Toyota’s ‘sudden acceleration’ problem may be driver error

Posted: March 13, 2010 | Author: | Filed under: Cars & traffic | Tags: , , , | 1 Comment

There are lots of Toyotas in Melbourne and we even have a factory that builds them. It is therefore of great interest to note that Toyota’s mysterious problems in the US with sudden acceleration, wonky electronics and floor mats, may actually be the result of driver error. Megan McArdle writes today in The Atlantic, How Real are the Defects in Toyota’s Cars?, that it may be older, shorter and immigrant drivers that made the errors, not Toyota’s engineers. Read the rest of this entry »

More on rail link to airport

Posted: March 13, 2010 | Author: | Filed under: Airports & aviation, Infrastructure, Public transport | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

The Age is continuing its campaign for a new rail line to be built from the city centre to Melbourne Airport (I discussed this previously on March 2 – Possible rail link to Melbourne airport). There are also a couple of follow-up letters this morning supporting the idea of a rail link.

In a story yesterday, Airport ‘exploiting’ public on parking fees, The Age reported on a new analysis by the ACCC of airport performance in Australia, noting that parking charges account for 20% of Melbourne Airport’s revenue but just 8% of Sydney Airport’s.

The Age’s reporter, Ari Sharp, said the figures, “could add to calls for a rail link to Melbourne Airport to help overcome the growing problems – and costs – of getting there by car or bus”.

However contrary to The Ages’s apparent inference, the difference in the Sydney and Melbourne figures does not appear to be caused by a rapacious parking operator ripping off travellers who lack an alternative to driving.

What the story didn’t say was that Sydney Airport’s revenue from charges to airlines is $446 million, compared to Melbourne Airport’s comparatively modest $197 million. Parking revenues are much the same ($88m and $95m respectively), hence it’s not at all surprising that parking makes up a much larger proportion of total revenue in Melbourne than Sydney. Read the rest of this entry »