Weekly Feed - Ian
Ian Brocklehurst – Transport Planning Graduate 2009
Monday
One of the best things about being a graduate is the optional extras. Seriously though, the professional development courses offered by STA where one of the reasons I applied for this grad program.
8:00am saw me sitting in a training room ready to start my business writing course. Early for me but I’ll get used to it.
Professional Business Writing 101, this course pretty much encourages you to forget everything you leant about writing while at university. All the extravagant words you used to sound intelligent, and the clichés I happen to love are frowned upon in business writing. The aim is to make our language more accessible.
The afternoon saw these writing skills put to work. I have a deadline coming up to respond to a DA proposal for the redevelopment of a school. First step rip the document and plans apart, my aim is to ensure that nothing they plan to do will negatively impact bus operation. By the end of the day I have a few good starting points.
Tuesday
I spent today doing one of four things; hunched over the computer writing trying to finish the DA submission, deleting what I had just wrote and trying again, staring at the plans, or running around the office trying to get information from other departments.
When the draft was completed, I sent it to my supervisor for his comments and to see if he wanted to add any more information, those ideas where included and the submission was complete ready for mailing first thing Wednesday morning.
Finished with time to spare. Off home, have soccer training tonight.
Wednesday
In bright and early today have lots to do. As a planner my role is to ensure that any new plans or development council wish to implement don’t have any negative effects on our buses. Ryde council is having a meeting to discuss their draft master plan for the suburb of West Ryde. My manager and me headed off to the council chambers for the preliminary discussion.
Every three weeks the City of Sydney Council holds a Traffic Committee, this is a council meeting that deals primarily with traffic issues and has representatives form all the bodies that might be affected (Police, RTA, and us STA, to name a few). Our job is to review all items placed on the agenda. As a graduate, my job is to take notes, and help my colleague who is the representative on the Committee. It’s a pretty cool experience.
After the meeting we return to the office via public transport, that’s right, we practice what we preach. Last task of the day a meeting with the boss to discuss the outcomes of the meeting and then home.
Thursday
Arriving at work, the first thing to do is check my e-mails and it so happens that I have more work to do. North Sydney Council is undertaken public consultation on the redevelopment of a shopping centre in Crows Nest.
First thing to do on my list is the Ryde master plan, at the meeting on Wednesday Sydney Buses was asked for some data to justify the importance of the interchange in the Town Centre. It’s my job to track this information and create a report. I have to find all the bus routes using the interchange, timetable checks, and drivers’ logs.
The data I find is very interesting as there are around 3000 buses using the interchange during the week, a lot of these being school specials. With the research completed I put together a report and sent it of the team leader at Ryde Council.
Friday
The look I had last night at the North Sydney job, confirmed my thoughts this will affect a number of local services. So I have booked a fleet car for this morning and I will have a quick look on site. You can only learn so much from a plan.
Back in the office just before lunch, scribbled down a few field notes to use when I write my response.
One of my colleagues needs help out on site, like any good graduate I’m always happy to hold the equipment and be the photographer. This is an exciting job were doing a test to determine if a bus can get through a proposed road alteration in the city. We set out some cones to the dimensions on the road with the help of council. The empty bus navigates the cones and we assess what impacts these works might have on physical bus operation, meanwhile I’m taking happy snaps.
Back to the office and I have just enough time to fill out my weekly report before heading off home for the weekend.
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