Victorian public transport system still handling 200,000 trips a day
Victoria’s public transport network is still handling hundreds of thousands of trips every day — despite most of the state’s workers and students staying home. Take a look at the figures, here.
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Victoria’s public transport network is handling hundreds of thousands of trips every day, with school bus routes to continue to run this week while most children study from home.
Figures collected by the Department of Transport show on average there are more than 200,000 daily journeys recorded on trains, trams and buses across the state.
The research showed about 66 per cent of these passengers were commuting to their workplace while 29 per cent were travelling to the shops for groceries and other items.
The figures have encouraged authorities to maintain the current public transport timetable despite a massive reduction in passenger numbers.
All school bus services will also operate as normal from Wednesday to ensure children who cannot study from home are still able to get to school.
It comes amid speculation trains and trams would eventually be moved to a weekend timetable as more Victorians stayed home during COVID-19 restrictions.
Metro Trains and V/Line are believed to be losing millions of dollars in farebox revenue every week and are in ongoing discussions with the Andrews Government.
The Department of Transport’s head of transport services, Jeroen Weimar, said public transport would remain available for those who need it.
“There are many Victorians who rely upon the train, bus and tram network every day, particularly those who are performing critical frontline jobs – such as healthcare workers, educators and, people working at supermarkets and pharmacies,” he said.
“With Term 2 resuming this week, it’s also important that our services are available for those students who need to be in the classroom, so they can get to and from school safely.”
Commuters have been urged to travel outside of the peak if possible and only travel as far as necessary to maintain social distancing.
Operators are also asking passengers to only sit in forward-facing seats and in every second row on public buses.
Trains and trams are given a deep clean every night by Metro, V/Line and Yarra Trams staff in addition to their normal processes.
Surfaces on Melbourne’s buses are sanitised every night and fumigated every three days.
Public Transport Users Association spokesman Daniel Bowen said Melbourne relied on having good public transport.
“Even if large numbers of people are staying at home there is clearly a need for people who don’t travel by car to get to work or the shops,” he said.
“There are medical staff and other essential workers who will need to be able to commute and the key is making sure there is enough capacity.
“If there were any changes to the number of services they would also need to make sure passengers can maintain a safe distance.”
Mr Bowen said Australia’s low infection rate may have allowed authorities to keep the network running safely.
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