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The Public Transport Users Association (PTUA) has called for an upgrade of buses to every ten minutes on Stud Road, to make better use of new bus lanes. The upgrade from the existing 15 minute service would add two extra buses an hour.

“Although we applaud the installation of new bus lanes, they would be better justified with a ten minute service,” said Jeremy Lunn, the PTUA’s Outer East Convenor. “Upgrading the bus service would help to take traffic off the road by providing a more convenient service.”
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The Public Transport Users Association (PTUA) has welcomed the decision to scrap the requirement to touch-off Myki cards on trams, but said that zone 1 fares should be reduced to compensate for the loss of the City Saver Zone.

Until now, the government had said that tram passengers would need to touch-on and touch-off their Myki cards on trams to get the correct fare. Under plans announced today, zone 1 will be valid on the entire tram network. Sections of routes currently in zone 2 will become part of the zone 1+2 overlap, and the City Saver zone will be removed. Passengers will not have to touch-off, and the default charge will be a zone 1 fare. Passengers travelling entirely in the zone 2 overlap area can still touch-off if they want the cheaper zone 2 fare.
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The Public Transport Users Association (PTUA) has expressed concern that increased traffic from the widening of Monash Freeway is already slowing down buses on Warrigal Road. The section of road is used by two of Melbourne’s major SmartBus routes and a number of other routes servicing Chadstone Shopping Centre.

“Buses are scheduled to take 10-12 minutes to travel the two kilometres between Chadstone and Oakleigh Railway Station,” said Jeremy Lunn, the PTUA’s Outer East Convenor. “However, our members are reporting that travel time is consistently taking much longer than this”.
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From June 6th, metropolitan trains will run to new timetables. While most lines will get tweaked, the Frankston and Dandenong/Cranbourne/Pakenham lines are getting a shake-up, with numerous changes, particularly in peak hours. These and some other lines will get extra services.

The changes allow more trains to run, and Metro and the government say it will improve reliability and cut crowding.
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