Category: Public Transport Users Association (PTUA)
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Wyndham Council to Government : Let Us Do Your Job
Both the Herald Sun and the MX have today reported that Wyndham City Council, (in Melbourne’s outer west) has formed an internal working group to undertake a scoping study for the Wyndham City Council to construct, own and operate its own tramway system. This demonstrates that an ever increasing number of councils throughout all of…
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Outer East PTUA Branch Meeting – Ensuring Mobility
Perhaps unsurprisingly the issue of rising oil prices dominated this month’s PTUA East and Outer East Branch Meeting. It is clear that rising oil prices are eroding disposable income resulting in serious repercussions for the future economic viability of Melbourne and the Outer East. Research from the Victorian Council of Social Services (VCOSS) has shown…
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Ministerial Ignorance Terminates Transit City
I have recently been advised that the Transport Minister, Peter Batchelor, has refused a request to include three key bus routes within Maroondah onto the Principal Public Transport Network (PPTN). The Principal Public Transport Network includes bus routes that will be upgraded to ensure higher service frequencies and longer operating hours. The correspondence received from…
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PTUA Bus Route Reform
The PTUA Outer East Branch meeting is currently held on the second Tuesday of each month. The meeting for June however, consisted of a forum to discuss the opportunities that exist due to the expiration of the existing Metropolitan bus contracts in 2007. The new contracts and the possibly of an improved funding arrangements from…
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Maroondah Community Cabinet
Today as part of the Maroondah Community Cabinet, the Ringwood Transit City Community Coalition (RTCCC) met Peter Batchelor (Minister for Transport) and Rob Hulls (Minister for Planning). The animosity displayed by Peter Batchelor was unconstructive and as such Peter Batchelor failed to understand the need for immediate transport improvements within Ringwood and Maroondah. The response…
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A Fairer Place To Be?
The Bracks Government’s sixth budget claimed to hold the overall theme of making Victoria A Fairer Place To Be yet while small amounts of funding was allocated for public transport many areas will still remain isolated. In response the disappointing public transport improvements provided in the State Budget I issued the following statement (which is…
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Breakfast With Brumby
This morning as the Outer East Branch Convener of the Public Transport Users Association (PTUA) I attended the Outer East MP’s 2005 Budget Breakfast. The keynote speaker was the Treasurer John Brumby who presented an overview of the current Victorian State Budget and its implications for the outer east. While obviously a number of issues…
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ERITG : Seizing the Day for Bus Reform
The Eastern Region Integrated Transport Group (ERITG) consists of eight Outer East Councils to provide a regional approach to public transport advocacy. The current council members include: Knox Greater Dandenong Yarra Ranges Manningham Maroondah Whitehorse Monash Casey While each member council provides varying degrees of municipal specific public transport advocacy the aim of the regional…
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Much Needed Ringwood to Frankston SmartBus Welcomed
As a community advocate and public transport lobbyist success and campaign victories do not always occur as often as I or residents of the Outer East would always like. The Ringwood to Frankston SmartBus however is one such success story. The need for evening and more frequent bus services along Stud Road and Frankston-Dandenong Road…
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Rail: Ringwood Line
As a public transport lobbyist and community advocate I regularly meet MPs in regard to issues that require urgent attention. During my last meeting with Phil Honeywood, the Deputy Opposition Leader and Member for Warrandyte, I left a copy of the February 2005 edition of the PTUA newsletter which included a list of unfulfilled promises…