PRINCIPLES
1. Transport systems must function according to principles of ecological sustainability, equity of access, and public control of critical public transport infrastructure.
2. Climate change, poor planning and urban sprawl make Victoria's present transport reality unsustainable.
3. We have an urgent need to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and the rate of greenhouse gas emissions from the transport section.
4. Road traffic has many harmful effects relative to other forms of transportation, particularly in urban areas, including:
- its significant contributions to greenhouse gas emissions
- emissions of toxic fumes and ultra-fine particulates
- noise pollution
- stress, road rage and related anti-social behaviour
- injuries and deaths resulting from collisions
- promoting the construction of roads and parking (inducing demand for them) over more productive land uses
- eroding neighbourhood walkability and community connectedness
- increasing the amount of otherwise productive time spent driving
- the time spent by the police and the justice system enforcing road rules.
5. Transport, infrastructure, and land-use strategic planning must be integrated to be effective.
6. The widening and construction of additional major roads, highways and freeways does little more than induce additional demand, and ultimately does not reduce long-term urban road congestion.
7. Roads should not be operated for private profit.
8. A greater proportion of trips should be made by walking, cycling, and public transport rather than by private motor vehicles – to reduce environmental impacts, improve health and reduce road congestion, deaths, and injuries.
9. Safe, convenient, affordable, and accessible public transport allows for more people to live fuller, more active and more independent lives.
10. Safe active transport should be encouraged – including through investment in dedicated cycleways and footpaths, shared use paths and safer on road routes, new infrastructure, widening and extension of existing infrastructure, and better connections between routes.
11. Public transport spaces should be safe, welcoming and free from discrimination and harassment.
12. Investments in active and public transport must be complemented by measures that effectively disincentivise private motor vehicle use, and better account for the real costs they impose on the community.
13. Public transport should be owned and operated by the government on behalf of the public.
14. Public transport agencies, including planning and service providers, must operate transparently, with participatory, consultative, and accountable decision-making.
15. Local communities and local governments need ongoing, substantive, and meaningful opportunities and adequate resources to participate in transport-related decision-making.
16. A high-quality state and national rail network is essential to a modern economy, and high-quality public transport benefits local economies.
17. The role of rail in moving freight should be significantly increased relative to road-based freight.
18. Interstate rail infrastructure must be augmented to allow fast, efficient, and low-cost freight movements, to and from ports and between state capitals.
19. Freight transport modes should compete fairly, and equally bear all their direct and indirect costs.
20. Freight should be transported in a manner that is environmentally responsible, and reduces risk to the public and environment to levels that are as low as reasonably practicable.
AIMS
Reduced Emissions from Transport
1. Concrete and ambitious strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transport and freight.
2. Ensuring all road and rail vehicles meet appropriate standards for emitting air and noise pollution by introducing periodic independent testing of vehicle exhaust emissions and roadworthiness.
3. Require all new state government cars to be fully electric or, where not practical, hybrid.
4. Transitioning Victoria’s public transport system to 100% electric services powered by renewable energy sources, including bus and coach services and regional trains.
Sustainable Transport Planning
5. An independent, accountable, and transparent body to manage public transport, with a review of the franchise policy prior to the completion of existing contracts.
6. Evaluating major transport proposals for social, environmental, economic, and other associated benefits and costs against those of alternative transport solutions.
7. Regular performance evaluation of all transport systems, showing full costs and benefits, including capital, maintenance, social and environmental aspects of each, as well as the financial contributions made by users of each mode.
8. Provide and maintain in-house project appraisal and modelling expertise within the public service to verify and assess claimed environmental, social, and economic benefits of infrastructure projects.
Maximised Public Transport Use
9. Significant investment in new trains, buses and trams for deployment across new, existing and enhanced metropolitan, regional and interstate networks.
10. Repair and renewal of existing ageing rail infrastructure.
11. Duplication of all single-line sections of the metropolitan rail network.
12. Public transport that is fully accessible to people with disabilities and older people, and is fully compliant with anti-discrimination legislation.
13. Increased investment in community transport options for older people and people with a disability.
14. Co-location of commercial and community facilities at train stations.
15. Convert and extend existing rail infrastructure to support higher-speed services and connections between population centres.
16. Servicing all urban areas, including regional towns and cities, with public transport that induces demand by improving service frequencies, reliability and coverage, and which keeps pace with the growth in demand these improvements generate.
17. A clear and equitable public transport fare structure that maximises public transport use.
18. The implementation of single-use tickets and removal of fees to purchase reusable stored-value cards (myki) to encourage one-way trips.
19. Appropriate staffing throughout the public transport system to improve passenger safety, support and amenity, and provide assistance across the network at all times.
20.Regulation of ride-sharing services.
21. Measures to protect workers and patrons of public transport, taxis and rideshares from harassment and violence.
22. Integrating the commercial passenger vehicle industry with public transport systems to facilitate connections at rail, bus, and tram stops.
23. Extend the practice of giving priority to trams and buses at traffic light intersections.
24. Extend and connect the many 'missing links' in the existing metropolitan tram network.
25. Expand and improve the frequency of overnight weekend 'night network' train, tram and bus services.
Encourage cycling as a transport option
26. Accelerating construction of the Principal Bicycle Network.
27. Increasing clearly signed, designated road space for cyclists, including signalling equity and protected cycleways where demand and risk are high.
28. Giving cyclists priority over motor vehicles in high concentration zones such as schools.
29. Better integration of cycling with other transport options, including bicycle access to trains and secure bicycle storage at public transport stops and stations.
30. Regulation of one-way or ‘floating’ bike share schemes to encourage responsible stewardship by scheme operators, the safe storage of bicycles in public spaces, and the removal and repair of bicycles when they are no longer in use.
31. The funding and assessment of cycling and pedestrian infrastructure, independent of road construction infrastructure projects.
Sustainable freight transport
32. Central freight planning that effectively prioritises and develops rail freight networks and practices.
33. Using regulation and incentives to shift an increasing proportion of freight from road to rail, in cooperation with neighbouring States.
34. Significantly increasing the proportion of intra-state and inter-state freight moved by rail by standardising and upgrading the Victorian freight rail network and connecting major logistics sites by rail.
35. Adopting a Victorian logistics policy for ports and long-distance freight movements, prioritising rail.
36. Increasing the volume of stand-alone country rail freight services, including mixed traffic where volumes for either passenger-only or freight-only services are insufficient.
37. Implementing long-term solutions to solve empty freight container movements by on-road heavy vehicles, including the use of rail options and establishing dedicated intermodal freight terminals near industrial areas.
38. Co-operating with other governments in Australia to ensure the ongoing effectiveness of the national regulatory scheme for heavy vehicle design, operation, safety and driver fatigue management.
39. Basing state road user charges for freight vehicles on axle load and road damage per kilometre, rather than a fixed registration charge.
40. Preventing further increases in truck axle loads and the physical size of road freight.
41. Preventing further coastal port development and channel deepening by focusing on increasing the movement of intra-state and inter-state freight by rail.
Roads & road safety
42. Evidence-based speed limits on urban, metropolitan, and rural roads.
43. Improving road safety through smart road network management, considering safety measures for all road users, on-road priority for public transport, and safer bicycle lanes.
44. No new privately-operated tolled freeways.
45. Elimination of dangerous level crossings in urban areas.
46. Measures to improve the safety of level crossings across regional areas, including warning signage, lighting, boom gates and other systems.
47. Improving the parlous state of country roads to reduce road trauma and deaths in regional Victoria.
Alternatives to private car ownership
48. Supporting the uptake of car sharing as an alternative to car ownership.
49. Regulation of one way or “floating” car share schemes to encourage responsible stewardship by scheme operators, including legal parking arrangements for share vehicles, and the removal and repair of vehicles when they are no longer in use.
50. Effective regulation of autonomous vehicles to ensure their safety.
These state policies were last amended by members at a policy forum held on 14 June 2025.