Parliamentary committee recommends expanding Melbourne free tram zone
A push to expand Melbourne’s free tram zone to cover popular tourist destinations near the CBD is gaining momentum after this key endorsement.
Victoria
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Melbourne’s free tram zone could be expanded to cover popular tourist destinations near the CBD after a parliamentary inquiry recommended changes to the popular policy.
It comes after months of consultation in which Yarra Trams urged the government not to dramatically expand the zone and transport advocates called for it to be scrapped.
In a report tabled to the Victorian parliament on Thursday, the Legislative Council Economy and Infrastructure Committee recommended a compromise.
It called an extension of the free tram zone to include the city’s Arts Precinct and the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre in a bid to boost tourism.
“These small extensions would benefit Melbourne’s visitor economy and help promote Melbourne as an attractive destination,” committee chair Enver Erdogan said.
“As we look to recover from the impacts of the global COVID-19 pandemic, every competitive advantage will help draw people from interstate and overseas.”
The report acknowledged that overcrowding on trams passing through the CBD had grown after the scheme with introduced, with the Department of Transport raising concerns commuters bound for the suburbs were being kept from services by those on unnecessarily short trips.
In 2018, Lord Mayor Sally Capp pledged to expand the dramatically expand the zone across the entire Melbourne municipality but later detailed that this was a long-term goal.
Other recommendations include a review of the current public transport pricing system, modelling on the impact of coronavirus on patronage and an extension of Metro’s early bird pricing for trams and buses.
Public Transport Users Association spokesman Daniel Bowen said extending the free tram zone by one or two stops was unlikely to cause significant problems.
“It is good to see the report highlight some of the problems with the free tram zone,” he said.
“Ultimately we would prefer it was removed entirely.”
The Andrews Government will now consider the committee’s recommendations.
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