The Maroondah Journal has reported on the latest efforts to abolish the inequities that exist within Melbourne’s public transport zone system, with the Municipal Association of Victoria joining the call for fare reform:

The Municipal Association of Victoria will lobby the Government to abolish zone three fares after representatives voted at a state council meeting last Thursday.

The motion to abolish zone three fares was proposed by Maroondah Council to ensure equity for Melbourne’s outer eastern residents relative to other parts of Melbourne. This inequity is evident through the fact that an annual ticket for zones, two and three costs $1999 compared to $1633 for just zones one and two.

Public Transport Users Association outer-east convenor Alex Makin said zone three ticketing affected outer east residents.

“Residents within the outer metropolitan areas pay the most for transport, [but they] receive the least level of service,” Mr Makin said. It’s time for the government to start listening to peak bodies like the MAV. It’s time to listen to residents and councils.”

Melbourne’s public transport zones are currently inequitable and penalise Melbourne’s outer eastern suburbs. With suburbs such as Hurstbridge, which are further out than Ringwood, Dandenong or Lilydale being located in zone two it is clear that there is no logic behind the current zone boundaries other than an attempt to penalise outer eastern residents.