To compensate for years of ongoing disruptions to transport across the city ahead of the "Big Switch On" for the metro tunnel on February 1st, the Allan Labor government has announced free weekend public transport travel for December and January.
Thanks, Victoria! Free PT Every Weekend This Summer | Premier
Sustainable Cities' Better Buses Campaign support this gesture, as in our Western suburbs, travellers have been hammered by disruptions due to the Metro Tunnel and West Gate Tunnel over the past decade. Hopefully, this move also brings much needed relief for Melbournians doing it tough in the cost of living crisis.
But although this is a welcome move, many Western suburbs residents won't benefit from this plan, due to the severe lack of public transport across the West, including the limited coverage and poor operating hours of the bus network.
For residents in Toorak and Brighton, weekend buses such as the 604 finish at 1am in the next morning, but most buses in the West finish far earlier, around 9pm. The disparities are stark, and when the Eastern suburbs focused tram network is considered, it becomes even more obvious.
The current timetables do not enable young people in the West to get where they need to go; often they often work odd hours, even on weekends, just to get by whilst juggling study commitments. When they decide to have a night out, in Melbourne, the entertainment and nightlife capital of Australia, the current bus network leaves them stranded at either a train station or the rare night bus stop.
Even if someone makes it out on the weekend on a free fare, they're left paying steep Uber or Taxi fares to get them home from a station. Or otherwise they're left with a dangerous late night walk home.
"Young people will be asking what the point of free fares is, when they have to pay for an expensive Uber just to make it home at the end of the day", said Sustainable Cities spokesperson Adam Bain. "This just isn't a concern for people in Malvern or Camberwell, where even if the tram service is not amazing, at least it can get them home late into the evening".
