Last Thursday night Minister for Public Transport Terry Mulder attended a meeting of PTUA members. Mr Mulder’s address was followed by a lengthy question and answer session, covering issues such as Myki, bikes on trains, station facilities, Altona Loop timetables and the government’s planned Public Transport Development Authority.

The Minister also discussed the new Melbourne tram prototype design, and revealed that it is planned to display the prototype at this year’s Royal Show.

PTUA members who missed the meeting will find a summary of the meeting in the next newsletter.

Melbourne’s public transport is in crisis — and your vote can make a difference.

• Cancellations
• Poor connections
• Crowding
• Trams stuck in traffic

Read the full brochure (PDF 338 Kb)

The current privatisation arrangements need to end. There could be a role for private operators — as subcontractors providing the services specified by a public authority — but the ‘franchise’ model introduced in 1999 by the Coalition and renewed in 2004 and 2009 by Labor hasn’t worked. Scores of organisations are arranged in an impenetrable maze of bureaucratic confusion, and with no central control there is poor coordination between services, poor planning, and buck-passing.

Find out more about why public transport management and planning needs a shakeup, and send your local candidates an email at the Public Transport That Works web site.

This brochure is directed at residents of Melbourne’s inner suburbs, but remember, wherever you are: If you want better public transport, in this election, look carefully at the policies of all the candidates. Make your vote count.

PTUA comments on the Transport and Tourism Forum report on public transport funding:

We shouldn’t fall for the trap of believing that public transport should make a profit. It doesn’t recoup its costs any more than the public health system, the education system, law enforcement or for that matter the road system – these are all subsidised by taxpayers for the good of everyone. Even those who never use public transport recognise that if it wasn’t there, there would be chaos on our roads.

Melbourne’s public transport fares are already some of the highest in Australia, and for suburban trips, fares are often more expensive than just getting in the car. The danger of increasing fares further is that it will lead to a decline in patronage, requiring an even bigger taxpayer subsidy, and adding to the traffic on the roads.

However there is room to improve cost-recovery. Growing off-peak patronage by providing more frequent services would improve the overall return on the significant investment in rail infrastructure, for instance.

Better off-peak fares should be considered; almost nobody in Melbourne uses them at present because they have such limited availability, in contrast to V/Line services.

It is not clear there are a large number of people using concessions who don’t deserve to use concessions. If there were masses of passengers rorting the system, then it might be a problem, but we suggest that most of the people travelling on a concession fare genuinely need that concession fare.

Many of the TTF’s suggestions make sense, such as allowing retail development around stations, promoting transit-oriented development, and spreading peak demand. But raising fares is a sure-fire way of discouraging people from using public transport, further reducing revenue and making traffic congestion worse.

And they appear to have missed the most obvious funding source: stop encouraging more traffic by continuing to build expensive freeways, and instead fund fast, frequent public transport services that provide a genuine alternative to car travel.

In order to try and make up for the widespread train service disruptions on Tuesday, all Melbourne (zone 1 and 2) public transport (trains, trams and buses) will be free on Friday. Further information from Metlink.

Weekly, monthly and yearly ticketholders can apply for a free daily ticket from Metro.

V/Line users with a ticket that was valid on Tuesday can apply for a free travel voucher.

While we don’t expect that those who faced long delays will be placated by a free day’s travel, the PTUA encourages eligible users to submit a claim form. And we encourage you to make sure ensure the government knows that you care about public transport, and want to see more and better services. Make your voice heard.

In yesterday’s Herald Sun we said that low-income full-time post-graduate students are unable to get concession public transport fares. This is incorrect. Recent rule changes mean that anyone eligible for a Centrelink Healthcare Card (including Low Income Health Care Cards) can now get concession fares.