Mortgage Repayment Calculator app now merged into JustLocal site.

The Mortgage Repayment Calculator and associated calculators have now been migrated to the JustLocal site. You can now find the Mortgage Repayment Calculator at https://www.justlocal.com.au/mortgagerepaymentcalculator/.

Kelvin Eldridge

Pia's Survivor challenge. What really happened.

I read the following article about Pia on the Survivor challenge and how she may have grab the bar with both hands before the end of the challenge meaning she would have been disqualified.

Luckily for Pia it appears no one at the time realised what she had done. The production company indicated there was a micro second when Pia grabbed the bar with two hands and Luke let go. However this really isn't what happened at all.

The good thing about the video in the following article on News.com is you can grab the slider and drag the video backwards and forwards.

https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/reality-tv/australian-survivor/australian-survivor-viewers-fume-over-pias-controversial-challenge-win/news-story/866f2df3296e84c5d0bb77d3b327adc5

What actually happened is Simon lets go and starts sliding. He is out of the challenge. Pia then grabs the bar with both hands whilst Luke continues to hold on. We watch Simon slide off the equipment and into the water, then the camera returns to Luke and Pia. We can clearly see Pia holding with both hands and Luke holding on with one hand. Luke then lets go and Pia is declared the winner.

Pia was not struggling and I suspect that was because of her light weight. She most likely could have easily continued and won. In this case however she breached the rules and should have been disqualified. Luck was on her side and her breach wasn't noticed.

13s - Simon lets go of bar
14s - Pia holds on to bar
15s - Luke lets go of bar

For those into Survivor and wanting to know what happened, hopefully this answers the question as to what happened.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au

Nearest train station, nearest Vline train station, nearest tram stop moving to Mapz.

After reviewing the Nearest Train Station site (which contains nearest Vline train stations and nearest tram stop) I''ve decided to migrate the Nearest Station site into the Mapz site. By making train, Vline and Tram stop locations available under the Mapz site this makes the sites easier to find for users. It also makes the Vline and Tram information more obvious.

You can find each of the services at:

Nearest Train Station
Nearest Vline Train Station
Nearest Tram Stop

Alternatively you can visit Mapz and select the services from the list of options.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.Mapz.com.au

Car running cost calculator and cost to run per kilometre over the first 10 years.

The Car Running Cost Calculator has been really good in helping me get a handle on using the car versus options such as using public transport. By clicking on the example button in the calculator the actual costs over 10.38 years are provided. By adjusting these figures others can also get a handle on how much their car is costing them per kilometre.

Now one thing came to mind and that was, what if people sell a car sooner. How does that affect their cost per kilometre?

Whilst not scientific, the first thing I needed was an estimate of how much a car drops in value from the day you purchase it. One site gave a figure of 24% in the first year and then 6% each year after that. I thought that was a good figure as it roughly corresponds to what my car was worth after 10 years.

I took the figures my example data provided and then divided the number of kilometres by 10.38 to give my yearly travel distance of 13,627 km per year. I left all the figures for each year the same with the only change being the residual value of my car. I plugged this information into a spreadsheet and obtained two interesting figures.

The first was the effect of the high depreciation in the first year and then the straight line 6% drop in value each year after that. In years 14 and 15 the car would go negative so I entered a notional value of $500 which I consider the car would then be worth. Maybe more, maybe less, but at least I have something to work with. This figure isn't about getting rid of the car at an earlier year, but shows me the cost per kilometre assuming I keep the car for a long time and there's not major unexpected costs.

Year 1: 88 cents per kilometre
Years 2-13: 42 cents per kilometre
Year 14: 33 cents per kilometre
Year 15: 27 cents per kilometre

What is good about these results is you can quickly see after the first year, my car is costing me roughly 42 cents per kilometre. It should be noted I didn't finance the car and used savings to purchase the car. That meant I did lose some interest on the money that I haven't factored in. Over the 10 years I'd estimate this to be around 2-3 cents per kilometre.

Let's now look at what I was really after. What is the cost per kilometre and how is it affected by disposing of the car earlier.

Year 1: $2.22 / km
Year 2: $2.06 / km
Year 3: $1.91 / km
Year 4: $1.76 / km
Year 5: $1.60 / km
Year 6: $1.44 / km
Year 7: $1.29 / km
Year 8: $1.14 / km
Year 9: 98 cents / km
Year 10: 83 cents / km
Year 11:  68 cents / km
Year 12: 52 cents / km
Year: 13: 37 cents / km
Year 14: 30 cents / km
Year 15: 30 cents / km

When you look at these figures you really can't help but be amazed at how much per kilometre it costs if you turn over your car regularly.

A few factors to consider when comparing your costs to mine are that my car was more expensive than the average car at around $35,000. Being a small people mover (possibly heavier) it means my cost of fuel may also be higher. I also drive only around 14,000 km a year which is under the average. Those who drive a lot bring their cost per kilometre down quicker. Basically by driving more you spread your fixed costs (registration, insurance and the cost of the car) over more kilometres each year.

For example a lower cost car costing around $25,000 and using say 80% of the petrol and driving twice as far a year would almost halve the cost per kilometre if the car was kept over a long period of time. In terms of disposal the cost per kilometre would be around 89 cents per kilometre in the first year dropping by 6 cents per kilometre per year after that.

I hope others find this information and the Car Running Cost Calculator useful for them.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.CarRunningCostCalculator.com.au

Petrol Price Alert Melbourne - Unleaded petrol increasing to 165.9.

Last Thursday saw the first signs of the current petrol price hike. Over a few days only a small number of petrol stations increased their prices so I felt it best not to make the announcement at that point in time as the price increase was happening slowly. Letting people know too early means they can jump the gun and get petrol too early in the price hike part of the cycle.

The petrol price hike is now well under way and the price is hiking to around 165.9 for unleaded petrol.

In the last couple of months we've seen the petrol price hike increase prices by over 35 cents per litre above the gate price (think average wholesale) which is currently 129.0. For the last couple of years the price hike has been between 25-30 cents so we're now consistently seeing  higher margins on petrol  which is a concern, but not much we can do about it. Except of course, avoid the high prices as best you can.

We can expect the current price hike will result in most of the service stations increasing their prices by late this week, to early next week.

My tank is literally on empty so I've timed this top up well. For those using the 7 Eleven Fuel App keep an eye on the 7 Eleven Fuel prices and lock in a price in a few days time. Remember you can be driving around Melbourne, using public transport, or even be interstate (I once locked in a price in Sydney whilst sitting on the aeroplane) and if there's a cheaper price, you can lock that in and top up, up to seven days later. It's a good way to give you that extra boost on a lower petrol price and take you closer to when prices have dropped considerably.

For example petrol prices drop from the highest to the lowest over about a month. Sometimes shorter, sometimes longer. Let's say you fill up weekly. If you fill up just as the price has nearly peaked at a low priced petrol station, that's the first week of petrol. Using the 7 Eleven Fuel app to get the cheaper price one week later, that takes you to the end of the second week. At this point the petrol will have dropped by around half the price hike, or between 10-20 cents per litre. For a 50 litre tank that means you're saving around 35 cents per litre in the first week, around 25 cents in the second week giving a saving of around $30 which adds up to around $390 a year (13 x 4 weeks). Then shop around in the  third week as there can be quite a difference as prices have spread out and you're likely to save around 10 cents a litre saving another $65 a year. Then you're ready to fill up again when the price is low. A possible saving of $400-$500 a year per car just by knowing when petrol prices are hiking.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.PetrolPricesMelbourne.com.au

UPDATE: 27/08/2019
I thought I'd point out a couple of interesting things that's happening with the current petrol price hike.

The first is how incredibly slow the price hike is occurring. It's around a week and a half since the first petrol stations started to hike their prices. Why I can't be sure, but perhaps it's because the Victorian school holidays are around three and a half weeks away and hiking the price too early means prices are going down when people fill up for holidays.

The second observation is whilst some petrol stations are hiking to 165.9, since there's been a delay, some are now hiking to 155.9. That means there's already a 10 cents per litre price difference in the market. As of today there's still around 20 per cent of petrol stations selling at the old low price so there's still time to fill up at the lower price. There's also a few 7 Eleven petrol stations offering the lower price that you can still lock in, but they are spread out.

It will be interesting to see what happens as we approach the school holidays.

Pension Age Calculator web app now available.

In keeping with things that take my interest I recently wrote the Pension Age Calculator to help people determine when they'll reach pension age.

Normally knowing pension age is very simple. It used to be 65 years of age. However at the current time the pension age is gradually being increased to 67 years of age. At one point it was mooted this may go to 70, however that is not currently the case.

To help people know when they will reach pension age I wrote the Pension Age Calculator.

I hope you find it useful.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.PensionAgeCalculator.com.au

The Pines Shopping Centre car park slippery and dangerous in the wet.

Recently I was returning to my car with a younger person at The Pines Shopping Centre. It had been raining but now the weather was fine. As I walked I stepped onto the driving direction arrow on the road and thought that felt pretty slippery. The next moment the younger person next to me did the splits and down they went.

Getting older this type of fall can really hurt and if you do your back, shoulder, or the many other parts that seem to give more issues as you get older.

I can't help feeling the arrows on the road now seem to be more slippery in the past. I don't know why. I do think however The Pines Management should rethink the material used for the arrows. A non-slip material should be a must.

The Pines Management have allocated the parking bays near these arrows reserved for the elderly, and a fall at that stage of your life, can lead to fatal complications.

It really isn't good enough to use material on roads that make them slippery in the wet, but more so if the road is used as a shared walkway as they are in shopping centre car parks.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au

New site called Taste Test - www.TasteTest.com.au

Sometimes you just have to do it. Our family has fun at get-togethers participating in a taste test. These taste tests can be quite informative. It's interesting to see what people prefer the most and how different, or the same, people can be.

I decided to start a site where I share our taste test results. Perhaps it will interest others, perhaps not. Either way the information is available for those who find it interesting.

Enjoy.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.TasteTest.com.au

Mobile speed camera locations Melbourne and Victoria.

A while ago I created a website which provides the locations of fixed red light and speed cameras (www.SpeedCameraLocations.com.au). The Victorian government also provides the location of approved mobile speed camera locations, so I decided today to add an additional page listing the mobile speed camera locations.

You can find the list at www.speedcameralocations.com.au/mobile/.

I hope you'll find the page useful.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.SpeedCameraLocations.com.au

Petrol price alert: Melbourne prices rising to 167.9

Tonight I noticed a number of petrol stations raising the price of unleaded petrol to 167.9 or slightly less. This is to be expected as prices have dropped to around the gate price (think wholesale) which is currently 132.6 and a large proportion of petrol stations around Melbourne are under the 130 mark. Prices are again rising around 35 cents which is much more than the 25-30 cents seen over the last couple of years. Perhaps this is the new norm.

It's also now a week after school holidays and many people will be filling up again after filling up at the end of the school holidays. Perhaps it's just coincidence, but prices in the past week have fallen much faster than usual to have the low correspond to this weekend. I'll let you be the judge.

Time again to watch the petrol prices and watch 7 Eleven prices if you're locking in the fuel price using the 7 Eleven fuel app.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.PetrolPricesMelbourne.com.au

Woolworths Petrol deal with BP falls through, but new deal with Caltex struck.

I was looking forward to the Woolworths/BP deal but as we've seen, that appears to have been canned by the ACCC. All's good though as the Woolworths Group has entered into a new long term agreement with Caltex. More information on the news can be found using the following link.

https://www.woolworthsgroup.com.au/page/media/Latest_News/woolworths-group-enters-convenience-and-loyalty-alliance-and-new-15-year-wholesale-fuel-arrangement-with-caltex/

One benefit of this new agreement for consumers is another 125 Caltex sites will be participating in the Woolworths Rewards scheme. Caltex fuel prices especially with the discount voucher have shown to be competitive over the years so hopefully this helps consumers manage their fuels costs.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.PetrolPricesMelbourne.com.au

Alert: Melbourne petrol prices starting to hike to 155.9 - 165.9

Petrol prices in Melbourne appear to be going up, however what they are going up to isn't quite clear.

In Templetstowe the 7 Eleven is 155.9, but in Clarinda the 7 Eleven is 165.9. That's a huge difference. Either way as we approach the school holidays it does appear petrol prices are on the rise.

The current gate price (think wholesale) is 124.4 cents per litre for unleaded petrol. The petrol price usually increases by 25 -30 cents per litre, so unless wholesale petrol prices are rising quickly (and there's no evidence of that), we can expect prices to rise to around 150-155. Higher and that would be the highest jump I've seen since writing these blog posts. That would certainly be a money grab by the petrol retailers.

Time to keep an eye on petrol prices as we approach the school holidays.

Kelvin Eldridge

www.PetrolPricesMelbourne.com.au

Cycling incident with ute near Main Ridge Mornington Peninsula leaves many questions.

Yesterday I read an article on the News.com.au which had a video of a ute overtaking a group of cyclists only to shortly after overtaking turn into a a property causing a number of cyclists to be in an accident.

I read articles like this as I like to understand an improve my driving skills and my very basic riding skills.

The article was well written and simply report the information provided. It did not make a judgement on who was in the right or wrong. The person reporting the incident, known as Clint, appears to be one of the riders. The location was not provided except that it was in the Main Ridge Mornington Peninsula area. The time of the incident was during a weekday morning ride. Whilst it is hard to read the date/time stamp looks like it is Mar 29 or May 29 at 10:35. At the news article is dated May 29 at 8:35am, this must have been in March.

The headline "Cyclists slam ute driver after accident" was written leading one to feel this was a ute driver at fault which plays into the cyclist versus cars mentality, which reinforces the us and them argument.

What is also interesting is to read the comments and whilst I admit I don't know all the road rules, so I'm like everyone else, some of the comments show people getting the road rules wrong.

Watching the video the ute driver was not considerate of other road users. Around five seconds after overtaking the riders, the ute driver turns into a property.

The first question I have is has the ute driver done anything wrong. Whilst we may not like a car overtaking us and then making us slow down immediately afterwards, I don't think that is illegal. Yes rude, but that's what people can be like.

It appears from the video the ute driver's indicator isn't on whilst overtaking, or moving back into the left lane. However, when the ute driver turns into the driveway, the indicator does appear to be on.

After overtaking a single white line divides the road. The ute driver has returned to the left lane before the single white line appears. The ute driver turns right over the single white lane into a property, which as I read, is legal.

The ute driver's driving would thus appear to be legal, although for many it may be considered rude, but that's not illegal.

There is a group of eight cyclists travelling together. The leading two cyclists have  time to slow and stop as the ute turns into the property. A voice is heard calling out wait, wait, indicating an issue.

At this point the outside cyclist in the second row loses control and falls off their bike. This causes the inside cyclist in the second row to lose control. The third row of cyclists avoid the two fallen cyclists. The rider taking the video in the fourth row who appears to move left and right in the lane indicating the fourth row may be staggered, then loses control and falls.

The rider taking the video has around three seconds warning from the wait, wait alert to when the second rider has fallen blocking their path causing them to lose control.

According to the article, "The abrupt move led to two cyclists crashing as they were forced to slam on their brakes to avoid running into the back of the vehicle." This doesn't appear to be correct. The two cyclists in front had stopped so the two that fell had to break to avoid running into the two stopped cyclists.

Clint uses word's such as deliberate which imply to me as a reader the driver deliberately meant to interfere with the riders. This may not have been the case. Yes their action was deliberate to turn into their driveway.

Clint states the car didn't have to merge back in front of them before turning into the driveway. Clint's suggestion for the ute would mean the ute would probably be breaking the law by driving on the wrong side of the road (divided by a white line) and turning incorrectly from the wrong lane.

Client states the driver was more interested in arguing, however from the gesture of the first rider's arm held up in the air and body turned toward the ute, you could only assume the driver would be entering into a heated situation.

In the comment section a person states the cyclists were riding two abreast which is illegal in Victoria. Riding two abreast is not illegal in Victoria.

When I look at this video I see two problems. A driver of a ute who is not considerate of other road users. A group of riders who are travelling too close together that would enable them to safely stop if they have to.

Until reading this article I thought there was a road rule that said if I left the road turning into private property I had to give way to other road users. I took that to mean road users behind me. I decided to read the road rules and I could not find anywhere where people who turn into private property have to consider road users behind them. Yes to pedestrians and other vehicles they have to give way to, but that's not vehicles behind them.

Was the driver's driving style illegal I don't know. We see driving like that all the time on our roads were people speed ahead just to block the traffic and turn at the next intersection.

Whilst the cyclists may not be happy, as soon as the vehicle has overtaken and is in front of them, if the vehicle puts their indicator on to turn for a sufficient period of time, the cyclists should slow down and stop if necessary.

According to Clint the riders had been travelling at 35 to 40 km/h. This speed is not insignificant. The close formation riding is a concern. The video shows the riders in front whilst inconvenienced had no problems stopping. The riders following had significant issues stopping and in three cases ran into serious issues possibly causing injury.

The problem for the riders, apart from the action of a driver, is they weren't travelling at a safe distance from each other which would enable them to stop safely if required.

Perhaps it's time for peloton style of riding to be reviewed on our roads. If riders need to train peloton style, then perhaps additional safety controls should be put into place. We may not like it, and cyclists certainly won't, but people's safety is important. None of us like giving up anything, but this happens all the time in our society, so hopefully our society works better together.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au


PS. This video has been posted on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xp3d4qojvx8).

Alert: Petrol prices on the rise in Melbourne. Prices hiking to 167.9 cents per litre.

On Saturday night I noticed the first petrol stations increasing the price of unleaded petrol to 167.9. Before sending out an alert I like to wait until a few more petrol stations increase their prices. I've seen petrol stations jump the gun before to later drop their prices again.

It's now Monday night and more petrol stations have increased their prices to 167.9. The current gate price is 134.9, so the increase is in the expected range of 25-30 cents above the gate price.

On the weekend I was passing through the Dandenong area where prices were very good. I was able to use the 7/11 Fuel app to lock in the price of 131.7 cents per litre for unleaded petrol. The lowest prices in my area were around 137.9 so even with discounts vouchers, the 131.7 was still a better price and it meant I could fill up when my tank was lower.

Over the next few days we can expect petrol prices to head upwards as we approach the weekend. Time to keep an eye on prices and if you're using the 7/11 Fuel app, be ready to lock in at the right time.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.PetrolPricesMelbourne.com.au

Blood Alcohol Calculator merged into Standard Drink Calculator.

Looking for the Blood Alcohol Calculator web app but can't find it.

The Blood Alcohol Calculator has now been merged into the Standard Drink Calculator site. The menus in the Standard Drink Calculator haven't changed, as the Blood Alcohol Calculator has always been the Multiple option on the menu. The Multiple option previously linked to an external site (Blood Alcohol Calculator) whereas now that external site has been incorporated as a page on the Standard Drink Calculator.

Whilst it's always a gamble to change a site by either splitting a site out to separate sites, or to bring together similar sites into one, it is hoped that by having the multiple sites together, this makes it easier for people to find the functionality of the calculators. This is part of my approach to keep testing and tuning sites. To find what works and what doesn't work. If it works more people get the opportunity to benefit from the calculators.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.StandardDrinkCalculator.com.au

Duracell battery leaked damaging souvenir.

Over the years you build up brand loyalty and one such product are batteries. We all know and expect cheap batteries, if you don't take care, can potentially leak.

Today I read an article on The Age site where the writer shared their story of their Duracell batteries leaking. The responses from Duracell really wasn't a good look good for Duracell.

I'd also had similar experiences with Duracell batteries. Another family member recently had souvenir clock that didn't work and when I checked the clock, this is what I found.

Now I'm sure most of us have been in this situation. An old toy, a remote control, devices left sitting and forgotten for some time, only to find the battery has leaked. Yes we should have removed the batteries, but you only realise when you go to use the device and the device doesn't work. The news isn't good.

As long as the corrosion from the battery acid isn't too great, I usually clean up the terminals and then with a cotton bud use a solution of water and baking soda mixed to a paste to neutralise any remaining acid. Sometimes however, the corrosion has been so bad the terminals have rusted and break off.

At some point in the past I really felt Duracell had such a good reputation and believed their batteries didn't leak. Well the reputation with regards to batteries not leaking well and truly busted and extra care is required when using Duracell batteries.

I did a search on the internet for Energizer battery leaked to see what came up. I was quite surprised to see Energizer offers a no leak guarantee and repair of your device if damaged by leakage. However it's important to read the fine print. The Energizer batteries (excluding lithium) are  only covered for 1-2 years following the full use of the battery. I don't know about you, but if I pack an item away the batteries are not fully used and there's no way for me to know when the battery has been fully used. If I knew the battery was fully used, I'd have removed the battery and disposed them. This guarantee also probably doesn't apply to Australia.

I then searched for Energizer Australia. There's no Australian site for Energizer, but there is a site that covers Asia, which I suspect also covers Australia. In the terms and conditions for Energizer Australia Pty Limited there's no mention of a no leak guarantee. No mention of damage to your appliance.

It would appear both Duracell and Energizer really don't offer any peace of mind to consumers. What's important to accept is probably any battery can leak and damage your devices. It's important then you take appropriate precautions such as checking the use by date. Removing batteries before you put items away, or if you're not using them regularly.

It's not just devices you put away. I've found myself using a TV remote control day after day for the remote control to just stop working. Then on opening the remote control the batteries have been found to have leaked. One set of kitchen scales I was using slipped out of my hand onto the bench and stopped working. On opening the scales I found the batteries were corroded. The device only stopped working because the bump caused the good contact to be lost. I would not have expected to see leaked and corroded batteries in a device that was still working.

I already remove batteries from devices I'm not using for a while, if I remember. In future however I will also be checking to make sure the use by dates of batteries have not expired, even if the batteries are still working.

Hopefully these thoughts may help others.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au

Google ads appearing over site content making it impossible to use the site.

I've noticed recently Google ads appearing over sections of pages on my sites that means it's no longer possible to enter data into the fields making it impossible to use the page. This is only occurring on mobile sites to my knowledge.

If you find pages on my sites where Google ads are damaging the user experience (such that you can't enter information into the forms) please let me know and I'll temporarily remove or replace the ads.

This appears to be a recent change by Google. I've never seen this happen before and it's only started to happen recently. When the Google ads appear they should simply take up space. Instead they appear over the content of the page and that makes it impossible to see what is now under the ad. This is obviously a recent flaw in Google's programming and hopefully they'll realise and correct the issue.

The issue with Google ads affects pages with forms where the Google ad is above the form and the person is using a mobile device.

Please contact me using the details on the Contact page if you find a problem. Thank you in advance for any assistance.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au

Update: 14/05/2019
A quick solution to ads covering the page is to click on the X in the corner of the ad. Then click on the option to Stop Seeing This Ad. There's options then for the reason you're closing the ad and one option is the ad is covering content. Not all ads are a problem, but getting rid of the ads that cause a problem may flag a problem. If lots of people close problem ads you would hope it may get noticed. That should fix the immediate issue for a user, but of course doesn't fix the issue if people don't know this is an option.

Update: 16/05/2019
The quick solution mentioned previously is useful to clear the screen temporarily, but the ads often keep coming back, so the problem keeps occurring. For me the way I'll work around this issue, as there's no telling how long it will keep happening, is on web pages that can be used on mobiles, where there's a form that will get blocked by an ad overlaying the form, I'll remove those ads and replace them with a different ad that does not impact the form. You could also simply delete the ad, or alternately, instead of using a responsive ad use a fixed size ad instead.

Update: 20/05/2019
I found through further reading it is possible to limit the height of the response adsense ad, so today I decided to create a new size limited ad and test the result. I used the following code in the adsense code, but modified to take into account the maximum width of the web pages I have. This code was found in the Adsense help pages.

   style="display:inline-block;min-width:400px;max-width:970px;width:100%;height:90px"

Unfortunately it didn't work. Some ads had a height which was much greater then 90px. The good outcome however it looks like Google may have fixed the issue, or at least made it better. In general when I went to type into the form the larger ad was replaced with a shorter ad and the fields were not covered by the ads. On one occasion the was a huge amount of white vertical space, so Google's code is still not perfect, but appears to work most of the time.

Unless something unexpected occurs it looks like I can return to using the standard responsive code from Adsense.

Car versus bus. Which is more cost effective? The Car versus Public Transport calculator provides the answer.

Yesterday I met a friend at Eastland Shopping Centre. Before I left home I'd done a calculation comparing the cost of using a car versus the cost of using a bus. Ignoring time because frankly if you take time into account you'd probably never use a bus, and in this case the extra time taken didn't overly affect my day.

Here is my calculation for using a bus or car from Templestowe to Ringwood.

Not a huge saving at $2.88 each way, but more than enough to pay for the coffee I had. Also since it was cheaper using the bus I feel like I'll get a greater use out of my car which is a large investment, if I use it when the car is the most cost effective mode of transport.

Whilst sitting having that coffee (which in effect had already been paid for) I did the same calculation for my friend who had driven from Warranwood to Ringwood. It turned out my friend by driving had taken the most cost effective mode of transport also saving 18 cents each way, but possibly more since I'd use an estimate of 30 cents per kilometre. My friend's car uses gas and cost less, so there's a good change I've over estimated the cost per kilometre.

The Car versus Public Transport calculator is quite handy in answering the question is it cheaper to use public transport of use a car. There's so much promotion by the government to use their services that sometimes you really do start to wonder. Now it's easy to work out what's best for you.

What the calculator has shown in this situation is just how bad public transport is for short local trips. Even worse is this is with seniors concession so for people having to pay full fare, it cost considerably more. There should be no reason it is cheaper to use a car compared to a far less convenient, slower, heavily subsidised shared bus, but that's not how the government has set up its charging. It literally costs the same amount to go from the Melbourne Airport to Frankston as it does to travel one stop on a bus. That really doesn't encourage people to use local public transport for short local trips which really is a pity.

In any case, the Car versus Public Transport calculator is already proving to have been useful in helping me to better understand my costs and save me money. That's the main reason I write the calculators. Hopefully the calculator can save you money too.

Kelvin Eldridge
https://www.carrunningcostcalculator.com.au/carversuspublictransport/

Car versus Public Transport - which one is cheaper?

Answering the question of which is cheaper between car and public transport is not as easy as you first think. There really are a lot of variables, and sometimes it's cheaper to use a car and sometimes it's cheaper to use public transport.

The advantage of using public transport is often public transport is subsidised by tax payers by 40-60% and sometimes I've heard, up to 90%. So that means someone else is picking up probably around half the cost of your "real" cost. The major disadvantage of using public transport is time. It's not unusual for a trip on public transport to take three or more times the amount of time compared to a car. As an example, I set off one day to do some banking on a Saturday morning at 11 am. I reached the bank by 12:50 pm. That's a staggering 110 minutes for what takes about 6-10 minutes in a car. The stress of almost not getting to the bank by closing time at 1 pm was considerable.

Cars on the other hand have a considerable amount of costs you just don't think about.  When you get into your car for a trip you often don't actually pay anything. Sure we may think about the petrol cost, but then what about the rego and insurance cost each year.

Then there's the situation where you own a car and also take public transport. You really can't do without the car so like it or not, you've got recurring costs like rego and insurance even if the car stays in the garage.

So overall, it really is very hard to work out what the cost of using your car is for a single trip.

To help get an answer I've written a couple of calculators over time which I use. One is the car running cost calculator. I've gone through my records over the last 10 plus years and now I can quickly ask some questions which help me determine my cost per kilometre.

If I consider all costs so far, the cost of using my car has been 51 cents per kilometre. This does not include a financing cost or loss of interest on the money used to buy the car. If I consider only the petrol cost the cost has been 13 cents per kilometre. However I think a more accurate cost is the cost of the car, less an estimate of any remaining car value, plus any other costs. I don't include rego and insurance, but do include servicing. Using that approach this gives me a figure of 35 cents per kilometre. Sure it's not exact, but at least it's a good estimate.

Working out the cost of public transport is fairly easy. The time taken for car versus public transport can be estimate using Google Maps. The distance travelled by car can also be determined using Google Maps.

If time isn't a concern you then have everything you need to compare the cost of using a car to the cost of using public transport. If time is important, you'll need to work out a figure you're happy with that places a value on your time.

The Car versus Public Transport calculator has already revealed some quite unexpected results for people I've tested the calculator with. Hopefully the calculator will reveal some valuable insights for you as well.

Kelvin Eldridge
https://www.carrunningcostcalculator.com.au/carversuspublictransport/

Menzies electorate and the importance of your voting preferences.

Based on the last election results for Menzies, this election could be very close. It may all come down to preferences. I've found most people don't understand their preferences are just as important as their primary vote.

Here's a link to the 2016 Federal election.

https://results.aec.gov.au/20499/Website/HouseDivisionPage-20499-229.htm

You can see Liberal Party won outright, but they only received 51.72% of the first preference votes. With over 50% of first preferences the Liberal Party couldn't lose. But what if there was a further swing against the liberal party which took them below the 50% mark. Still highly unlikely they'd lose, but it could happen.

All that then needs to happen is for all second preference votes to go Labor. Hard to believe isn't it. A party that gets around a quarter of the vote could actually get in. Whilst it may even be harder to believe, if a strong third contender entered the race taking votes from both the Liberal and Labor parties, then getting strong preference support, it's a really long shot, but the third candidate could have a slim chance.

How then do preferences work and how is it possible that preferences are so powerful.

Let's take a simple example.

Let's say the Liberal Party gets 49% of the first preference votes. Then an independent gets say 26% of the first preference votes and Labor gets 25% of the first preference votes.

Now what happens in our system, is since in the example above the Labor candidate came last, the way people entered their preferences are then used to split up the votes for the remaining two candidates. If everyone that voted for Labour listed their second preference as the independent, then all the votes for the Labor candidate would go to the independent. The independent would now end up with their 26% of first preference votes and the 25% of the Labor candidates votes as a second preference, giving the independent a total of 51% of the votes.

Few people realise the second preference vote has as much voting power as their first preference, should the candidate they're voting for end up with a lower number of votes than the leading candidates.

Candidates may do a deal with other candidates to give their preferences to each other. They don't really give anything, but what they do is list the order of how they feel people should vote. The order can be based on the deal that's been done that gives them the best chance of getting in.

Menzies is not a marginal seat. Around 77% of the votes at the last election went to Liberal (51.72%) or Labor (24.6%). There were 5.02% of informal votes (votes not entered correctly) and thus they didn't count. That leaves 18.66% of the vote for other candidates. That means no other candidate had a chance of winning, even if preferences were taken into account. As the preferences are taken into account and those candidates receiving the lowest number of votes removed, you finally end up with the two party preferred votes. Of the second and further preferences (20,656) the Liberal Party received a further 7,709 votes (37%) and the Labor Party received 12,947 votes (63%).

If you really want to make a difference with your vote, one way to maximise the value of your vote is to look at your preferences. Look at which parties are giving their preference to which candidates. Then vote for the candidate you most prefer and then each further candidate based on how they are allocating their preferences. There's a good chance a higher proportion of people will follow the candidate's How to Vote card and that will influence the very powerful preference votes.

Hopefully this post helps people understand a little more about our election system, and how truly powerful and important your second and further preferences really are.

Kelvin Eldridge