Future Cost

As if climate change, urban congestion and pollution weren't good enough reasons to go car free, Alan Kohler (ABC News) gives us this information.


The red line is how much oil is discovered each year. The blue line is how much is consumed - including future predictions. It doesn't take Alan Kohler to realise where the price is going to go (and keep going).

Roma Street Interchange

I recently went to a party on the northside. Transinfo worked out the quickest way was to catch a train to Roma Street, then a bus to the final destination. This was my first time using the new Roma St Busway.


One of the great advantages of this Busway is that all the buses going in the same direction (in this case north) leave from the one platform. So there's no need to memorise timetables and pick-up points. If there's several routes going past my destination, I can just take the first one that shows up.

And as you can see they are fairly frequent even in non-peak times.

Brain Training

One of few challenges of being car-free is brain training. Not your own brain, but those of people who automatically think travel equals car. Allow me to illustrate using two invitations i've recently received.

1. A simple txt message - limit 160 characters - managed to cover the event details, the two closest train stations, and the exact street address (handy if i want to search transinfo for alternate transport like buses)

2. A somewhat longer email message, detailing the night (at a restaurant) but giving only the suburb name and a landmark - which is fine if you're a driver, who can cruise around a suburb searching for landmarks. The clincher was the sign-off line "hope you can make it". It almost reads like a deliberate challenge.

Now, i'm not having a go at anyone (although i'm very impressed with person 1). It's just interesting how car-oriented (or car-dependent) we have let ourselves become. Sometimes the human brain (despite it's amazing abilities) can be a difficult thing to adjust.

George's Buses

I was in the city yesterday, so decided to check out the new King George Square Busway. It's well organised, and the staff were very helpful. But the coolest thing is how modern the place looks (for a bus stop).


These are the electronic bus info screens. Stop 1A is dedicated to the 444 "BUZ" express route, but other stops list the various buses, destinations and departure times.