Community panel considers the price of transport

INFRASTRUCTURE Victoria has published the report of a community panel which it convened to consider changing the way Victorians pay for the transport network.

The panel of 38 Victorians worked together over four weeks to consider the question: “Under what conditions, if any, would the community accept a change in the way Victorians pay for roads and public transport?”

The community panel detailed eight conditions under which they would accept a change to the way they paid for roads and public transport.

These conditions included:
• An increase in public transport and road costs must not cluster disadvantaged people based on where they live
• Network pricing needs to come with service improvements
• Pricing must be transparent, simple, and provide options, and
• Modifications to pricing should be reviewed by an expert independent body to represent public transport and road users’ interests to ensure a fair and equitable system.

Infrastructure Victoria chief executive officer Michel Masson said the report was a crucial component of Infrastructure Victoria’s research program on transport network pricing.

“In our 30-year infrastructure strategy we recommended the introduction of a comprehensive transport pricing scheme because we think such a system could deliver profound benefits.

“Receiving community feedback on such a complex and challenging topic is critical, and we are delighted to have received such a considered and high-quality report from our panel members.

“We offer our sincere thanks to all the community panel members who gave up their time to make a valuable contribution about how the state’s infrastructure is managed.

“The panel’s report will be used by Infrastructure Victoria in our research and we think it will also make an important contribution to the debate on transport network pricing.” Infrastructure Victoria will consider the community panel’s report and provide a formal response in the coming months.

The panel’s report will be used to inform the next phase of Infrastructure Victoria’s research on transport network pricing.