Planes, trains and…
How do you get to university each day? As a person with a Guide Dog I’m stuck on public transport. Yes I could consider taxi’s but being a student is not conducive to paying that fare. If I could drive it would 25 minutes on the ring road, maybe a little longer with traffic. Instead of a nice straight route I need to go into the city and back out again. This wouldn’t be too bad in theory; it’s a comfortable 15 minute walk to the station, not quite half an hour in, about the same out, and another 10 or 15 minute walk to the campus. All up about an hour and a half yes? No.
The joy that is Connex claims to have a record of 92% on time performance, and a 98% services delivered as they claim<a href=”http://www.connexmelbourne.com.au/news.php?newsid=156″>here</a>. I would love to know what world they live in where these figures could be correct.
Take today for example. I left the house at 9.20. My train should have arrived at 9.40. By 9.50 we were in luck. The train crawled along and once I reached a station where I could change for a connection train lo and behold my connection was at least 15 minutes late. I try to plan things where if possible the train will meet up with a bus or tram. Unfortunately every time I try to plan this particular time the train misses the bus by at least 20 minutes. After getting to the station today and running instead of walking I made my 11am start at 11.05 – at least half an hour (and one train) later than the journey planner on <a href=”www.metlinkmeloburne.com.au”>Metlink</a> advises.
The real scary thing about it is that the above is probably one of the better examples. I could have killed someone the day I left at 9.20 and arrived around midday. So what does all this have to do with campus life? If you don’t drive – leave yourself at least a train if not 2 before the one you’d like to arrive on. Better yet work out how to teleport and tell me the secret.
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