Melway
Encyclopedia
Melway is an almost ubiquitous street directory for Melbourne, Australia and its immediate surrounds, including the city of Geelong. It is currently in its 39th edition—the 2012 edition—which was released in July 2011.
By the early 1980s Melway was the most popular street directory in Melbourne, holding in excess of 80 per cent of the market; indeed "Melway" had begun to be used as a generic term for any street directory. The current RRP for a 2010 Melway is $54.95, but many retailers sell Melway for around $40.
In 1982, after the fourteenth edition of Melway had been released, it was awarded the International Cartographic Excellence Award, as well as the inaugural award for Cartographic Excellence from the Australian Institute of Cartographers. Ausway
won the Australian award again in 1994 for its first edition of Sydway.
Almost every motorist in Melbourne has a copy of Melway, as do many taxi
drivers, bus
drivers and some hire cars. It is officially used by the Victoria Police
, fire brigade, ambulance service, Victorian State Emergency Service
, St. John Ambulance
Victoria and for the State government
car fleet. Its main competitor is the UBD, which has a strong footing in Sydney and Brisbane
, but is not as common in Melbourne.
The Melbourne Museum
has an exhibit dedicated to the directory.
, tram
, and bus
routes, tickets and prices), bicycle paths
, suburb and postcode details, public parks and reserves, landmarks (such as commercial buildings, telephone boxes, pubs
and restaurants), attractions, and also boat mooring details in recognised docks.
In addition to the "blue" bordered and "red" bordered street maps, there are "yellow" bordered maps of university campuses and crematoria, and "green" bordered maps showing routes through the country to Adelaide and Sydney. Many versions of the street directory are obtainable, usually in standard or large-print editions, wall-charts, or an online directory.
. It is generally assumed that everyone has, or has access to, a copy of the directory in Melbourne. By comparison, the UBD reference for a particular "Melways reference" (as it is colloquially known) can be significantly different, but is rarely (if ever) provided. It is generally assumed that all such references, regardless of whether it is explicitly stated or not, are from the Melway directory and not from the UBD.
Some organisations provide a Melway year of publication in addition to their map reference (e.g.: (2006) 70 F6), to avoid confusion if map references change in newer versions of the directory. However Melway have kept the need for this to an absolute minimum over the years and have held off several cartographic features, including a more logical overall tiling of pages across the entire metropolitan area (which do appear in the Sydway and Brisway) in order to protect the integrity and continuity of the original 1966 grid references.
s, slip lane
s, service roads, speed bump
s, roundabout
s, and other useful information.
This difference has been copied by UBD in their Melbourne directory, in a bid to capitalise on familiarity of Melway. UBD have only attempted this in the Melbourne directory, retaining their usual format for their other directories. The map design was first fully completed by computer in 2000.
, which started producing directories for other cities and towns from the early 1990s onwards. These other directories include:
History
Melway was conceived by Merv Godfrey and Iven Mackay in the 1950s. The first edition of Melway was released in May 1966, after five years of work and research. All of the 106 original maps were hand-drawn in ink. Many detractors claimed it would be unpopular due to its high price at the time – $2.50, twice that of its most expensive competitor. First editions can sell for more than $800 on the second hand market.By the early 1980s Melway was the most popular street directory in Melbourne, holding in excess of 80 per cent of the market; indeed "Melway" had begun to be used as a generic term for any street directory. The current RRP for a 2010 Melway is $54.95, but many retailers sell Melway for around $40.
In 1982, after the fourteenth edition of Melway had been released, it was awarded the International Cartographic Excellence Award, as well as the inaugural award for Cartographic Excellence from the Australian Institute of Cartographers. Ausway
Ausway
Ausway is an Australian cartography and publishing company that produces comprehensive street directories and maps. In addition to its directories, Ausway also produces laminated, folded and rolled maps of varying sizes and formats, 200dpi digital map images, and index data...
won the Australian award again in 1994 for its first edition of Sydway.
Almost every motorist in Melbourne has a copy of Melway, as do many taxi
Taxicab
A taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice...
drivers, bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
drivers and some hire cars. It is officially used by the Victoria Police
Victoria Police
Victoria Police is the primary law enforcement agency of Victoria, Australia. , the Victoria Police has over 12,190 sworn members, along with over 400 recruits, reservists and Protective Service Officers, and over 2,900 civilian staff across 393 police stations.-Early history:The Victoria Police...
, fire brigade, ambulance service, Victorian State Emergency Service
State Emergency Service
A State Emergency Service is an Australian volunteer organisation that provides emergency help during and after declared disasters. The SES is also the primary or secondary agency for emergencies, such as storm damage,flood damage, building damage, traffic hazards and road crash rescue...
, St. John Ambulance
St. John Ambulance
St John Ambulance, branded as St John in some territories, is a common name used by a number of affiliated organisations in different countries dedicated to the teaching and practice of medical first aid and the provision of ambulance services, all of which derive their origins from the St John...
Victoria and for the State government
Government of Victoria
The Government of Victoria, under the Constitution of Australia, ceded certain legislative and judicial powers to the Commonwealth, but retained complete independence in all other areas...
car fleet. Its main competitor is the UBD, which has a strong footing in Sydney and Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, but is not as common in Melbourne.
The Melbourne Museum
Melbourne Museum
Melbourne Museum is located in the Carlton Gardens in Melbourne, Australia, adjacent the Royal Exhibition Building.It is the largest museum in the Southern Hemisphere, and is a venue of Museum Victoria, which also operates the Immigration Museum and Scienceworks Museum.The museum has seven main...
has an exhibit dedicated to the directory.
Features
While primarily a street directory, Melway editions also contain details on public transport (trainRailways in Melbourne
The Melbourne rail network is operated by Metro Trains Melbourne under franchise from the Government of Victoria. The network is based on a commuter rail model centred on the Melbourne Central Business District and Flinders Street Station, rather than a rapid transit model, with a focus on...
, tram
Trams in Melbourne
The Melbourne tramway network is a major form of public transport in Melbourne, the capital city of the state of Victoria, Australia. , the network consisted of of track, 487 trams, 28 routes, and 1,773 tram stops. It was therefore the largest urban tramway network in the world, ahead of the...
, and bus
Buses in Melbourne
Buses in Melbourne, Australia, are a major form of public transport in Melbourne, with an extensive bus network. The network of 323 bus routes is operated by a number of privately owned bus companies....
routes, tickets and prices), bicycle paths
Cycling in Melbourne
Cycling in Melbourne, Victoria is common on the roads and paths for recreation, commuting and as a sport. However it is not one of the popular modes of transportation despite an extensive network of bicycle paths and some designated bicycle lanes on roads...
, suburb and postcode details, public parks and reserves, landmarks (such as commercial buildings, telephone boxes, pubs
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
and restaurants), attractions, and also boat mooring details in recognised docks.
In addition to the "blue" bordered and "red" bordered street maps, there are "yellow" bordered maps of university campuses and crematoria, and "green" bordered maps showing routes through the country to Adelaide and Sydney. Many versions of the street directory are obtainable, usually in standard or large-print editions, wall-charts, or an online directory.
Grid references
In Melbourne it is common for a Melway reference (in the format Map – Grid reference, e.g. 59 K5) to be given along with directions on, for example, an event notice or real estate advertisementAdvertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
. It is generally assumed that everyone has, or has access to, a copy of the directory in Melbourne. By comparison, the UBD reference for a particular "Melways reference" (as it is colloquially known) can be significantly different, but is rarely (if ever) provided. It is generally assumed that all such references, regardless of whether it is explicitly stated or not, are from the Melway directory and not from the UBD.
Some organisations provide a Melway year of publication in addition to their map reference (e.g.: (2006) 70 F6), to avoid confusion if map references change in newer versions of the directory. However Melway have kept the need for this to an absolute minimum over the years and have held off several cartographic features, including a more logical overall tiling of pages across the entire metropolitan area (which do appear in the Sydway and Brisway) in order to protect the integrity and continuity of the original 1966 grid references.
Cartography
One of the distinguishing differences of a Melway-style map from other Australian street directories is in the rendering of roads. Rather than the traditional drawing of two lines with the road name printed in-between, (known as 'double casing') Melway maps show a single line with the name above or below the road, in many colours reflecting the identity or usage of the road. This allows for much more detail to fit into the same size map, as well as showing dual carriagewayDual carriageway
A dual carriageway is a class of highway with two carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation...
s, slip lane
Slip lane
A slip lane is a road traffic lane provided at an intersection to allow vehicles to turn at the intersection without actually entering it and interfering with through traffic....
s, service roads, speed bump
Speed bump
A speed bump is a speed-reducing feature of road design to slow traffic or reduce through traffic, via...
s, roundabout
Roundabout
A roundabout is the name for a road junction in which traffic moves in one direction around a central island. The word dates from the early 20th century. Roundabouts are common in many countries around the world...
s, and other useful information.
This difference has been copied by UBD in their Melbourne directory, in a bid to capitalise on familiarity of Melway. UBD have only attempted this in the Melbourne directory, retaining their usual format for their other directories. The map design was first fully completed by computer in 2000.
Editions
There have been 38 editions of the Melway released since the mid-1960s. A new edition is typically released late one year and advertised for the following year. Example: Edition 35 was released in August 2007 and advertised as the 2008 Melway. This is not entirely misleading as many roads and features under construction or proposed are included fully detailed (such as Eastlink in the 35th edition), thus even editions up to 5 or even 10 years old are still useful.List of Editions
Below is a list of Melway editions, the years they were released, their price at the time of release and other information and introduced features:- 1 1966 ($2.50)
- 2 1968 (central city map introduced)
- 3 1969 (postcode boundaries, house numbers and 10 new maps)
- 4 1970 (11 new maps)
- 5 1971 (over dimensional route maps)
- 6 1973 (university enlarged maps)
- 7 1974 (45 new maps including Mornington Peninsula, 4000 new streets)
- 8 1975 ($4.95, 750 new streets)
- 9 1976 (traffic lights, 20 new maps)
- 10 1977 (36 new maps including Baccus Marsh & Geelong, kindergartens, RSL clubs)
- 11 1978 (4m clearance bridges, taxi & car hire)
- 12 1979 (rescaling to metric)
- 13 1980 (public transport section, bus routes)
- 14 1982 (inner city maps, bicycle paths, Bellarine Peninsula maps)
- 15 1984 (inner Geelong maps, Victorian Arts Centre enlarged map)
- 16 1986 (9 new maps including Warburton)
- 17 1987
- 18 1988 (large print edition first published)
- 19 1989 (28 new maps, Yarra Glen and Phillip Island)
- 20 1990 (central Melbourne mobility map)
- 21 1991 (bus routes reintroduced, 30 new maps including 18 touring maps, Australia map)
- 22 1993 (36 new maps, Dandenong, Frankston and Melbourne Airport enlarged maps)
- 23 1994 (24 new maps including Sunbury, Craigieburn and Healesville, cross referencing, new council boundaries)
- 24 1995 (enlarged CBD maps, 9 new maps, fire, water and electricity authority boundaries, CityLinkCityLinkCityLink is a system of tolled urban Highways in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The company Transurban was awarded the contract to augment two existing freeways and construct two new Toll roads—labelled the Western and Southern Links—directly linking a number of existing freeways to...
) - 25 1997 (enlarged Southbank maps, enlarged Kensington and Footscray maps)
- 26 1998 (24 new maps including Greater Geelong, Doreen and Mernda, docklands boundaries)
- 27 1999 (for 2000, enlarged maps of St Kilda, new suburb boundaries)
- 28 2000 (for 2001, every map computer generated, hook turns, official suburb names, boundaries and postcodes)
- 29 2001 (for 2002, 29 new maps, expanded coverage of Werribee, dog prohibited areas)
- 30 2002 (for 2003, 17 new maps including Lorne, Nar Nar Goon and Tynong, Queenscliff enlargement, bicycle facilities)
- 31 2003 (for 2004, GPS compatible, enlarged maps of Box Hill and Moonee ponds, marine parks, shared bicycle road routes)
- 32 2004 (for 2005, 12 new maps including Wollert and Eynesbury, Eastern Ring Road, Avalon Airport facilities)
- 33 2005 (for 2006, new hierarchy of roads, Craigieburn Bypass)
- 34 2006 (for 2007, Flemington Racecourse enlargement)
- 35 2007 (for 2008, eWay electronic street directory released)
- 36 2008 (for 2009, petrol stations, speed and red light cameras, EastLink fully detailed) includes Melway Ballarat Edition 1
- 37 2009 (for 2010, new maps for Beveridge, proposed Peninsula Link alignment)
- 38 2010 (for 2011, Peninsula Link alignment under construction, proposed Outer Ring RoadOuter Metropolitan Ring RoadThe Outer Metropolitan Ring Road is a proposed freeway in Melbourne, Australia connecting the Hume Freeway at Kalkallo north of Melbourne, to the Princes Freeway south-west of Werribee...
and Rail) - 39 2011 (for 2012, new maps for MacedonMacedon, VictoriaMacedon is a town on the Calder Freeway between Melbourne and Bendigo in the Macedon Ranges in central Victoria, Australia. It is in the Local Government Area of the Shire of Macedon Ranges, and is located at the foot of Mount Macedon, a peak to the north....
, Mount MacedonMount Macedon, VictoriaMount Macedon is a small town located northwest of Melbourne in the Australian state of Victoria. It is situated on the side of the mountain of the same name, known as Geboor by the indigenous Wurundjeri people, which rises to above sea level. At the 2006 census, Mount Macedon had a population...
, Riddells CreekRiddells Creek, VictoriaRiddells Creek is a town in Victoria, Australia, located in the Shire of Macedon Ranges. Riddells Creek is also the name of the main watercourse which flows through the township, and which is a tributary of Jacksons Creek to the south. The town is served by Riddells Creek railway station on the...
and BannockburnBannockburn, VictoriaBannockburn is a rural township near Geelong, Victoria, Australia, 93 km southwest of Melbourne. It is located in Golden Plains Shire. At the 2006 census, Bannockburn had a population of 2486....
)
Expansion into other Australian markets
Melway has spawned an umbrella company known as AuswayAusway
Ausway is an Australian cartography and publishing company that produces comprehensive street directories and maps. In addition to its directories, Ausway also produces laminated, folded and rolled maps of varying sizes and formats, 200dpi digital map images, and index data...
, which started producing directories for other cities and towns from the early 1990s onwards. These other directories include:
- Sydway – Sydney, introduced 1994
- Sydway: Central Coast – Central Coast region, introduced 1999
- Brisway – BrisbaneBrisbaneBrisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, introduced 2005 - Melway PerthMelway PerthThe Melway Perth is a street directory for the city of Perth, Western Australia. It is published by Ausway, using mapping data from Landgate. It is the primary competitor to the UBD and Gregory's Perth street directories.-History:...
– PerthPerth, Western AustraliaPerth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
, introduced 2010