Driving home tonight, I was listening to the Victorian Premier John Brumby’s announcement about the preferred tenderers to run Melbourne’s rail and tram networks.

Mr Brumby, and indeed his speech writers, need to understand that the world exists, as indeed the public transport system exists, in three dimensions of space and one dimension of time.  We’ve got considerable freedom when it comes to moving through each of the spatial dimensions, but we’re constrained by time in that, generally speaking, everyone and every thing moves forward.  We can’t, generally speaking, move backwards in time.

Mr Brumby, however, felt it necessary (amidst collaborating with stakeholders and ensuring the availability of multi-modal transport solutions) to reiterate that we are, in fact, going forward.  The transport plan is going forward.  The announcement is about looking forward.   The preferred tenderers are moving forward.  Everything, Mr Brumby assured us, is going forward:

“I can tell you quite emphatically that the performance standards in place going forward are higher performance standards than we have had in the past.”

“They (the new operators) will partner with our government in transforming the network going forward and they represent the best value for money for Victorian taxpayers.”

And when asked about the incumbent operator’s performance: “I don’t think it’s helpful to look back, this is about looking forward.”

Mr Brumby’s comments are reassuring, because those of us who regularly use Melbourne’s public transport system know that it’s been hurtling backwards for some time now.

Here’s a link to the Weasel Words website (essential reading).

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