Victoria’s new Premier Jacinta Allan should scrap $200 billion suburban rail loop, defer any other transport expenditure it can to ease pressure on costs, and charge cars to enter and leave Melbourne’s CBD to give trams on major routes a freer run in the inner city, experts say.

Natasha Bradshaw, an associate in The Grattan Institute’s transport and cities program, said Ms Allan should abandon her predecessor Daniel Andrews’ habit of announcing major projects such as the rail loop in election campaigns before they have been properly costed and assessed by independent bodies.