Melburnians fare badly when paying for public transport - TheAge

MELBOURNE'S public transport is again the country's most expensive, after the Brumby Government announced the biggest price increase in fares in five years.

Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky confirmed on Friday that train, tram and bus fares will jump by 5 per cent from January 1.

With tickets up by as much as $2.20 (for a zone one and two weekly ticket), the Public Transport Users Association has compared Melbourne's fares with other Australian cities.

Melbourne fared badly, with the price of a ticket far higher in all but two cases.

Melbourne is the most expensive city for all journeys, except short trips in Adelaide, and for trips longer than 40 kilometres, since the Government abolished zone three for the outer suburbs last year.

"In extreme cases, Melbourne costs 50 per cent more than some cities," said Public Transport Users Association president Daniel Bowen.

For a 20-kilometre single trip in Melbourne — for example, from Clayton to Flinders Street — passengers will from next year pay $5.80 (a rise of 30 cents). For a trip of the same length in Brisbane, passengers pay $3.80.

Ms Kosky, defending last week's price rise, said it was not true that Melbourne had the country's most expensive tickets.

But the PTUA said the figures spoke for themselves.

"The bulk of commuters are paying more per kilometre than passengers anywhere in Australia," Mr Bowen said.

The 5 per cent fare increase that will hit passengers next year is separate from another two increases with which they will be slugged in 2012 and 2013.

Those rises will help to finance the state's $38 billion Victorian transport statement...

Read the rest of the article at TheAge.com.au

Get up early to ride free? Forget it - TheAge

Clay Lucas

Illustration: Cathy Wilcox

THE Early Bird ticket, hailed by Premier John Brumby as a solution to overcrowding on morning trains, is failing dismally to attract commuters.

The ticket was aimed to tempt commuters out of bed earlier, offering free travel for trips finishing before 7am.

It was launched by Mr Brumby and Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky in March, after a six-month trial on the Frankston and Sydenham lines.

"I'm very confident it will be very well received," Mr Brumby said then.

But the Department of Transport's annual report — one of more than 200 annual reports released by the Government last Thursday — shows just 2700 travellers a day using the ticket on Melbourne's 15 train lines.

And of those, 700 already caught pre-7am trains before the March launch.

The scheme, costed by Mr Brumby in March at "between $5 million and $10 million" has blown out to $12 million in two years. This includes reimbursing Connex for lost ticket revenue.

Before trials began, the Government said 600 passengers a day needed to use the ticket on the Frankston line for it to be considered a success.

Only 232 used the ticket, their analysis showed.

The ticket fared even worse in the Sydenham line trial: just 168 passengers a day opted to travel before 7am.

Despite this, the Government pressed ahead, to show it was taking "action" to relieve overcrowding.

The Public Transport Users Association said the new figures showed the scheme had achieved little. "Morning peak-hour trains are as crowded as ever. Free rides don't substitute for providing adequate peak-hour services," president Daniel Bowen said.

Connex data released last week showed overcrowding on Melbourne's morning trains at its worst. Scores of morning rush-hour trains carry 1000 passengers — well above the 798-person recommended limit...

Read the rest of this article at TheAge.com.au

Secrecy over $500m in transport money - TheAge.com.au

Clay Lucas

CONTROVERSIAL laws have been used to stop the public finding out how Connex and Yarra Trams plan to spend over half a billion dollars of public money.

The Brumby Government has relied on commercial-in-confidence laws — which it attacked repeatedly while in opposition — to keep secret the two operators' annual planning documents.

Under freedom of information, The Age requested that the Government release Connex's and Yarra Trams' last five franchise business plans.

The business plans must be given to the Government annually to show how the companies plan to run Melbourne's train and tram network.

After speaking with Yarra Trams and Connex, the Department of Transport deemed the documents too sensitive to release.

"Disclosure would be likely to expose Connex and Yarra Trams … unreasonably to disadvantage," the department's legal adviser, Yvonne Han, said.

Access to Connex and Yarra Trams' most recent business plans was also blocked because it would hamper their bid to keep the lucrative contracts to run trains and trams here, she said.

Both companies are bidding to retain the contracts to run Melbourne's trains and trams for another 15 years. The winning tenderers for the contracts will be announced next July.

Connex and Yarra Trams refused to release their franchise business plans to The Age, also citing "commercial-in-confidence" reasons.

The companies will get $537 million in government payments this financial year, while each also earns over $200 million in fares.

Connex is owned by French company Veolia, and Yarra Trams is owned by MetroLink Victoria — a joint venture between France's TransDev and Australia's Transfield Services.

The Public Transport Users Association said the plans should be public because a privately run transport system needed complete transparency.

"A lot of taxpayer money is going to these companies, so we have a right to know how that money is being spent," president Daniel Bowen said.

Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky declined to comment on the issue.

As opposition leader in the 1990s, Premier John Brumby repeatedly attacked the Kennett government's use of the commercial-in-confidence laws.

Mr Brumby, who promised greater transparency when he became Premier last July, told Parliament in 1994 that the Kennett government had a "propensity to hide behind freedom-of-information legislation and … use expressions like commercial-in-confidence" to keep documents secret.

Opposition transport spokesman Terry Mulder said: "Mr Brumby's hypocrisy in hiding these documents is exceeded only by his inability to deliver the roads, rail lines, trains and trams Victorians need."

Read the original article at TheAge.com.au

Labor split over new tollway plans - TheAge.com.au

Jason Dowling and Paul Austin

A NEW tollway proposal in Sir Rod Eddington's transport plan for Melbourne has split the Victorian Labor Party's transport policy committee.

The committee's secretary has resigned in disgust at a decision to endorse all 20 recommendations in Sir Rod's report to the State Government, including a new multibillion-dollar road tunnel linking the city's east and west.

The committee's response to the Eddington proposals will be presented to the ALP state conference today, and Premier John Brumby will release his transport plan for Melbourne next month.

The secretary, Pat Love, has written to his committee colleagues, along with Roads Minister Tim Pallas and Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky saying he would bring forward the end of his term because of the committee's support for more freeways.

"Recent decisions of the committee, most importantly the decisions to support all 20 recommendations from the (Eddington) study, prompted me to bring this forward prior to the state conference. I handed my resignation to Kevin Bracken last Monday," he wrote in an email sent on Thursday night and obtained by The Age.

"As you know, I have argued both internally on the committee and externally in public forums that now is not the time to build another road tunnel."

Mr Love, who has been secretary of the committee for three years, said: "If it is implemented by State Government, I firmly believe that it will lead to more long-term problems than solutions for people in Melbourne, and especially the people living in the west."

It was wrong to argue that the "massive expenditure of an 18-kilometre tunnel, whether funded by government or private or both, will solve our congestion problems in the inner west, north and inner east".

"I don't believe it will improve transport options for many people in the west, but will further entrench them in car dependence," Mr Love wrote.

"Overall, it will lead to more greenhouse gas emissions from transport in Melbourne, not less."

Transport is expected to be the subject of passionate debate at today's conference, with one draft resolution accusing the Government of failing "to establish an effective process for the development of transport policy for Melbourne in the wake of the Eddington review".

It says the Government manipulated its consultations with the community about transport policy to prevent many ALP members being involved. The process had degenerated into an exercise "in which people were asked little more than to pick their favourite problem and project".

Other draft resolutions seen by The Age call on the Government to:

• Urgently implement a manufacturing strategy for Victoria "to ensure the ongoing viability of the industry".
• Immediately ban logging in all water catchments.

The keynote speakers at today's conference will be Mr Brumby and Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

Read the original article in TheAge.com.au

March against cross-city road link

by Brad Ryan

A GROUP of West Footscray residents have vowed to march against a proposed cross-city roadway as debate on the project intensifies.

The No Freeway 4 West Footscray group - headed by local mothers Clare O’Sullivan, Lucy Liga and Anne Parsons - is planning to lead a protest march in October.

Ms O’Sullivan said residents had been kept in the dark about the planned roadway and its potential route through West Footscray.

She said the State Government was deliberately stifling debate over the “ugly, noisy and dirty” proposal, contained in the high-level Eddington transport report.

The report’s recommendations are being considered by the Government, and Ms O’Sullivan said residents should be consulted before decisions were made.

A community meeting last week attracted more than 200 people.

But Transport Minister Lynne Kosky said the Government had been consulting widely.

She said more than 2300 public submissions were being considered and eight regional and suburban local forums were held last month.

But those forums were by invitation only.

Ms Kosky also last week accused Western Metropolitan state Greens MP Colleen Hartland of opposing new public transport for the West, after Ms Hartland spoke against the roadway proposal.

“If Colleen had her way the western suburbs would not see any new public transport or roads projects to increase capacity and access,” Ms Kosky said.

Ms Hartland has a history of advocacy for public transport in the West and has been a vocal proponent of train extensions to Bacchus Marsh, Wyndham Vale and Tarneit.

“What I utterly oppose are the new road tunnels, elevated roads and road widenings that will rip through the suburbs of the inner west,” Ms Hartland said.

“Ms Kosky is the Public Transport Minister. Hasn’t she got something better to do than attack people who campaign for better public transport?”

Read the original article from the Maribyrnong Leader.

We understand the final details of October's event are being finalised. We'll let you know as soon as there's more information.

Public transport use hits all-time high

by Clay Lucas

Squeeze ... Melbourne's public transport patronage is experiencing 'extraordinary' growth. Photo: Simon O'Dwyer

More than 200 million people travelled on Melbourne's trains between 2007 and 2008, according to Premier John Brumby.

- Rising patronage
- 'Extraordinary' growth
- Overcrowded services

Unveiling new train, tram and bus patronage figures on North Melbourne station this morning, Mr Brumby said the growth of passengers on public transport in the last few years had been "extraordinary''.

There were 201.2 million trips on trains in Melbourne in the 2006-07 financial year, 158.3 million trips on trams, and 91.3 trips million on buses.

The growth in public transport patronage was up 7.7% on the previous year.

Mr Brumby hailed the increase in passenger numbers as a sign of success for Victoria, even if there was pressure on travellers who boarded overcrowded services.

"This is the first time we've ever had more than 200 million Victorians use our rail system (in a year),'' Mr Brumby. "In the last year alone, there have been something like 25 million extra passenger trips.''

The Premier was accompanied by Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky; both arrived by train. Ms Kosky's train arrived on time; the Premier's train was two minutes late.

Opposition transport spokesman Terry Mulder said Mr Brumby and Ms Kosky had chosen to visit North Melbourne because there were fewer passengers coming through it than Richmond station, Melbourne's other main rail hub outside the CBD.

"John Brumby and Minister Kosky would not be game to show up at Richmond station where eight of Melbourne's 15 electrified train lines operate through, compared with five lines through North Melbourne and two through Jolimont,'' Mr Mulder said.

"The Cranbourne, Frankston and Pakenham lines have not once in the past 13 months met Labor's punctuality benchmark of no more than 8% of trains being six minutes or more late,'' he said.

On the Pakenham line, 13.9% of trains were at least six minutes late in July.

On the Frankston line, 13.1% were more than six minutes late, and on the Cranbourne line, 11.9%.

Mr Mulder said trains ran at their latest during weekday peak hours.

"When Melburnians are trying to get to work, or get home to see their families, they are being thwarted by John Brumby's `too little, too late' approach to investment in vital rail infrastructure,'' Mr Mulder said.

In the seven months from January to July this year, there were 4044 suburban trains cancelled, including 361 services in July.

Read the original article at TheAge.com.au

"...an increase in numbers as a sign of success for Victoria..." Jeez... doesn't he realise that quite a few people who read The Age also watch 'The Hollowmen'?

I'm thinking the spiralling digits on the petrol pump may have had a little bit to do with it, perhaps? It's certainly not the quality of service!

Transport Forum, Footscray, 12th August 2008

The Minister of Transport, Lynn Kosky is holding a number of transport forums across Melbourne, Taralgon, Geelong etc. Attendance was by invitation only- very unclear how this process was decided, but if anyone is interested in going to the other forums, you can do so by notifying the Department of Transport. A number of friends of savehollandpark.org.au were lucky enought to be invited to the forum in Footscray this morning. This is one person's account of the morning. We're expecting to be able to post several more.

At the start of the forum, we were advised that the scope was much broader than the Eddington Report- indeed they did such a good job on making sure the conversation was not about the Eddington Report, it was rarely mentioned. As someone noted- no-one talked about the elephant (white) in the corner. The tunnel (white elephant 1) and "Myki" (white elephant 2) were notable by their absence in a Melbourne Transport Forum

There was a number of MP's there- Don Nardella (pro roads, tunnels, freeways, more cars, roads, tunnels, freeways etc) and Carlo Carli (anti-tunnel). As I listened to the various contributors, it dawned on me freeways and tunnels are "macho" and popular with older men. Carli (SNAG) summed up the forum as "a complete waste of time".

Which it was. If the State Government are as far behind with transport and planning issues as this forum suggests they are, Victorians should be concerned. They talked about integrated transport options like it was some new revolutionary concept. We didn't become a City of 3.5 million people without some transport integration policies. As it didn't get mentioned much before- I will mention it again- isn't Myki an integrated ticketing system?

The Government is trying to convince us the sudden rise in public transport patronage was not something they could have foreseen. The implications of this assertion are damning and provide little reassurance in their ability to deal with serious transport issues and planning at the most fundamental level.

The movement of freight is identified as a big issue with a four-fold increase in the amount of movements around the docks in the next few years. Dredging the Bay allows larger cargo ships to deliver more containers. The Government promoted dredging the bay as 'progress' without considering the impact on transport infrastructure. One policy creates the problem. They now need to develop another to fix it.

It is similar to their ability to approve massive subdivisions on the fringes of Melbourne with no thought of transport considerations. How could they be expected to know people need to travel from where they live to where they work? ( They do not have a crystal ball).

The most illuminating part of the morning was an informal discussion with Minister Kosky. It appears alternatives to using Holland Park are under consideration. They are convinced of the need for the tunnel saying Eddington report shows there is a huge demand particularly for the movement of freight. We queried her figures and said the Eddington Report did not clearly demonstrate the need for a tunnel. Also, freight from the docks did not generally go in an easterly direction. Her "quirky" example to prove us wrong - delivery trucks from the docks to Malvern(?)

So overall, not much to report as not much was said. The strongest impression was that the Government do not have the slightest idea of where to go with this stuff (and do not know how to get from the Docks to Malvern). They are making it up as they go along and flapping around like ducks on water.

The Premier is hosting another forum in September for traffic and planning experts to attend. If today's forum is an example of what we can expect, the words 'considered', 'focussed' and 'visionary' do not come to mind. More accurate words are 'ad hoc', 'muddled' and 'directionless'. Despite widespread confusion and the complete absence of any meaningful policies- the road tunnel is very much still on the agenda. The Government keep saying "they are not ruling anything in and they are not ruling anything out" (borrowed from "the Hollowmen"). The problem is- in private discussions with State Government Ministers, they do keep ruling the tunnel "in".

One wonders if this was a serious attempt to shape a very confused transport policy, or another community consultation box they can tick for whenever they announce decision to build the tunnel.


Robert Gilfillan

Lynne Kosky squeezes in for train feedback

PUBLIC Transport Minister Lynne Kosky is on a fact-finding mission - but in circumstances less salubrious than first class to France.

Ms Kosky is squeezing in with Melbourne's sardine train commuters, and says she wants to hear their thoughts.

Yesterday morning, she travelled with peak hour Craigieburn line passengers to Essendon and back, with one commuter telling the Herald Sun she "copped an earful".

"It was absolutely packed. A woman called out to Kosky to ask her a question - but Kosky couldn't get to her to answer it because the aisles were so jammed," he said.

The personal survey comes as the State Government considers bids from six companies vying to operate Melbourne's metro rail system. Ms Kosky travelled to France and Switzerland to look at other operators last November.

Ms Kosky said her mission might extend to buses and trams, but that the "community focus" was now on problems with trains.

Read the orig article at news.com.au