Improving walkability for the new Wendouree Station

Wendouree Station is getting a second platform as part of the Ballarat Line Upgrade project, and the designs for the revamped station were just released - so just a quick post on them today.

Design of the footbridge and platforms (via RRR)

Public Transport Users Association - Ballarat Branch

Those of you who've been reading this blog for a long time will know that I'm from the Ballarat region, and I often discuss the issues with public transport in and around Ballarat. (Well, I say "often" - obviously I've been quite slack with my blogging lately). However the sad fact is that none of my ramblings have really gone anywhere. Our bus network is still inadequate. The train to Melbourne is still infrequent and unreliable. The train to Geelong is still nonexistent.

Primer: Line-on-a-Map Syndrome

A related phenomenon to the Coverage vs Patronage tension is Line-on-a-Map Syndrome. This is what you get when public transport advocates look at a map and say "There's no coverage here! Why don't we invest in some public transport to serve this area!" Or they might say "Hey, there's a freight railway line here, why don't we put a passenger train along there!" Or maybe "Hey, there's still an old railway station here, why don't we bring it back into service!"

Primer: Patronage versus Coverage

Public Transport has two primary goals, which actually compete with each other rather than complement each other - Patronage and Coverage. This distinction between the two functions matters a lot for how public transport networks are designed, and which projects are worthy of funding - but it's a distinction that's rarely made explicit. So you'll often have one group of people arguing for a project on the basis of Coverage and the other against it on the basis of Patronage - neither side is really speaking the same language, so the debate goes nowhere.

The Greens' Goldfields Rail Revival

The Greens' proposal (Source)

Yesterday the Greens announced a commitment to the return of passenger trains between Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo, calling the project the Goldfields Rail Revival.

Rail Revival Study - Geelong-Ballarat-Bendigo

via Public Transport Victoria