monster petition underway

A blowy, blustery day greeted Mayors and members of the Eastern Transport Coalition for the launch of the monster petition on Tuesday.

The launch was held at Monash University, a great example of bad transport planning. The university sees 30,000 people a week go through it’s doors and yet there is no rail link to get there. Vast amounts of land around the university are taken up by car parking.

Me, signing as number 6 on the monster petition, by the time the monster petition left Monash we had 350 signatures for better public transport in the East.

Students readily took up the offer of signing the petition for better public transport to the east, particularly a rail line to Rowville which would link up with Monash Uni. Many students were lamenting the fact that they needed to drive their cars to uni because the public transport options weren’t there for them.

The State Government has never provided a reason why rail extensions to Rowville and Doncaster shouldn’t be built, the ETC is asking that proper public feasibility studies be conducted to assess the viability of delivering heavy rail services to these two areas.

The ETC is bitterly disappointed that the Victorian Transport Plan did not include any major initiatives to address the significant gaps in the provision of and planning for public transport in the region.

The seven members of the Eastern Transport Coalition representing 1.3 million Melburnians. We advocate for sustainable and integrated transport services to reduce the level of car dependency to secure the economic, social and environmental wellbeing of the Melbourne's east.

Governments have been promising major investment in public transport for the eastern region since 1969. Forty years on and our residents are still waiting.

We’re putting the Government on notice that it’s time to end the neglect.

The launch was a great start for the monster petition which will be touring the eastern municipalities for the next 6 months.