u/Classic_Abies8621

For context: given the current cost of living, fuel prices, tolls, CBD parking (and wear and tear), I’m curious where people who could drive draw the line.

Personally, for my commute I'm looking at 75 mins door-to-door via train and some walking/tram vs 50 mins driving. PT takes me 25 minutes longer but I think I'm happy to sacrifice it as I save about $50 per day (rough calculation) in car-related costs. I'm curious where others draw the line.

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With lots of office workers wfh on Fridays, Thursday has sorta become the new Friday. Local pubs are doing massive late happy hours, all my workplace parties are on Thursdays, and you can see genuine nightlife on Thursdays now. Pre covid, the CBD was dead by 7 on Thursdays. Now, pubs treat Thursday like Friday, yet the last train to Ringwood (and most other lines) still leaves around 12 AM. 

As much as I love sprinting for the final train to avoid deciding between a $100 uber surge, taxis that refuse to turn on the meter, or finding something to do until the 5am trains start running, it would be nice to actually use the network we've spent billions building.

Am I right or is this a "why doesn't the train run from wherever I am to my home when I want it to"

I genuinely don’t understand whats happening to Australia. How has an openly racist politician who wants to drastically cut migration managed to gain so much support, and why are people seemingly so willing to embrace it?

When you look at One Nation’s rhetoric, it is hard not to wonder how Australians from migrant and minority backgrounds are supposed to feel watching this happen. Have people actually heard what Pauline Hanson has said to Muslims, to Asians, to immigrants??? And what genuinely blows my mind is seeing minorities themselves supporting Hanson. What the actual fuck? How do you support a political movement when some of its rhetoric appears directed at people like you?

Is this Trumpism finally taking hold here? Is Murdoch's influence part of it? Social media algorithms? Russian propaganda or other foreign influence? If people are genuinely angry about the cost of living, why One Nation? Why not the Greens? Or have people simply become so consumed by political outrage that they will believe whoever feeds it? I don't get it and ngl it's scary to think where this country is heading. I don’t want Australia to become a country where racism and scapegoating are just normal parts of political discourse. She's been in politics for ages and never taken seriously, so what the hell is happening now?

What am I missing?

Why is she surging?

I’m trying to understand the logic behind the model. My understanding is...

Metro Trains, Yarra Trams and various bus lines ie Ventura are private businesses who the government gives contracts to so they can run local trains trams and buses. V line however is fully government owned.

So from the government's view, what is the actual economic rationale for this split?

Is it basically that the government keeps services that are heavily loss-making like regional trains because they're considered essential public services, while private operators get to run parts of the system where there's actually potential to make a profit? Lol. If so, what's the benefit?

And if a private operator does make a profit from running a public transport service, where does that money ultimately come from and go to? Is the government effectively paying a private company to run the service and allowing it to retain a potential profit margin on top? If so, why?

Why not just have the government expand the Department of Transport and employ the drivers, maintenance workers, station staff, etc directly?