Author: Philip Mallis
Which were the least and most used stations in Victoria before COVID?
This is a kind of update of a previous post that I did back in 2019 using 2016-17 patronage data. So since that post there’s been this little thing called a pandemic that’s been upon us for the past couple of years. Amongst other things, it’s caused significant variances in public transport use due to…
Railway station and tram stop patronage in Victoria for 2008-2021
Good news! The State Government has finally begun releasing patronage data for railway stations and tram stops in Victoria. I will do some separate posts analysing the data, but first I am publishing the data below for metropolitan and regional railway stations, as well as tram stops that have been released by the Department of…
The most and least punctual bus routes in Melbourne
See the data here. On Friday last week, the Department of Transport added metropolitan bus performance data to its monthly public transport reporting. This is exciting news as it was not previously publicly available. The data is not very easy to find. To get there, you have to visit ptv.vic.gov.au, scroll to the bottom of…
A funny thing happened on my way to the city
Anyone who takes public transport has their own weird and wonderful stories about things they have seen. In keeping with that spirit, I would like to share some of my experiences over my years of catching trains, trams and buses in Melbourne. Cockatoos on a tram I was on a 48 tram heading into the…
Who still uses a Melway?
Next month, the iconic Melway street directory will celebrate its 55th anniversary. Despite the almost total shift of casual map use from paper to digital access, this uniquely Melbourne map has continued to operate and bring joy to its users to this day. A recent post on Twitter about this date created a lot of…
5 things that you didn’t know about North Balwyn
Having lived in North Balwyn for most of my life and represented it on the local council, it’s a special kind of place to me. Despite its reputation as ‘North Boring’ there are many interesting things about the area. So, in no particular order, here are five things that you (probably) didn’t know about North…
When the Queen rode a tram
The royal visit of Queen Elizabeth II in 2011 was the latest and one of the few times that she has visited Melbourne. It was also notable for being the only time that she or Prince Philip were on a tram (as far as I can tell from my research anyway). On the day, now…
Walking the Yan Yean Pipeline
The post for this fortnight is a little different – in the form of a video instead. A few weeks ago, I walked the length of the Yan Yean Pipeline from Yan Yean Reservoir to the storage reservoirs at Preston. You can see the video below or at this link here. It’s my first real…
The unluckiest cinema in Balwyn
Picture theatres were once a much more common sight around the middle suburbs of Melbourne. Suburbs that were in development throughout the 1920s and 1940s could have several different venues in close proximity, all vying for customers. Balwyn was no exception. Despite today being best-known for the Balwyn Cinema located on Whitehorse Road at Austin…
