etc, a new chair

The Eastern Transport Coalition is a group of 7 Eastern metropolitan municipalities who advocate for improvements to our public transport services, for the past two years I have been the Shire of Yarra Ranges councillor representative on the group.

Earlier this year elections were held for a new chairperson of the ETC and I was very humbled to be elected unopposed to the position.

Our current public transport system forces people in the East to use their cars, this is an expensive transport option, generates greenhouse gas emissions, creates congestion and does nothing to address the issue of peak oil.

The outgoing chairperson, Cr Mick Van De Vreede, has done an excellent job representing the interests of the ETC and leaves big shoes to fill.

The mission of the ETC is to advocate for accessible and integrated sustainable transport in the eastern region of Melbourne to improve liveability and reduce car dependency.

The lack of fast and frequent public transport in the East results in much greater levels of car dependency. The lack of frequency and span of hours of public transport makes its use unfriendly and inconvenient. The ETC aims to have a better transport system which has improved bus services, more rail, effective coordination and more people using it.

In the East 71% of people travel to work by car, only 15% of people use public transport to get to work. More than 70% of people in the East use public transport once a month OR less. We need to see dramatic improvements to our public transport system to achieve greater transport equity in the East.

Ultimately what we need across Melbourne is an integrated transport system that provides sustainable transport into the future.

There are many opportunities to improve public transport in the East and when it’s all said and done it all comes down to a commitment from government to deliver improvements in service and infrastructure and that’s what I’ll be advocating for.

If you'd like to know more about the ETC visit www.etc.org.au.