Syeda Zahra at St Albans where she commutes to for work. She spends $24 on Uber to get from a housing estate to Rockbank train station to get to work because there are no buses.Credit:Photo Luis Ascui
“If I stopped doing my job because of all of my expenses,how can I survive?” said Zahra,a teacher’s aide. “I have to drive in the future when I receive lessons,but for now it’s very difficult for me.”
The quality of Melbourne’s bus services,especially in the outer suburbs,has been put under the spotlight again after the state opposition unveiled its first major cost-of-living policy of the election campaign.
If elected,the Coalition willcut the cost of bus fares across the state,as well as metropolitan trams and trains,to $2 andhalve the price of V/Line tickets.
Planning and transport experts have warned the commitment would disproportionately benefit the affluent and starve the government of funds needed to improve services in the outer suburbs.
Infrastructure Victoria chief executive Jonathan Spear did not comment on the opposition policy for a $2 flat fare in metropolitan areas,but reiterated a recommendation to the Victorian government that bus fares should be the cheapest form of public transport and priced at $1.25 a trip.
“We know from our research that people who are less well-off are the people who use the bus a lot more – 47 per cent of bus trips are made by people on the lowest 40 per cent of household incomes,” Spear said.