failing us on public transport

The State budget is a kick in the teeth to commuters on the fringe of Melbourne.

For all the bells and whistles we hear about the Victorian Transport Plan we see a failure of the state government to deliver the promised additional trains to our public transport network.

Samantha Dunn, Greens Candidate for Eastern Victoria said "we have a budget predicting a 4% increase in passengers but we’re only getting 2.5% more train services and that’s if you’re lucky enough to live somewhere with a train line. We all know if it’s not in the budget then there’s no real commitment."

The Greens would put our trains back in public hands so the system can be planned and run efficiently. The Greens are committed to creating a service that runs 24 hours, so that the people of Victoria will never have to wait longer than 10 minutes to get where they need to go in peak times.

"It’s even grimmer news for those communities who are reliant on bus services, there’s nothing in this budget for you", said Samantha.

The bus service review outcomes have been at best moderate and are not providing frequent and reliable services to communities across Melbourne’s interface. Lack of access to good bus services leads to social isolation and impacts on a community’s health and wellbeing.

The Greens recognise the problems with our bus network and are proposing to upgrade 448 km of bus routes to high frequency. These buses would run every 10 minutes from 6am to Midnight and every 20 minutes from Midnight to 6am, seven days a week. They would provide an additional 30.2 million km of bus service each year connecting train stations and Activity Centres.

"People on the fringe are so reliant on their motor vehicles and this has big consequences for the family budget. A frequent bus service will encourage communities on the interface to take up buses as a transport option, reduce traffic congestion and stop the over reliance on motor cars."