Good Move – Fixing Transport Congestion

Congested roads and crowded public transport may feel like a distant memory as most of us stay home during the coronavirus pandemic, however, it’s still a real problem for our growing city and state — and will be in the future if we don’t do things differently.

In late March, Infrastructure Victoria released new research that shows behaviour change is the best solution to reduce growing congestion and crowding on Victoria’s roads and public transport, as well as getting more out of our transport system.

Melbourne Forum member Dr Jonathan Spear is Infrastructure Victoria’s deputy chief executive and chief operating officer. He leads the independent advisory body’s work on the 30-year infrastructure strategy, its research program and providing advice to the Victorian Government. He is also general counsel and responsible for project management functions.

The March 2020 report, Good move – fixing transport congestion, shows that a comprehensive change to the pricing of roads, public transport and parking is key to motivating people to change their time and mode of travel, resulting in a more efficient and fairer system for all Victorians.

This new work also shows that up to 85 per cent of Victorians could pay less for transport when concessions and subsidies are included to ensure the approach is fair and equitable. The cost of these would be more than offset by a more efficient and better-utilised transport system.

The research brings together new transport modelling, international case studies and community opinion that establishes strong evidence for comprehensive reform of our transport pricing system.

Join us at 12:30pm via Zoom as Jonathan Spear outlines the problems with our transport pricing system and how they can be addressed. He will then open the floor to questions and lead what promises to be a stimulating discussion on the issues.