More people using public transport Melbourne

[ozbob]

More people using public transport

MetLink, Melbourne media release Date Published: 6 Sep, 2006
More people are using Melbourne?s public transport with the rising price of petrol cited as the number one reason for leaving the car at home.

Figures compiled by Metlink indicated a 6.2 per cent in growth in patronage for the past 12 months to 30 June 2006 across train, tram and bus.
Metlink CEO, Bernie Carolan said that historically this represented very rapid growth across the network with train passenger numbers having grown the fastest. He said the increase in the number of train travellers was partly because longer distance commuters were most affected by rising petrol prices.
Mr Carolan said a separate survey of 400 people for the quarter finishing 30 June 2006 showed that 23 per cent cited rising petrol and car costs for the switch to public transport.
?Petrol prices jumped significantly in April 2005 and have remained high for most of 2005-06, jumping again this quarter. The high price at the bowser is translating into changed travel behaviour for many Melburnians.
?While petrol prices and the costs of running a car rated the number one reason people are migrating to public transport, there are also a number of other factors influencing a change in travel behaviour.
?Other reasons cited for the period April to June included a change in work circumstances and many reported that public transport is regarded as more convenient and easy,? he said.
Mr Carolan said of the people surveyed, the proportion of people who increased their use of public transport were existing commuters (52 per cent) followed by lapsed users returning to the system (33 per cent). He said there were also a number people who reported to be new users to public transport (15 per cent).
?Our figures are also consistent with a report released by the City of Melbourne last week which recorded less cars travelling to the city for the first six months of the year and more people indicating they had changed from car to non-car transport.
?According to the City of Melbourne figures petrol prices and the increase in parking costs were contributing factors for the change for the six month period to June. This is also consistent with our findings.
?It?s encouraging to see that more and more people are viewing public transport as a sustainable and viable way of commuting to and from work and also getting around Melbourne. It?s also very encouraging for all the operators that we are seeing people returning to the system and a fairly substantial number of new users,? he said.
Mr Carolan said as part of Meeting Our Transport Challenges the State Government was introducing a number of measures to meet the increased demand for public transport services. This included additional train and tram services to be introduced later this year and a 22 per cent increase in local bus services, introduced progressively during the next four years and commencing later this year.
He said that figures recently released by the State Government, which showed an increase in ticket revenue of 9.9 per cent for the last year, also confirmed the rise in patronage. He said the successful efforts in reducing fare evasion during the year, 3.5 per cent recorded in December 2005 and 2 per cent in June 2006, has also contributed to the rise revenue along with the annual fare increase on 1 January 2006 of approximately 2 per cent.
Reasons for changing travel behaviour
Sept 05 %    Dec 05 %    Mar 06 %  Jun 06 %
Car and petrol costs    7    6    7    23
Work circumstances has changed    19    11    15    20
It is more convenient and easy    28    17    14    13
It?s cheaper    5    6    14    10
Traffic and parking problems    7    9    19*    8
Situation has changed    23    11    15    8
* The March 06 quarter also included M2006 Commonwealth Games and the introduction of the Long-Stay Car Park Levy. Extensive education campaigns were undertaken to advise the public to catch public transport during the games.