@jessta@aus.social
@jessta@aus.social avatar

jessta

@jessta@aus.social

Musings on software development, bike infrastructure, public transport, and urban planning.

https://jessta.id.au

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jessta, to melbourne
@jessta@aus.social avatar

"...most intersection are unsafe to have an automatic green man, as pedestrians j-walk and it creates a dangerous situation with possible filtered right turners. A scenario where people see a green man and run to cross the road creates one of the most dangerous situations, with regards to left and right turners.

Studies conducted by VicRoads and the Australian Road Research Board have proven the safety issues with the above."

I contacted VicRoads to ask about making a pointless pedestrian crossing green automatically when it's safe to cross and their response was very telling.

jessta,
@jessta@aus.social avatar

@airwhale 30yrs of crossing roads in Melbourne and I don't trust drivers to yield. Most of the time it's fine, but at least once a week I'll have a driver approaching the turn across the pedestrian crossing at a speed where they're unable to yield and so I have to.

I would have definitely died a few times if I wasn't paying attention when crossing. I'd hate to be trying to cross while blind.

jessta,
@jessta@aus.social avatar

@airwhale Most pedestrian crossings in Australia allow cars to make right or left turns across them while people have a green light.

The drivers are supposed to yield if they see people crossing, but there is nothing stopping them if they don't see the person crossing.

jessta,
@jessta@aus.social avatar

@augustusbrown It's the middle pedestrian/cyclist crossing across the tram tracks in the median when Punt Rd turns in Fitzroy St in St Kilda.

No interaction with turning traffic at all.

It's kind of pointless because it's just tram tracks, but it's also silly because it's always red even when the trams have a red and the cars have a green.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/Aompv3rQrMFVfbHR6

jessta,
@jessta@aus.social avatar

@airwhale Right, so you have the same dangerous pedestrian crossings?
If a pedestrian starts crossing when a driver has started turning them the pedestrian is likely to get hit.

luciedigitalni, to auspol
@luciedigitalni@aus.social avatar

FFS


https://www.theguardian.com/media/commentisfree/article/2024/may/03/feelgood-story-turns-bad-as-sky-humiliates-indigenous-teenager-who-caught-1m-barramundi

jessta,
@jessta@aus.social avatar

@luciedigitalni Wow! What the fuck? A very intentional calculated action. Racist fucks.

decryption, to random
@decryption@aus.social avatar

sell your car or sell your apartment - problem solved

jessta,
@jessta@aus.social avatar

@decryption it's so weird to me that someone without a place to park a car would get a car, park that car illegally and then complain about how they don't have a place to park that car.
The level of entitlement is astonishing.

timrichards, to melbourne
@timrichards@aus.social avatar

[deep sigh]

How trying to build a train to Melbourne Airport turned into a 60-year odyssey with no end in sight - ABC News

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-10/melbourne-airport-rail-link-delayed-again/103823938

jessta,
@jessta@aus.social avatar

@timrichards I'm surprised the article doesn't mention the at least $100B we've wasted not building the airport rail over that time.

jessta, to random
@jessta@aus.social avatar

It seems bizarre that anyone would think that reducing public transport fares is a good way to reduce cost of living pressures. It's not going to get people out of their cars because it's a minor saving on the already huge savings of not driving.

So this becomes a handout to people that can already take public transport.

$150 million could get you a lot of extra services. Either expanding services to places not currently catered to or expanding frequency on exisiting routes.

If you want people out of cars and on to public transport then accessibility, convenience and flexibility are what you need to target. Affordability isn't as important because public transport is already always cheaper than the alternative.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-26/qld-fifty-cent-public-transport-preelection-trial-translink-cost/103894398

jessta,
@jessta@aus.social avatar

@mattcen Public transport can be a fixed cost too making each individual trip no additional cost.

But If this is the only public transport trip you would make then it's very unlikely you'd do it even at the lower price. A trip cost savings of $0.80 probably doesn't make up for the habit shift required.

But I do agree that they should bring back the short trip ticket.

jessta, to melbourne
@jessta@aus.social avatar

5:14pm on St Kilda Rd.

Compare the 12 cyclists waiting at the lights to the 8 cars. I couldn't actually fit all 8 cars in the frame.

jessta,
@jessta@aus.social avatar

5:21pm.
16 cyclists, 12 cars.

jessta,
@jessta@aus.social avatar

Next red light at 5:16pm
Another 14 cyclists at the lights, only 6 cars

jessta,
@jessta@aus.social avatar

The most important take away is just how little space 16 cyclists take up while waiting at the lights. It's barely noticeable. It always seems like there are lots of cars, but when you count them there are actually very few.
You need really large numbers of cyclists before they're generally visible.

It's no wonder people say 'nobody uses the bike lanes' because if you're not actually counting it feels like nobody is.

timrichards, to melbourne
@timrichards@aus.social avatar

I took a photo yesterday of the IOOF Building as I was passing the corner of Elizabeth and Collins Streets. It opened in 1973 as the MLC building, and I believe it was the tallest building in Melbourne back then. I like the modernist curve.

#Melbourne #architecture

jessta,
@jessta@aus.social avatar

@timrichards It would be so much better without the boring building at street level.
seems to do a lot of tall buildings that don't connect to the ground so you have to look up to even notice they are there.

jessta, to random
@jessta@aus.social avatar

Backpacks are essential urbanism.

This is my backpack.
It's a Crumpler Dry Red No. 5.
I paid $200 for it 12yrs ago.

It has a separate padded laptop pocket and an expander zip to double its capacity.

I carry it everywhere I go, even when it's empty.

It fits a week's worth of groceries or enough clothes for a few nights away.

Get yourself a good backpack.

A photo of the backpack from the side showing the regular unexpanded capacity.
A photo of the backpack from the side showing the unzipped expander capacity, it's double the capacity.

jessta, to melbourne
@jessta@aus.social avatar

At the State Library getting ready to proceed.

jessta, to random
@jessta@aus.social avatar

The 'banana' and 'cone' bicycle intersection from @BicycleDutch

Having a crossing that starts wider (to allow many bicycles to wait) and narrows in the intersection.

We do this sometimes with car infrastructure too, where we have two lanes before an intersection that immediately merge in to one on the other side of the intersection.

Of course this design is much more effective with bicycles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZOAb11yKNI

timrichards, to random
@timrichards@aus.social avatar

Amusing but also serious.

Male drivers: why are they such a menace behind the steering wheel? https://www.theguardian.com/money/article/2024/may/14/male-drivers-why-are-they-such-a-menace-behind-the-steering-wheel

jessta,
@jessta@aus.social avatar

@timrichards Men are clearly too emotional to be put in-charge of any dangerous machinery.

jessta, to random
@jessta@aus.social avatar

Saw this ute on my ride.
Sensible size, hauls everything you'd need to haul.

jessta, to random
@jessta@aus.social avatar

The Victorian government is spending $87 million to add 500 extra parking spaces to Frankston Station. That's $174K per space.

https://minister.infrastructure.gov.au/c-king/media-release/major-works-create-hundreds-car-parks

This 1 bedroom apartment recently sold within walking distance of Frankston train station for $166K

https://www.domain.com.au/316-435-nepean-highway-frankston-vic-3199-2018097525


jessta, to random
@jessta@aus.social avatar

Did you know that tyre dust makes up the majority of ocean microplastics?

Did you know that emissions from tyres are a greater direct health hazard than engine emissions in modern cars?


https://www.thedrive.com/news/tire-dust-makes-up-the-majority-of-ocean-microplastics-study-finds

jessta, to auspol
@jessta@aus.social avatar

I grew up in cooperative social housing. The model is that a not-for-profit organisation (with government funding) buys houses within a community area and rents them to people within that community. Rents are capped at 25% of the household income or at cost (which ever is lower).

The people within this community manage rent collection and maintenance requests.
Tenancy is long term so tenants have leeway in making modifications to the house. Even major modifications are possible with consultation with the community group.

This gives people that majority of benefits of home ownership without having to be property investors.

The not-for-profit can use the equity in their property portfolio to purchase or build new properties.

It's a great model for housing for people across a wide range of income levels.

Chronic under funding in the past 25yrs hasn't allowed these cooperatives to grow with population growth so this option isn't available to most people.

Most people don't actually want to own a house, they just want location stability and the ability to paint their walls.

https://www.cehl.com.au/

jessta, to random
@jessta@aus.social avatar

A little bit of

The building my new job is in has 'Ground' and 'Upper Ground' floors.

'Ground' is the basement carpark.
'Upper Ground' is the main entrance.

jessta, to melbourne
@jessta@aus.social avatar

This crossing is where a cyclist was hit 2 days ago by a b-double truck while crossing with a green light.

The cyclist was told he is unlikely to ever be able to walk again.

The safety of this crossing relies on truck drivers turning on to a motorway on-ramp to expect and look for cyclists and for cyclists to know that trucks will be doing that while cyclists have a green light.

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