobbying, it will change
 if we don’t keep it up, we will get
more of the same from the past.
So I’m not cheering anything other than the ban is gone, that’s sensible
 as
for the rest
keep the pressure on !!

Cheers

Rob



-----Original Message-----
From: publictransport-bounces at yarrabug.org
[mailto:publictransport-bounces at yarrabug.org]On Behalf Of Bethany Keats
Sent: Friday, 15 February 2008 12:50 PM
To: Public transport access for all users
Subject: Re: [publictransport] Herald Sun: Angry cyclists win train backflip

$1million seems a hell of a lot for only 20 cages! Or is it just me who
thinks that?




On Fri, Feb 15, 2008 at 12:36 PM, Brianna Laugher <
brianna.laugher at gmail.com <mailto:brianna.laugher at gmail.com> > wrote:
< http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23218167-29277,00.html>

Angry cyclists win train backflip

February 15, 2008 11:56am
Article from: AAP

THE Victorian Government will spend $1 million on 20 new bicycle cages
at railway stations as it moves to placate cyclists over its bungled
ban on bikes on public transport.

Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky today reversed the ban in an
embarrassing backflip, following uproar from cyclists.

The bike ban was introduced on peak hour trains six weeks ago, but Ms
Kosky later ordered a review when she learned her department had not
adequately consulted on the changes.

Under the new arrangements, bikes will be allowed on all metropolitan
and regional V/Line train services.

But they will be restricted to the last carriage while Connex works
towards possibly modifying carriages to make them more cyclist
friendly.

In a further win for cyclists, fold-up bikes will be allowed on all
Melbourne trains, trams and buses from April 1.

The Government will also invest $1 million on 20 new bicycle cages at
railway stations to reduce congestion on trains.

"Hindsight's always a wonderful thing and I think as a politician we
need to be able to use hindsight to say maybe we didn't get it quite
right and there's a way of moving forward," Ms Kosky said.

"I've been able to work with all of the cycling groups. I think what
we have in place now is better than what we had prior to the ban being
announced - much better."

--
They've just been waiting in a mountain for the right moment:
http://modernthings.org/

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