The Andrews Labor Government is making it cheaper and easier for vulnerable Victorians to catch public transport, with new emergency relief tickets to be trialled from today.
Minister for Housing, Disability and Ageing Martin Foley today announced a 12-month trial of weekly and monthly emergency relief tickets, which provide heavily discounted public transport travel to disadvantaged Victorians.
The move follows the recent Ticketing Compliance and Enforcement Review, which found many poor, homeless or disadvantaged people are forced to fare evade to get to appointments and access basic services.
As a result, many vulnerable Victorians are being given fines they can’t pay and becoming unnecessarily caught up in the legal system.
The review found the current Day Pass was not meeting the needs of disadvantaged people – particularly those experiencing complex issues that need more appointments, and more time to attend them.
The Day Pass is also of limited use when appointments are changed or cancelled, or the pass holder is unable to attend an appointment due to the health, addiction or other issues they are dealing with.
Like the Day Pass, the Weekly and Monthly Travel Passes will be valid in zones 1 and 2 and on regional town buses, and will be available for approved community organisations to buy and distribute to their clients.
The passes will also be available to schools to help them support students at risk of disengaging from education.
The Day, Weekly and Monthly Travel Passes are heavily discounted to make them more affordable to the organisations supporting vulnerable Victorians.
Schools and community organisations can apply for travel passes by emailing [email protected].
As noted by Minister for Housing Martin Foley
"The new passes will help disadvantaged people get to the appointments and services they need to get their lives back on track."
"Many vulnerable people are being unnecessarily caught up in the legal system because the existing Day Pass is not meeting their needs – this will help fix that."
"This is the next step in our ongoing work to make our public transport ticketing system simpler and fairer for passengers across Victoria."
