The Government is developing a comprehensive transport plan for Victoria to be released by the end of this year. The plan will respond to proposals for Melbourne’s east-west corridor in Sir Rod Eddington’s report Investing in Transport and other transport priorities across the state.

The ETC submitted a response to the State Government on Sir Rod Eddington’s report, that contained a number of “big ticket” infrastructure projects such as the proposed east-west road tunnel and rail tunnel from Footscray to Caulfield. The ETC responded with a request that rail to Rowville and Doncaster also be considered.

At a recent Community Cabinet in the eastern suburbs, the Victorian Premier, John Brumby, requested the ETC provide feedback on short-term public transport projects, including walking and cycling projects that could be included in the “Metropolitan Transport Plan”.

The purpose of this submission is to provide the Government with a list of projects which
are:

  • regional in their need or effect;
  • able to be completed in the immediate to short term future;
  • low to medium cost;
  • easily implemented; and
  • provide benefits to a wide-ranging cross section of the regional community.

The need for such actions is demonstrated by the recent surge in public transport patronage. This serves to exacerbate the inadequacies of the system in the outer eastern suburbs, as residents continue to travel by car.

The public transport patronage figure for Metropolitan Melbourne (Statistical Division) is 10.2%. With the exception of Monash and Whitehorse, the ETC are generally well below the average.

There is also a need to promote and assist “active” forms of transport being walking and cycling to promote healthier lifestyles and less reliance on cars.