Transport

Transport

Being dependent on petrol cars to get around is expensive - especially with Trump and Netanyahu’s illegal war in Iran spiking oil prices.

Transport is set to become our biggest source of climate emissions by 2030 - while noxious gases and diesel particulates harm the health of anyone who lives, works or goes to school near major roads.

Now more than ever, governments need to support people with cheap and clean options to get around.

Our Plan

  1. Free and frequent public transport
  2. Cheaper electric cars and bikes
  3. More bike lanes
  4. Accessible tram stops

Explore our plan for Transport

Free and frequent public transport 

The Greens will make public transport frequent and free, so it's cheap and easy to get around.

The Greens will:

  • Run trams at least every 10 minutes from 7am-10pm
  • Run trains at least every 10 minutes from 7am-10pm across most of the network, where infrastructure allows
  • Duplicate the Upfield line, so it can finally get a train every 10 minutes
  • Spend $270 million to progressively reform buses into a fast, frequent grid, across suburban Melbourne, and upgrade local buses in regional Victoria
  • Run regional trains and coaches more often, by investing $245 million in frequency improvements.
  • And we will make public transport permanently free.
Cheaper electric cars and bikes

The Greens will save you money through a new Green Power Voucher scheme, which will take up to $3000 off the price of electric cars and bikes, and make it easier for people to cut their petrol bills.

Our plan will also see increased electric vehicle charging in your workplace, by supporting businesses with large roof areas or carparks.

More bike lanes and better coordinated bike and scooter hire schemes

With fuel prices through the roof, the Greens want more options to reduce petrol car dependence, including more safe, separated bike and micromobility lanes.

We will commit 5% of the existing transport budget to building a network of safe bike routes across Melbourne and regional centres (the long promised Strategic Cycling Corridors).

The Greens also want to see:

  • More coordination of scooter and bike-hire schemes, so users don’t face new providers and new schemes when they cross a council boundary
  • Scooters using bike lanes to keep footpaths clear for pedestrians and prams
  • More bike racks on regional buses
  • More bike parking at stations and bus stops
  • 30 km/h speed limits in residential streets, around schools and in high pedestrian areas
Accessible tram stops 

People in wheelchairs and with prams and shopping trolleys have been waiting years to be able to catch Melbourne’s trams.

Since coming to power, Labor has built just 102 accessible platform tram stops, leaving over 1000 where people need to climb up from street level. Despite a deadline in legislation to have all stops accessible by the end of 2022.

The Greens believe it’s time to make serious progress on making our tram network accessible, and will make a $225 million initial investment in building accessible tram stops.

No more dodgy transport planning

Transport planning under Labor has included building a toll road proposed by the tolling company, and dreaming up the Suburban Rail Loop without telling the transport department.

The Greens will give independent advisory body Infrastructure Victoria the power and resources to create a detailed Integrated Transport Plan, with a 30-year investment pipeline.

We will then require the government to publicly justify any major project that deviates from the plan.

More train lines, better platforms and more stations

The Greens will give Infrastructure Victoria the power to do our transport planning, instead of basing it on politics.

Depending on the priorities set by the transport plan, we expect to see a whole lot of improved infrastructure, including:

  • increased capacity on regional rail lines to address overcrowding
  • a second Melbourne Metro tunnel
  • reconfiguring the city loop
  • electrifying the line to Melton and building bypass tracks for V/Line
  • fixing the Altona Loop
  • improving platform interchange at Caulfield
  • building more stations on the way to Wyndham Vale

The Greens also commit to fixing the Upfield Line, as recommended by Infrastructure Victoria, given it has one of the worst peak frequencies in Melbourne.

Double rego fees for truckzillas

Car sizes on our roads are ballooning, with an ever-increasing number of American-style "Truckzillas", like the RAM, with bonnets that sit at around 1.3 metres off the ground.

These vehicles guzzle petrol, don’t fit in regular parking spots and are far more likely to kill pedestrians.  Children pay the highest price of all – they are eight times more likely to die being hit by larger utility vehicles compared to a lighter car.

Last year pedestrian deaths in Victoria reached a 17 year high.

The Greens will double registration fees for vehicles with bonnets over 120cm – the Truckzillas that pose the greatest danger to pedestrians and cyclists.