victorian transport plan

Last week I attended Transport Forum in Doncaster held by Minister for Roads, Tim Pallas. It was the seventh of eight forums being held around Victoria. The forum was well attended by public transport advocates and many from the local government sector. I was joined by representatives of the Eastern Transport Coalition who loudly stated their case for more public transport in the outer east.

The Minister made mention many times of roads and freight but the forum was far more interested in public transport and discussion came back to this time and time again. The forum argued a strong case for improvements to public transport infrastructure across Melbourne.

There was a call for an Eddington like study across the whole Melbourne region and of concern to me was the Minister’s answer “that’s what we’re doing at the moment”. A well managed, heavily facilitated set of forums is a long way from the in depth study that Sir Rod Eddington undertook.

The Victorian Transport Forum was a good opportunity to demonstrate to Minister Pallas the desperate need for more public transport, in particular rail and buses in the outer east.

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I took the opportunity to highlight to the Minister that while the lack of public transport affected people including the unemployed, students and pensioners, people living in areas of the Yarra Ranges including the Dandenongs and along the Warburton Highway also suffered from poor public transport access. Residents in these locations have no other choice than to travel by car, and are spending a greater proportion of their income on vehicle costs.

The impact of peak oil and climate change will only exacerbate pressures on residents in the outer east struggling to get by on already tight household budgets, and it is imperative their public transport needs are taken into account when developing a transport plan.

The Public Transport message has been delivered again to the State Government and I look forward to seeing public transport being a key focus of the outcomes later this year.