The Problem with Melbourne Transport

“We cannot reduce congestion by building more roads since immediately we get more traffic to fill them up to the same speed as before. The only way to reduce congestion is to introduce better public transport facilities which reduce the number of people who travel by car on the roads.”
Professor Martin Mogridge, University College London

Public Transport’s share of travel in Melbourne has been in decline since the 1950’s. This decline has been presided over and encouraged by transport planners and providers who were convinced that the private car was the way of the future. As the decades went by, the motor dream began to turn into a motor nightmare as the cost of cars began to take its toll.

In other cities, notably in Europe and Canada, planners and the community foresaw these problem and actively worked for better public transport.

Other cities, such as Detroit and Los Angeles followed the freeway route to its ultimate conclusion - a polluted city with a ‘dead heart’. Some cities, such as Melbourne, have followed a middle path. Here roads have grown, resulting in pollution, congestion and unacceptable road trauma, but the public transport infrastructure still exists, although it is poorly utilised.

It is this infrastructure that puts Melbourne in a position now to have world class public transport that is affordable for both tax payers and passengers or which will be run down in favour of grandiose freeway dinosaurs.

The Wait

The most frustrating part of public transport journeys is the wait between services. This is especially a problem during off peak times. A new rail line in Perth which has frequent services all day (every 7 and a half minutes) has outstripped all patronage targets and the reasonably priced fares are covering 75% of the running costs, compared with 33% in Melbourne. The Perth system also incorporates buses which collect people from surrounding areas and then meet the train (fancy that!). By comparison, waits of 20 minutes to 1 hour are common in Melbourne, with no service at all in the evening and on Sundays for many areas.

The Cost

Melbourne has the most expensive fares for any Australian capital cities public transport system.

Safety

If public transport services were improved, more people would use the system and it would be safer as a result. It is also necessary to provide adequate staffing of stations and vehicles if passengers are to feel safe. Well run rail systems provide a staff presence at each station for the whole time trains are running. There is no reason why Melbourne can’t do this. However, in Melbourne we are destaffing our stations and removing conductors from trams.

The Solution?