11th of November 2024, 6:30am
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
A western metro MP believes the west’s failing public transport can be revived by re-routing contorted bus networks, making services frequent, and trialing free buses for 12 months.
Western Metro MP David Ettershank, from Legalise Cannabis Victoria, says buses are the key to fixing ailing public transport in Melbourne’s west. He has called on the transport minister in parliament to review bus networks across the state and investigate a 12-month trial of free buses to ease cost-of-living pressures. Mr Ettershank tabled a motion on November 12.
“Victoria’s public transport use has fallen by 42 per cent from its peak in 2018, and buses are the best way to salvage this defective system,” Mr Ettershank said.
“Buses are cost effective and can literally roll out without the construction of infrastructure like platforms or tram tracks, but the main problem with our buses is that bus routes haven’t been reviewed for more than a decade – new suburbs have sprung up in that time.”
It’s time buses took us to somewhere we want to go
Mr Ettershank said half of Melbourne’s 400 bus routes pick up fewer than 20 passengers an hour.
“Melbourne’s buses snake around suburbia, it’s like getting on a magical mystery tour courtesy of the state of Victoria,” Mr Ettershank said.
“Infrastructure Victoria reports that eight out of ten Melburnians live within 400 metres of a bus stop, but nearly a third have never caught a bus.
“We need buses to take us where we want to go – to service hubs, shopping centres and industrial heartlands, to universities and sports and entertainment precincts.
“The research shows that Melburnians want limited-stopping buses that travel on main roads, like the Sydney services. People will walk twice as far to access reliable, efficient and frequent public transport, and by frequent we mean at least every 15 minutes.”
Trial a free bus service
Mr Ettershank said by making buses free – for 12 months – the government would help people in a cost-of-living crisis and ensure buses were being used.
“Victoria’s bus service costs some $200 million a year. During a free trial, passenger numbers should be tracked for insight into how many people are motived by savings to get on a bus.
“Infrastructure Victoria has found every $1 reduction in bus fares boosts customer numbers by almost 20 per cent – one full bus can take 50 cars off the road. Buses can convince people to garage their cars.”
Buses are environmentally friendly transport
Mr Ettershank said Victoria was buying a new fleet of emissions-free electric buses.
“Boosting bus use is a win for the taxpayer and the environment.
“Better buses mean people save on petrol, cut emissions and have improved community connection. Better buses deliver parents to part-time jobs, seniors to community groups, and uni and school students to class.”
Public transport deserts exist in the outer Melbourne
Mr Ettershank said in his electorate, many bus services only run once an hour.
“In our electorates we have areas that are public transport blackspots, where – services are non-existent or infrequent, such as in the Point Cook–Werribee–Tarneit area,” he said.
“Poor bus services compel families in outer suburbs to buy cars, which can be a financial setback. Other people just can’t afford to travel. Bus passengers are less likely to have a drivers’ license and include lots of student and elderly users. Bad buses entrench disadvantage.”
More than 3,000 locals signed a Friends of the Earth petition, which calls for ‘at least $100 million additional annual operational funding in the next budget cycle, as well as a capital investment of at least $100 million, to reform the bus network across the western metropolitan area into a fast, frequent, and connected grid, serviced by clean, electric buses before the 2026 election’.
Mr Ettershank tabled the petition last month and it will be debated in the Legislative Council on November 27th.
“Buses are an under-used resource,” he said
“Better bus routes and free and frequent services would take Victoria back to being a public transport powerhouse with a network that services the people who need it.
“It’s time we got back on buses.”
KEY FACTS
- Buses receive 30 per cent of public transport funding in Melbourne but provide only 20 per cent of commuter trips. Victorians take a total of 135 million bus trips a year.
- Many parts of Melbourne’s outer and growth-area suburbs have waiting times longer than 30 minutes between buses, sometimes exceeding an hour.
- Less than 2 per cent of public transport journeys crossing the city of Melbourne were made on a bus.
- Infrastructure Victoria estimates that overhauling the bus network and boosting patronage could take 100 million private vehicle trips annually off Melbourne’s roads by 2030. This includes introducing high-capacity buses travelling on bus-only lanes.
- The Victorian Government has invested $20 million for the Zero Emission Bus Trial and all new buses will be zero emissions from 2025.
- Metro Melbourne has more than 400 bus routes and more than 50 regional towns and cities have a local bus network.
- A full-fare two-hour bus ticket costs $5.30, the same as for a train or a tram. A daily, full-fare bus ticket for the same area costs $10.60.
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