Article: Thumbs up for tram, train, bus

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From the Melbourne Age click here!

Thumbs up for tram, train, bus

Thumbs up for tram, train, bus
Reid Sexton State Political Reporter
August 4, 2011

SATISFACTION with Melbourne's public transport network has reached its highest levels in four years as the train, tram and bus networks begin to reap the benefits of improvements in recent years.

And users rated the ageing Metcard system among the most impressive things about the network, well above the myki system set to replace it.

The steady rise in passenger satisfaction was under way before November's state election, suggesting the boost has little to do with the new Coalition government.

Public Transport Users Association president Daniel Bowen welcomed the increase, but said it was too soon to conclude that there had been permanent improvements.

''We are seeing slow, steady improvements in customers' satisfaction, but there is clearly a long way to go,'' he said. ''Over the past decade public transport in Melbourne has been appallingly badly planned.''

Satisfaction suffered for years under the Labor government as a surge in patronage resulted in a rise from 364 million public transport trips in 2003-04 to 515 million trips less than seven years later.

This was compounded by what critics labelled the Labor government's failure to buy trains and trams or adequately invest in infrastructure.

Public transport was a key battleground in last year's state election, with dissatisfaction credited with delivering the Coalition key marginal seats.

But figures from the Department of Transport's confidential customer satisfaction survey, obtained by The Age under freedom of information laws, reveal confidence in the network is returning.

The March quarter survey, based on the views of 2125 users, shows the average satisfaction rating is 60.9 out of 100. This is up from 60.7 the previous quarter and a far cry from the low of 56.9 mid-last year. It is the first time in five years satisfaction has grown for three straight quarters.

The metropolitan train, tram and bus networks are each set to record their strongest performance in 2010-11 since at least 2006-07.

Mr Bowen said the rail network was beginning to experience better reliability and punctuality, sparked by Labor's investment in 18 new trains in 2007, later amended to 38 trains the next year.

He said the Labor government's creation of a SmartBus network, which significantly boosted services in the middle and outer suburbs, and improvements on the tram system such as TramTracker and extra services on some routes had led to increased satisfaction. But he said an overall rating of just over 60 was still disappointing.

Improved satisfaction with the rail system has been fuelled mostly by improved perceptions of how well the trains run, with Metro slowly boosting reliability. Train passengers are most impressed with the quality of drivers, while they rate personal security levels and the quality of stations the worst.

Passengers who use the stations between Seaholme and Werribee on the Werribee line are the most dissatisfied, scoring the train network just 56.5 out of 100. Passengers on the Glen Waverley line beyond Burnley are most satisfied, with 67.2

The most satisfied tram passengers were on the No. 67 Melbourne University-to-Carnegie route (74.7), while No. 8 Moreland-to-Toorak passengers were least satisfied (67.6).

Bus passengers are most impressed with the Metcard system and drivers, while they think myki is the least impressive thing about Melbourne's buses.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/thumbs-up-for-tram-train-bus-20110803-1ibpa.html