Alan Thomas

Senior Tutor @unimelb and occasional cartographer

[Alan Thomas @atlight_alan]

@MelbOnTransit Looks like 503/506 will finally get public holiday service... and maybe an extension of hours to 503 on weekdays (although 5 extra services a day is derisory for a route that goes to bed at 7pm). No Sunday service still, I infer from this.

[Alan Thomas @atlight_alan]

@declanmartin75 I guess those runs are linked to the flights that leave Avalon at 15:00, 16:25 and 17:00, plus one that matches an Employment Precinct shift change. They explain the method in the timetabling madness at https://t.co/aWjwyLohtI

[Alan Thomas @atlight_alan]

The start of myki bus services to Avalon Airport today calls for an update to the unofficial Victorian regional public transport map. (Meanwhile, CDC hasn't even got around to programming the new Route 18 into their destination boards yet!)

https://t.co/A84qIortYw

[Alan Thomas @atlight_alan]

@expedtadam Great analysis! Gotta love Caroline Springs's singularly unwalkable catchment...

I'm curious as to why you didn't use mesh block counts for calculating the densities. In my experience the ABS tries to avoid more than one land use type in a mesh block.

[Alan Thomas @atlight_alan]

@MelbOnTransit Reinstating the St Vincent's Hospital stop, it seems?

[Alan Thomas @atlight_alan]

How do Melbourne's train service patterns of today (and tomorrow - quite literally) compare with past decades?

This interactive graphic shows service frequencies across the week, from 1939 up to tomorrow's Big Switch. Check out how your line stacks up: https://t.co/9lzwiYYyYA

[Alan Thomas @atlight_alan]

@AussieWirraway I really was expecting a typical urban low floor bus to show up, like the Paynesville "coach". I guess I need to get out more 😂

[Alan Thomas @atlight_alan]

Horsham - Mildura: the longest non-V/Line bus route in Victoria!

It's also one of the weirdest:
* It's "officially" a bus, but in reality it's a coach
* It still offers a parcel service
* There's this weird wooden box where some seats should be
1/3…

[Alan Thomas @atlight_alan]

Conclusion: This coach/bus has a bit of an identity crisis. Locals don't seem to know it exists. The V/Line brand has super strong recognition in the regions, so making this route a V/Line coach would surely boost patronage.

[Alan Thomas @atlight_alan]

* None of the bus stops have signposts
* To get to Mildura and back on the same day, you have to travel on Friday. There are no round trips to Horsham
* Anecdotally it gets 1 or 2 passengers per trip Mon-Thu (more during school hols). The Friday round trip is busier
2/3

[Alan Thomas @atlight_alan]

@literar63 The other possiblity is a Lidar sensor to detect intruders, like the ones on the platforms at Richmond (although it's not clear whether the Richmond ones are used for that purpose or for crowd counting).

[Alan Thomas @atlight_alan]

@MelbOnTransit I think this timetable may be for Box Hill's outbound service. Nunawading needs 2 more trains per hour, every hour from 9am to 4pm, to get a turn up and go frequency.

[Alan Thomas @atlight_alan]

@MelbOnTransit My theory is they came up with (say) 13 rules they wanted to mention, then scoured the Conduct Regulations to find two more to make a nice grid. I guess the large items one is somebody's interpretation of Reg 10: https://t.co/cylJiDoUV2

[Alan Thomas @atlight_alan]

@hamhammer27 "Route 70 Waterfront City Docklands - Wattle Glen"

[Alan Thomas @atlight_alan]

@literar63 They added a coach stop at Toolamba (not in the main "township" - to the extent that Toolamba even has one - but in a rural living area to the west) and moved the Latrobe Uni coach stop to Bundoora RMIT. Both rather inexplicable changes imo.

[Alan Thomas @atlight_alan]

@tayser82 @aussiewongm Even more visible now - they've just built a black mesh fence along the edge of the curve.

[Alan Thomas @atlight_alan]

@AussieWirraway A particular team at DTP apparently has a large copy of my regional bus and coach map on their office wall!

[Alan Thomas @atlight_alan]

@train_cancelled Yes, they're both Myki ticketed. Evidently Christian's treats the two routes as part of the Bacchus Marsh network. Not sure why they even exist tbh - patronage is abysmal for a daily service. Apparently each route gets about 20 pax per month! https://t.co/eDJFAk0cIg

[Alan Thomas @atlight_alan]

@aussiewongm @hugssomb beat me to it! https://t.co/V0btZ0yGNF The bin lid colour ruled out Geelong, and in any case I'm pretty sure you only see those hydrants in Metro Melbourne...

[hugo @hugssomb]

@aussiewongm unless i'm mistaken this is the 1970s bindowan estate in hoppers crossing where every house is on an acre lot

[Alan Thomas @atlight_alan]

@aussiewongm Bindowan Drive, Hoppers Crossing?