Public transport fails Melbourne’s outer suburbs

COMMUTERS in our outer suburbs — extending out from Springvale, Epping and Point Cook — are being “left behind” by shoddy access to public transport, with many forced to travel more than 80 minutes to work.

Almost a quarter of outer-Melbourne residents travel more than 30km to work, with three in five not within 15 minutes’ walking distance of frequent public transport.

MELBOURNE commuters in the outer suburbs are being “left behind” by shoddy public transport, with many forced to travel more than 80 minutes to work, a new report reveals.

Three in five residents in Melbourne’s outer suburbs — extending out from Springvale, Epping and Point Cook — are not within 15 minutes’ walking distance to a frequent public transport service.

Infrastructure Australia will on Friday warn millions of people living on the outskirts of our major cities — particularly Sydney and Melbourne — are being failed by all levels of ­government.

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With Melbourne’s population tipped to reach 7.5 million by 2046, the nation’s independent infrastructure adviser is calling on governments to allow for new public transport models, such as on-­demand bus services, and increase the frequency of services in the outer suburbs.

The nation’s independent infrastructure adviser is calling on governments to increase the frequency of transport services in the outer suburbs.

Melbourne has 1.4 million people in its outer suburbs who are not within walking distance of reliable public transport — the most in Australia.

This compares with 1 million in Sydney and Brisbane, half-a-million in Perth and 200,000 in Adelaide.

Other findings include:

POOR public transport in outer Melbourne means people spend more time in cars than in the inner suburbs;

PEOPLE in the outer suburbs have twice as many cars as those in inner Melbourne; and

ALMOST a quarter of outer-Melbourne residents travel more than 30km to work, ­compared with 2 per cent in the inner city.

Infrastructure Australia policy and research executive director Peter Colacino said more “interchanges” needed to be created to get residents to major transport hubs, including railway stations.

“Close to half the population of our five largest cities — Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide — live in the outer suburbs,” Mr Colacino said.

“However, our research shows that people living in these areas experience lower levels of service and ­accessibility to public transport, poor service frequencies and longer travel times compared to inner-city residents.”

Mr Colacino said there needed to be more investment in new types of transport, including “on-demand” services — where people book a service such as a bus for a specific time and it picks up other commuters on the way.

He said the new technology that enables these services would help prepare for the ­introduction of driverless ­vehicles.

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