The St Kilda festival, which is one of Melbourne’s oldest music festivals, was held this weekend across both Saturday and Sunday.

Featuring a mix of emerging and renowned artists over several stages, the Festival includes an array of musical genres, as well as other festivities.

While the St Kilda Festival is a significant fixture on Melbourne’s event calendar, it is disappointing that Port Phillip residents within Port Melbourne and Fishermans Bend residents have limited transport options accessing this event.

Public Transport Victoria boasted improved tram frequencies connecting the Festival to South Melbourne, Middle Park, Albert and the CBD along routes route 96 and 12, but there were no comparable service upgrades for bus routes. As a consequence, residents of Port Melbourne and Fishermans Bend had to rely on just hourly bus services through route 606, despite this being the only direct connection between Fishermans Bend, Port Melbourne and St Kilda.

It is unacceptable that Port Melbourne and Fishermans Bend residents do not have frequent and reliable public transport services to St Kilda, hampering access across Port Phillip. I am advocating for public transport improvements to bus route 606 to improve connectivity for our communities.