Transport

By Ed Merrison
BETTER transport links for Ferntree Gully and a Rowville train extension are two local policies being pushed by a new coalition of environment, welfare and transport users’ groups.
With a major interest in the outer east, the Coalition for People’s Transport gathered in Rowville on Thursday, 9 February to launch a report entitled Transport and Liveability: A Path To Sustainable Victoria.
Chiefly comprised of Environment Victoria, Friends of the Earth, the Victorian Council of Social Service (VCOSS) and the Public Transport Users Association (PTUA), the coalition called for a rethink of Government strategy, with a push to reduce road spending and car dependence while improving public transport networks and service delivery.
At the launch, PTUA outer east branch convenor Alex Makin said deficiencies in public transport were cutting off Ferntree Gully residents from the rest of Knox.
“It’s like there’s a wall dividing Knox between the western side, which has basic public transport services, and the east, which is basically a public transport wasteland. The coalition is united in urging for improved public transport from an economic, social inclusion and environmental aspect,” he said.
Mr Makin also called for a commitment to improve bus networks and increase the frequency of buses at weekends and in the evening.
“Buses, in particular, have poorer service routes as you travel to outer suburbs, and in the Hills it’s a chronic problem,” he said.
Other issues of particular interest to the outer east were improving the links between bus, tram and rail networks, the duplication of the Belgrave train line and accelerating initiatives such as the Stud Road SmartBus project.
Knox councillor Mick Van de Vreede, also at the Rowville meeting, said some of the recent steps taken by the State Government were promising, such as the future introduction of the Wellington Road and Stud Road SmartBuses and the tramlink from Vermont South to Knox City.
However, Cr Van de Vreede said outer eastern residents were still paying more for the provision of public transport but were getting an inferior service.
Cr Van de Vreede said he would like to see bus frequency improve to at least 20 minutes intervals, and said he would like to see a plan in place that would set a new culture that went against the current trends of car and road dependence.
Cr Van de Vreede said the Government needed to get serious about “medium-term planning” for the future, with clear commitments made for the next 10 years.
“I’d like to see a transport plan that itemises transport projects and outlines a time line for delivery. (The Government) needs to align the implementation of transport projects with their current planning policies,” he said.
Cr Van de Vreede said feasibility studies into bus and rail improvements were urgently required to ensure Knox’s future growth occurred in tandem with corresponding transport improvements, without perpetuating a culture of car dependence.
“Activity centres such as Knox City and Stud Park will go into a downward spiral if the State Government does not deliver on the public transport system in the shorter term,” he said.