Melbourne's long-suffering train commuters could be given free late evening travel under plans to ease the squeeze on the rail network.
Victorian Premier John Brumby flagged the travel deal on Friday, saying it would capitalise on the success of the earlybird scheme, which provides free travel for passengers before 7am.
It came as more than 100 stakeholders met for the Victorian Transport Summit to give their final input into the government's transport plan, due later this year.
Mr Brumby said free travel for passengers travelling after 8pm would help spread out the commuter burden, with public transport patronage forecast to top half a billion people by 2010.
It would be modelled on the early bird scheme which was a "spectacular success", saving families up to $1,000 a year, he said.
"Is there a case for doing the same thing for, say, a post-8pm fare and shifting some of that peak which is presently there between 5pm and 8pm?
"These are all issues that we're looking at."
Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky said the earlybird scheme was being replicated interstate and overseas.
A "late bird" version would be an interim measure as the government continues to thrash out a transport blueprint to alleviate road and rail congestion crippling Melbourne.
Transport expert Sir Rod Eddington has proposed an $18 million infrastructure splash, including an east-west road tunnel and a rail tunnel linking the western and south-eastern suburbs.
Mr Brumby told the summit all funding options were on the table as the government sought to meet the challenges of unprecedented population growth, climate change and rising petrol prices.
He said the plan would set the framework for the biggest transport investment in the state's history.
But opponents of the road tunnel are angry they were excluded from the talk fest.
They believe digging through Melbourne's inner suburbs is a "dinosaur" solution for tackling Melbourne's transport crisis in an age of climate change and will be disastrous for residents.
"Sustainable public transport, not road tunnels - that's our war cry," Royal Park Protection Group convener Julianne Bell said.
Mr Brumby denied community and residents groups had been locked out of the summit.
He said the government had received more than 2,000 public submissions and forums had been held across the state.
"Honestly, I can't think of any process over the last few years that our government has embarked upon where there has been more opportunity for people to put a point of view."
Read the original article at TheAge.com.au
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