Sounds like a good approach! I found Hiroshima to be very affordable (and available) for accomodation relative to other Japanese cities, so probably more scope to wing it.

To do it justice, you need minimum two nights (preferably three). A half day out to Miyajima is well worth it as part of that, to see Itsukushima Shrine, as well as a full day to wander around Hiroshima itself, the Peace Park, Museum and Castle.

Had a wonderful time there in April, do recommend!

That of course helps with accessibility (but more for people using walkers or canes than wheelchairs), though compromises the number of seats you can install.

Ultimately, I think the desire for higher seated capacities and larger standing areas near tram doors has influenced modern tram designs.

I believe a continuous floor height throughout the length of the tram was one of the benefits they were striving for, unlike the C1 Class trams that were purchased by Yarra Trams (Melbourne’s first low floor trams) which raised the floor over the bogies to get the 2-2 seating (as per Es and soon Gs)

Unlike other tram classes (e.g. the E Class, where there are four seats over the bogies), the floor height of the D1 is lower (there isn’t a slope down at each door)

When they were first introduced, I believe a bench seat was tested rather than the 1-1 configuration that we see now. (2/2)

That’s the D1 Class, which are a variant of the Siemens Combino. They were purchased by M>Tram when the network was split under privatisation.

The reason for the limited seating is the design of the bogies (which contain the wheels) and the floor height of the tram (1/2)

Be that as it may, their success (or failure) will help us working in transport to understand if greening platforms can be done (and in which contexts) and whether these can be a complimentary shade solution to typical platform shelters. Plenty to be gained, even if only a contractual obligation.

There are just so many products available, for every possible purpose. Having them laid out for you in a huge store like Yodobashi Camera makes you realise that this isn’t a uniquely Japanese phenomenon, it’s everywhere - just masked behind online storefronts.

Good point! I don’t mind having an alternative clean feed without reskeets, but replies are a loss (there’s another feed called Follows & Replies, to fix that at least)

bsky.app/profile/did:...

Highly recommend changing up your feeds to replace the default - I’ve switched to Latest from Follows and it is so much better.

That’s ominous as hell. I’d have simply bailed. Good luck!

We were all desperate to escape the bad place. It’s nice to have our Aussie online community back.

I feel like as people became more disillusioned with the platform, we felt less inclined to engage. While I scrolled the tl endlessly, I was sifting through so much garbage that I barely got into any real conversations.

I haven’t seen them lately, no 🙁 I’ve been in despair since the Cadbury Green and Gold blocks (which had their own version of M&M minis inside) went away after the Olympics - I stockpiled a few, but they won’t last me long.

It’s an agonising choice, isn’t it 😅 I tried to pick one based on a domain I’d actually want to use for a website or email.

Yeah losing Nish was a big blow, he really gave us a different energy off the bench early in the second half. Hoping it’s nothing serious, we need him both at club and NT level.

It’s slowly getting there. Desire for fitba takes is about the only thing taking me back to the bad place at the moment.