Wednesday, 1 April 2026

 David ETTERSHANK (Western Metropolitan) (09:57): No doubt many Victorians are delighted that the government is making public transport free for a month. For many, a weekly Myki typically costs between $45 and $60 a week. However, for hundreds of thousands in the west, it is of little use. They cannot access public transport, can access it but cannot get on it or cannot be sure that it will even turn up, let alone be on time. Residents of our most multicultural suburb, Point Cook, can spend an hour in gridlock just to get onto the highway, even longer on the bus, and then they have to get to a station or a bus interchange. It is Point Cook, however, so at least you can hear the abysmal public transport being cursed in more than a hundred languages.

If you are on the Melton line, you can squeeze yourself onto an overcrowded V/Line train. Some lucky commuters get to stand in the toilet cubicles, such is the congestion. If you live in or near Mount Atkinson, it is a perilous half-hour walk to the nearest bus stop. The route 140 bus, promised a year ago, like so many of the ghost buses in the west, is yet to arrive. Sunbury residents are left scratching their heads, wondering why half the trains on their line only make it to Watergardens. And if you are looking for a park at a train station, forget it. Tens of thousands of westies are forced to drive on the choking, often substandard, roads because public transport is not fit for purpose. We hope the government’s new solutions can fix these old problems – (Time expired)