Labor has committed to a long overdue upgrade for the dangerous Western Freeway, with new off ramps for Thornhill Park, and road widening from Ballarat Road to Ferris Road. This commitment brings the total investment to over $1.5 billion.
The coalition opposition has focused on rail, promising $1.7 billion dollars for 25 new hybrid trains, $68 million for each set. These trains would be a stop gap solution until electrification is completed.
Whilst it is good news for the West that the major parties are putting the spotlight on transport issues in the West, both these commitments cost more than the entire annual spend for buses in Melbourne. For a fraction of these eye watering price tags, significant bus reform can be rolled out across the entire Western Suburbs.
“Buses are the low hanging fruit that will get the Western suburbs moving” said Sustainable Cities spokesperson Jaksha Shah. “We are asking for a fast, frequent and connected grid of buses, it is an effective and inexpensive solution for the gridlock we experience every day.”
The Melton area has had notable recent bus improvements, with the new routes 140A for Mount Atkinson and 451 for Thornhill park, running every 20 minutes on weekdays, however unfortunately falling to every 40 minutes on weekends. Outside of these 2 new routes, the existing Melton network is a mess of neglected, indirect and infrequent buses for which incremental improvement is not a practical option.
Instead, it is time for the major parties to commit to a structural rethink of Melton’s bus network, implementing a frequent grid of direct buses, running on main roads connecting to key destinations including shopping centres and V/Line stations.
