Tag: fare reform

Eastern Transport Coalition – Presentation on Myki

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Tonight’s Eastern Transport Coalition meeting included a presentation on myki, Melbourne’s new ticketing system, as well as providing an update on the rollout of the Monster Petition.

Myki is due for introduction by the end of the year and will replace the paper-based Metcards with a plastic smartcard that will deduct public transport fares from credit established on the account.

There are currently no plans to alter Melbourne’s public transport fares with the introduction of myki and any fare reforms will need to be considered by the State Government. One of the touted benefits of myki is its flexibility and fare reforms would further provide equity across Melbourne’s public transport system.

The Eastern Transport Coalition’s monster petition was successfully launched at Monash University and will be available within each of the member councils.
The petition is currently located at the City of Whitehorse and is scheduled to arrive in Maroondah in time for Maroondah Festival in November.

The meeting also discussed the bus service reviews and will be calling on the State Government to ensure that the final reports of the review are released and that the findings, including frequency and operating span improvements, are quickly implemented.

Maroondah Journal: Bus use to rise as zones merge

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The Maroondah Journal has reported on the State Government’s reaffirming its election promise to abolish zone three in March.

The existence of zone three is one the ongoing inequities of Melbourne’s public transport system, where residents of Ringwood, Lilydale and Dandenong pay for more public transport despite living closer to the CBD than suburbs such as Hurstbridge.

Public Transport Users Association vice-president Alex Makin said zone three was one of the “great inequalities for people living in the outer east.”

The removal of zone three could provide an historic opportunity to increase public transport patronage, if service levels are improved simultaneously with the restructuring of the fare system.

He wanted the Government to better co-ordinate the different modes of public transport.

“We should see an increase in bus patronage as people [travel] to their closest railway stations. People won’t be driving their cars to get to stations in zone two.”

The Government must take this opportunity to demonstrate that Melbourne’s public transport system can function as an integrated network. Service coordination, between bus routes and the rail network, must be improved to provide people with a realistic alternative to driving and thus alleviate parking issues at rail stations.

Eastern Transport Coalition: Planning the agenda for 2007

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A strategic planning session to manage next year’s activities was conducted for tonight’s Eastern Transport Coalition meeting, which marked the final meeting for 2006.

The Eastern Transport Coalition has had considerable success this year, with the council advocacy body being able to secure the abolition of zone three and improvements to bus services. These successes provide a powerful foundation for the ETC to continue achieving results for next year and beyond.

The substantial focus for next year will be the federal funding of public transport and to utilise the five year of Melbourne 2030 to ensure a holistic to transport and land use planning. While there is a need for federal public transport funding this will not be at the expense of allowing the State Government to avoid responsibility for its own inaction.

In fact federal funding of public transport through tied matching funding would allow the Federal Government to hold the State Government into action through ensuring that the State Government delivers on its own promises.

I am certain that the ETC will continue to achieve success as we enter 2007.

Delegates' Report: Community Partnerships in Removing Zone Three

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Tonight I will be reporting on the Eastern Transport Coalition meeting held on the 19th of October and the outcome of our ‘fair fares’ campaign.

The Eastern Transport Coalition’s campaign in seeking the abolition of zone three was obviously a success with both major parties; first the Victorian Liberal Party and then copied by the ALP to commit to the remove the inequitable existence of zone three fares.

This campaign and this wonderful outcome was only possible due to the support of the wider community. I am pleased to say that the survey results at Heatherdale undertaken by Maroondah City Council, received one of the highest level of responses.

I’ll table the analysis from the Eastern Transport Coalition but over 60% of people chose Heatherdale Station simple due to the cheaper zone two fare.

ETC survey results for Heatherdale Station
Securing the commitment from the State political parties to abolish zone three demonstrates the success that can occur when council’s work both together with other like-minded councils and with the community.

The successful outcome of this campaign was due to each and every person that responded to the Eastern Transport Coalition’s survey, the advocacy of Maroondah City Council and the strong partnership that has been established with the eastern council’s through the Eastern Transport Coalition.

This outcome demonstrates the strength and power of advocacy when councils work together with the community to ensure positive outcomes. I would like to thank everyone that completed the survey and did their bit to remove zone three.

To any sceptics out there, it is worth remembering that there was a time when people said zone three would never be removed. Proactive partnerships with the community, councils and the region ensured that zone three will soon be history.

The Age: Collapse feared in great train strain

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The Age has reported on concerns held by some transport bureaucrats that the public transport will be unable due to an influx of passengers with the removal of zone three.

SENIOR transport bureaucrats are worried that Melbourne’s train system will collapse when already packed carriages are jammed with new travellers after Zone 3 is abolished next year.

Train patronage rose by more than 10 per cent in the past 12 months, with overcrowding already occurring on many lines serving the outer suburbs.

While train patronage has risen in recent months, the fact is that is Melbourne’s rail system is still operating less trains in peak hour than it did in the 1980s or 70s. This highlights the fact that ample capacity does exist within the metropolitan system and that the barrier to improved services is not capacity but inability to schedule services efficiently.

As an example, there has been a complete failure to coordinate bus and rail services resulting in severe inefficiencies:

Public Transport Users Association vice-president Alex Makin said ensuring bus services were timed correctly with train times would relieve traffic congestion and allow more money to be spent on more frequent services instead of building railway station car parks.

Many rail projects, such as rail extensions to Cranbourne East and South Morang, and other initiatives such as the abolition of zone three, are entirely feasible if efficient rail scheduling was utilised. The fact that more trains were operating several decades ago demonstrates that Melbourne’s rail system is not operating near capacity.

Maroondah Leader: Commuters the winners in two zones

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The Maroondah Leader has reported on the policy announcements delivered by the Victorian Liberal Party and the ALP to abolish zone three:

TRANSPORT costs will be slashed for outer-suburban commuters, including many Maroondah residents, whoever wins the November election.

Both the Bracks Government and Liberal Opposition last week pledged to scrap Zone 3 and switch to a two-zone system next year.

Maroondah City Council, as part of the Eastern Transport Coalition, had campaigned endlessly for the abolition of zone three.

Public Transport Users Association spokesman and Maroondah councillor Alex Makin said the news was “a victory for the outer-east community”.

“It’s something residents in conjunction with the Eastern Transport Coalition were campaigning for,” Mr Makin said. “We welcome the Opposition announcement and the carbon copy released by the Bracks Government.”

Four years ago when the Opposition pledged to abolition zone three the Bracks Government, through its Transport Minister Peter Batchelor, claimed that “capacity constraints” meant that the policy was ‘unworkable’ (Libs promise fare cuts to outer areas, The Age, Nov 7, 2002. pg. 9). Like other claims of ‘capacity constraints’ (such as being unable to deliver the South Morang rail extension or Rowville rail line), it is clear that such constraints are purely fabricated to excuse inaction.

The Opposition is to be congratulated for taking the lead on seeking to abolish one of the gross inequities that had existed in the pricing of Melbourne’s public transport system.

Maroondah Journal: Zone cut boost for outer suburbs

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The Maroondah Journal has reported on the recent announcements to abolish zone three, released firstly by the Victorian Liberal Party and mimicked four hours later by the Bracks Government.

Public Transport users in the outer east will pay less next year after both major political parties pledged to scarp zone three – but the fight for better train and bus services continues.

While the removal of zone three addresses on the major pricing inequities of the public transport system, it is ultimately the level of service, such as the efficiency, frequency, reliability and availability of public transport that will ultimately result in higher patronage.

Public Transport Users Association spokesman Alex Makin said Labor’s decision was a “complete U-turn” for the party which dismissed the idea at the previous election.

Train services and bus routes along main roads need to provide at least a 15 minute service frequency to ensure patronage growth. This is consistent which research which as shown that 15 minute service frequencies and an overhaul of bus routes are essential to achieving the goal of increasing public transport modal share.

“At the end of the day it doesn’t matter how you price the fares, waiting up to an hour for a bus can’t compete with car travel.”

Victory: Zone Three to be abolished

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This morning the Baillieu Liberal Opposition pledged to remove zone three public transport fares if elected into government. Four hours later Steve Bracks copied this announcement and said it too would scrap zone three.

As reported in The Age:

Public Transport Users Association vice-president Alex Makin welcomed the latest announcement, saying he believed it would encourage more people in Melbourne’s outer suburbs to use trains and buses.

“It has merit in that it tackles one of the biggest inequities in Melbourne’s public transport system,” Mr Makin told theage.com.au.

The existence of zone three, is an oddity that has existed only within Melbourne’s eastern suburbs and as a result meant that residents in Ringwood, Croydon, Scoresby and Dandenong were forced to pay more for public transport than residents in suburbs such as Hurstbridge, which are located further away from the CBD.

“At the moment you have lots of people driving to Heatherdale station from Croydon, Ringwood and Lilydale to avoid paying the higher fare,” Mr Makin said.

While the removal of zone three is a welcomed and one that groups such as the Eastern Transport Coalition have requested, the announcement must be reinforced by policies that improve public transport services. Ultimately people will not use public transport if services continue to be infrequent, unreliable and inefficient.

But Mr Makin said reducing fares for people in Melbourne’s outer suburbs had to be accompanied by policies that improved services, saying there was no point reducing the cost of tickets if there weren’t enough trains and buses to service demand.

This announcement has demonstrated the power of combined community and council advocacy. As recently as last week the State Government claimed that zone three could not be abolished due to apparent capacity constraints. The fact that the Bracks Government has now been forced to act has demonstrated the so-called ‘capacity constraints’ that have prevented rail and tram extensions is nothing more than a complete fabrication.

Eastern Transport Coalition: Evaluating the Fair Fares Campaign

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Tonight’s Eastern Transport Coalition meeting focused on evaluating the results of the Fair Fares Campaign and on preparing to speak to candidates in the upcoming election about the ongoing public transport issues facing Melbourne’s outer east.

While final results are still being prepared, it appears that approximately 60% of all commuters surveyed are driving substantial distances to avoid paying zone three fares. The avoidance of zone three fares results in an unnecessary increase in traffic congestion and detracts from the local amenity of neighbourhoods near stations due to excessive car parking. Furthermore the existence of zone three detracts of residents catching nearby bus services to access stations due to the excessive cost of the additional zone.

The survey results vindicate the Eastern Transport Coalition’s stance on fare reform and the calls to seek a restructuring of the fare system concurrently with the introduction of the new ticketing system next year.

The outer east deserves fair public transport fares.

Maroondah Leader: Transport lobby puts case for zoning zap

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The Maroondah Leader has reported on the Eastern Transport Coalition’s survey and continued campaign to seek the abolition of zone three public transport fares.

Commuters from as far as Lilydale are driving to Mitcham to avoid paying zone three prices.

As part of the Eastern Transport Coalition’s campaign for fair fares, I surveyed people at Heatherdale Station least Tuesday.

Maroondah coalition representative Cr Alex Makin reviewed consumer behaviour at Heatherdale railway station in Mitcham, which is the last zone two station on the Lilydale line.

Cr Makin said the results further strengthened calls for zone three to be abolished.

“People are driving to Heatherdale from as far as Chirnside Park and Lilydale, just to avoid the extra costs,” Cr Makin said.

Due to the abstract nature of the public transport zoning system many commuters are driving excessive distances to park at Heatherdale Station causing traffic congestion through the centre of Ringwood and chaos at car parks.

“Ringwood is 23km from the CBD but is closer to the city than other stations in zone two,” Cr Makin said. “The ETC will continue to lobby for a revamp of the system in the lead-up to the November state election.”

Cr Makin said the fact that Ringwood was in zone two under the previous system showed revamping the zones was viable.

Ringwood as well as suburbs such as Dandenong, Lilydale and Belgrave were in part of zone two in the first zoning system that was introduced between 1981 and 1983. The fact that Ringwood was previously within zone two demonstrates that the abolition of zone three is not only possible but also entirely feasible.

Rather than continue to excessively burden outer eastern residents with the cost of zone three fare, all political parties must pledge to reform the current inequitable zone structure.