Why cutting bus fares is a bad idea

A bus at Wyndham Vale station (via Thebusofdoom)

Recommendations 45-47 of Infrastructure Victoria's 30-year Strategy deal with various changes to public transport fares. Some of these are good ideas, but others very much aren't, so let's take a closer look at the problems they're trying to fix, and why I disagree with some of their solutions. 

Travel Diaries: Amsterdam

So - after wending my way up through Spain, France and Belgium, I'd finally arrived in my new home in Amsterdam. It's taken me a while to get around to writing these blogs, so rather than just my first impressions, I can give my observations collected over the last several months.

Should we have free public transport?

A campaign was recently launched for free public transport in Victoria. The group behind this, Free PT Victoria, had a Twitter account and a website asking you to join, but both seem to have disappeared now, despite gaining a lot of approval from some of the people in my Twitter feed. Nonetheless, they're not the first to push for this and they won't be the last.

The website didn't seem to have any kind of detail on why they think it's a good idea, or how it would work. This is not that surprising, really, as people who advocate free public transport seem to think that it's fairly self-evident why we should have it - just as many of those who think we should pay for it think that's self-evident. So I think it's still worth exploring.

The Free CBD and the Unfair Fare

The Victorian Government has recently announced plans to significantly alter the fares for Melbourne's public transport system. Firstly, the CBD and Docklands will become a free zone, so anyone can jump on a tram in the CBD without charge; and secondly, Zone 2 will be, to some extent, abolished.

Source: Premier of Victoria