By REBECCA BILLS
ZONE 1 and 2 daily commuters will save around $1200 a year following the Coalition Government’s recent announcement on price reduction.
Liberal Member for Eastern Victoria Region Andrew Ronalds said train travel would be cheaper for Belgrave line commuters as they would be able to travel Zone 1 and 2 for the price of a Zone 1 fare.
He said commuters who currently purchased a Zone 1 and 2 fare at the full rate would save around $5 a day under the new arrangement.
“Commuters travelling daily for Belgrave, Tecoma, Upwey and Upper Ferntree Gully stations into the city would save around $1200 a year, while someone using an annual myki pass would save more than $750,” Mr Ronalds said.
“Public transport is a really, really important issue and it’s important that we give people an opportunity to use it and help people out.
“There’s no doubt that the cost of living is going up and anything we can do to as a government to help people I think is a fantastic thing – it really does put money in people’s pockets.”
Local commuter and university student Caitlin Fischer said the announcement made public transport a lot more accessible financially.
Ms Fischer said with the changes she wanted to rely more on public transport to get her to and from the city.
“It’s a lot cheaper now than driving and paying for parking in the city,” she said.
Liberal candidate for Monbulk Mark Verschuur said he thought this was an important initiative as it would allow a lot more people to use public transport and ease car congestion inside the city area.
In addition to this, the Coalition Government is providing free tram travel in the CBD.
“People who begin and conclude their journey entirely within Zone 2 will continue to pay the current discounted fare,” Mr Ronalds said.
“Putting this on the back of 1000 new train services and another 40 metropolitan trains, the Government really is committed to public transport and I think this really shows.”
When Mr Ronalds was asked about the issue of public bus and train timetables often not linking, he said there would be more announcements on the issue to come.
“It’s something the government is aware of and something the government is really working on at the moment,” he said.
“It is something that needs to be fixed.”
These changes will come into effect on 1 January 2015 and form part of the Coalition Government’s transport plan to deliver more services to more people in a more timely fashion.
