Rachel Payne MP spoke to motion 541, put forth by Legalise Cannabis Victoria. This motion proposed improvements to bus services, and free bus travel for Victorians to promote better community access in a cost-of-living crisis.

Wednesday the 13th of November, 2024
Victorian Legislative Council

Rachel Payne addresses Victorian Legislative Council regarding free bus services

RACHEL PAYNE (South-Eastern Metropolitan): I rise to speak to motion 541 in my colleague David Ettershank’s name. I would like to begin by echoing the comments of my colleague. I too love a good route, and I think it is something that everyone deserves to experience. But unfortunately, too many Victorians endure unsatisfying routes that take too long and go to all the wrong places. They trek long distances just to wait for a bus that never comes. We know that a poor-quality public transport network furthers cost-of-living pressures. Generates more pollution. Increases congestion. Cuts people off from central services like education, health and employment. Increases isolation and entrenches disadvantage. And yet in Victoria we have a bus network that is infrequent, unreliable and expensive.

Melbourne’s population is expected to grow rapidly in the coming years. As more and more people choose to call Melbourne home, the population will continue to spread further and further from the CBD. Without changes to our transport system, Melburnians are expected to face a 50 per cent increase in road congestion by 2036. Aren’t we all looking forward to that? Not only does this have a billion-dollar cost to the economy. But there is also a social cost, as anyone who is forced to regularly sit in traffic will know. Our public transport system has failed to grow with us, but change is possible. Buses can adapt, and they can adapt in a fast way.

In my region the 800 bus is just one example of public transport that failed to meet community needs. This service was incredibly limited and had no timetable upgrade for over 30 years. Despite the immense population growth in the area. This is something that I have raised in this chamber several times. Thanks to the groundswell of community campaigning, we secured an upgraded service for this route. Starting in the coming weeks, route 800 will now have a new Sunday service, new weeknight trips and reduced weekend wait times. Cutting the Saturday afternoon wait from 120 minutes to 30 minutes.

I would like to give a big shout-out to the #fix800bus campaign and the work of the Fix Dandy Buses group for achieving this incredible result. The 800-bus campaign was a success, but we know there are many more routes throughout Victoria that are well overdue for review. Once upon a time there was a dream to have everyone in Melbourne living within 400 metres of a bus stop. But the reality of this dream in a growing city is that bus frequency has been reduced, travel times have increased thanks to indirect routes and weekend services have been reduced or cut entirely.

A 2023 survey by the Metropolitan Transport Forum showed that only 25 per cent of Victorian commuters were satisfied with the current bus service. Often citing infrequent services and indirect routes as the source of frustration. And what about Myki? As recently as last week we had a Myki meltdown. Thanks to a failure to account for the end of 3G and despite us living in the year 2024, our ticketing system still does not accept anything except a Myki. In light of recent reports about a legal stand-off over the contract for Myki’s replacement, many, including me, fear they will not live long enough to see this change.

We have talked a bit today about free buses. When you think about how much money is poured into Myki, you have to consider: is this really the best use of resources, and potentially could we just get rid of Myki on buses and use that to help people accessing these services?

Melburnians are frustrated and do deserve better. This is why our motion calls for this government to undertake a route review of bus networks. Particularly in growth areas, to identify transport black spots and modify routes to reduce commute and wait times, getting people to where they need to go. This kind of network reconfiguration of Victoria’s complex and inefficient bus routes has broad support from groups like Infrastructure Victoria, the RACV, the Public Transport Users Association and the Committee for Melbourne.

This government has invested billions of dollars in long-term transport infrastructure like the Suburban Rail Loop. And I am not going to go into the merits of or disagree with the project today. I just want to highlight the fact that a lot of public transport investment is tied up in projects that will take many, many years. If not decades, to complete. And this offers little comfort to those who need better public transport now, which is what buses can offer. The demands on public transport systems in Victoria are only set to get worse over the next few years. Unless this government invests in scalable, sustainable and cost-effective options in the short term – like buses, the only public transport option that moves with Victorians.

Better yet, what if we made these buses free? Like I mentioned earlier, you know it, I know it and we all know it: there is a cost-of-living crisis and hardly anyone is tapping on to begin with, so how much are we really losing, especially when the Myki reader is down because of the 3G issue? When times are tough the first thing people cut are the non-essentials.

Unfortunately, for many those are social catch-ups with friends. But with free buses you could use the money saved to catch up with a friend for a coffee. We need people to get back to using public transport. Something many living in the outskirts and regions have understandably put in the too-hard basket. It is our hope that if they experience such a good free route, their love of buses will be reinvigorated and the call for a route review will be even louder.

That is why our motion also asks the government to explore the feasibility of a 12-month trial of free bus services. Providing tangible cost-of-living relief to those who most need it. We have seen the success of that pilot program in Queensland for a 50-cent fare. Which has been adopted by the new Queensland coalition government.

We expect that as part of the feasibility study into a free bus trial an education campaign would also be considered. And this could encourage a cultural shift about the benefits of jumping on a bus. Back to my point about Queensland: we actually see that particularly seniors are using the bus more and more. Because 50 cents is affordable for them, meaning they can get around and see friends. It limits their social isolation and gets them to where they need to be. We can be tram-centric in the city, but for many Victorians they are not actually an option. Like I said, this motion is for all Victorians. Because they deserve a world-class and cost-effective public transport system, and we hope this government gets on board.

Motion negatived.

Related Resources:

> Free and frequent buses will convince the South-East to garage their cars: Legalise Cannabis Victoria – Rachel Payne
> Connecting Communities – Fair, Frequent & Free Buses – Rachel Payne
> Cardina Shire Route 838 Bus needs better services – Rachel Payne
> 800 Bus Route – Noble Park & Corrigan Road – Rachel Payne
> Bus Route 800 timetable upgrade – Rachel Payne