Moving stuff around

No advantage for local 'smartcard' system tenders.

Victoria's Transport Ticketing Authority has rejected calls to prioritise local tenders for the new 'smartcard' ticketing system. The authority has compiled a short-list of four bids for the job. Two Victorian companies and two overseas firms are vying for the project. The plastic, re-loadable cards will be used for trains and buses in Melbourne and regional networks.

Helping to end traffic blues

Contractor Paul Upton makes a final roadside check yesterday - the work he's looking at might appear to be a new paint job for the totem poles that watch over CityLink and welcome visitors to our city, but these blue poles are part of the Craigieburn Bypass, a new road connecting the Hume Freeway to the Western Ring Road.

The first stage of the $306 million project will be opened today by Transport Minister Peter Batchelor and federal Roads Minister Jim Lloyd. It will join the Ring Road to Cooper Street, Epping, and is expected to ease congestion at the Western Ring Road and Hume Freeway interchange. Motorists driving between the Ring Road and Epping can expect to save about three minutes. When finished, the road will be 17 kilometres long. The project is funded by the Federal Government but is being implemented by the State Government. The road will be open for public use by early evening.

((((vale mr curly sedge))))

Delivering mail becomes a gas
Vishy Karri is joking when he says it's only a matter of time before the petrol companies take out a contract on him.

Associate Professor Karri yesterday took the wraps off the latest weapon in the war against the burning of fossil fuels, a postie bike which runs entirely on hydrogen. And it could soon begin its rounds after Australia Post executives had a preview yesterday and left mightily impressed. Compared to its petrol-based siblings, the new postie bike gives a 20 per cent reduction in power usage and releases no emissions.