Musings of a morbid mind

The general ravings of Scott Baldwin

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Public Transport Frustration

I'm on a mission at the moment to figure out the best way to get from my place in Fitzroy to the Client I am currently workin for who is located at Airport West, just behind Essendon Airport (map).

To drive there even in peak hour takes around half an hour. Yesterday I decided I'd start with the most basic possible route. Catch a 112 tram from my place into Elizabeth Street in the city, then a 59 Tram from Elizabeth Street out to Airport West. I was first thwarted by overcrowded trams. I had to let two 112 trams go by because there was just no room on them. Then I had to wait about 10 minutes or so for a 59 Tram (which I guess isn't too much). The tram then got caught in Peek hour traffic on Keilor Road between Essendon Train Station, and Matthews Avenue. So even though I left my home at 7:40am, I didn't arrive at work til around 9:20am. It is no wonder people don't like public transport.

So today I decided to get catch the 546 bus along Princes Street, and meet up with the 59 tram on Flemington Road,  hopefully being able to get an earlier tram, and avoid peek hour on Keilor Road. Again leaving home at 7:40am, I did my usual thing of not checking the time table, and found out that the bus only runs every half hour, and the next one wasn't til 8:00am. OK, that was my fault, I'll know next time that I need to catch the 7:30am. However, the bus was of course late, and further more,  during peek times, doesn't go all the way to Flemington Road, so I had to walk back a fair way to get to the tram stop. it is now 9:00am, and I'm guessing I'm going to get caught in Peek hour traffic on Keilor road again. There has to be a better way to get there.

Tomorrow I'll try a 112 Tram into Parliament station, then a Train to Essendon station, and finally the 59 tram from Essendon Station. This has been the biggest ever challenge to my resolution not to own a car, and to use public transport to get everywhere.