Posts Tagged ‘swanston street’

Doyle and Brumby, the same person?

Doyle Cartoon. <i>Credit: Melbourne Leader</i>

Doyle Cartoon. Credit: Melbourne Times

It always amazed me that no one ever figured out that Clark Kent, a mild mannered reporter was also Superman. They talked the same, they looked the same, and were never in the same room at the same time.  I suppose I’ve never seen the Doyle or Brumby in the same room but mostly out of not caring.

In the short time that our Lord Mayor Robert Doyle has been at the reigns he certainly has had some Brumbyish ideas. First, he proposed opening up Swanston Street (or more officially Swanston Walk) to vehicular traffic. That went down like a lead weight. In his newest proposal, he wants to ban hailing taxis on Friday and Saturday night in the CBD. In addition, he wants to create zones, where certain suburbs would have fixed prices.

Well, OK, more taxi ranks would be a great idea if you had them on every corner but a ban from hailing taxis from the CBD?  It’s absurd, pointless and dumb. Taxi drivers lose out on fares and passengers lose out on the very convenience of taking a cab. Besides the obvious problem of not enough vacant taxis, the taxis who are free will reject fares that are not far enough away. This has happened to me multiple times which ended up with me reporting the taxi, and the taxi commission essentially saying “bad boy” to the driver.

Brumby’s recent ideas besides the 2AM lockout debacle was allocating a whole bunch of roads as clearways to ease traffic without any consultation with traders or local councils.  I was recently reading an article in the Melbourne Leader Times, of how the Victorian government wants to bypass local council’s planning processes to speed up building developments. No consultation again. Are we seeing a pattern here from these two?

No hailing taxis, cars on Swanston street, no conferring with any stakeholders. What has this government come to? Do these politicians bother to step into the city at all? It seems like they just want the easiest commute into and out of the city and nothing else. How about actually asking us 2AM lockouters what we want? Bring back John So, at least it’s better to have a token funnyman mayor, then someone who wants to rock the boat with ludicrous ideas.

Doyle + Brumby = Dumby (unless someone can think of something better)


My worst fears have come true:

Is it not just the least bit terrifying how accidents like these are just waiting to happen?

And hearing people getting “car-doored” is a once-a-month thing here. My friend was the latest victim – he found the door of a pickup smack in front of him one second before he ran into it, flipped over the door, and landed on the asphalt of the tram tracks. The driver of the pickup was apologetic, but I don’t think he is entirely to blame – the roads ought to be better managed in the first place.

Maybe cyclists should be protesting nude outside Flinders Street Station next.

Videogames domination!

Do we really need another EB Games outlet? I spied this extra-large shop along Swanston Street (opposite The Westin Hotel) on my way to check out business at post-fire Myer. The overpriced, ubiquitous, fluorescent-lit and in your face advertising console and PC gaming shop is e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e. They’re flooding the market with significant mark-ups that’s not doing other independent videogame shops any favour. Down with EB!!! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooo…
