Transport in Melbourne
Transport in Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia, consists of several interlinking modes.
Road-based transport accounts for most trips across many parts of the city,[1] facilitated by Australia's largest freeway network.
[1] In 2017-2018, 565 million passenger trips were made on Melbourne's metropolitan public transport network.
[3] Melbourne has the most road space per capita of any Australian city, with its freeway network being comparable to Los Angeles and Atlanta in terms of its size and scale.
[5][6][7] The state government, as part of the release of the Melbourne 2030 planning strategy in 2002, set a target for modal share of cars to decrease to 80 percent by 2020.
Since World War II Melbourne has become a dispersed, car-oriented city, leading to a decline in public transport use.
Under this arrangement, rail and tram operations are contracted to private companies while the infrastructure remained under government control.
Several operators have been awarded contracts since its commencement, including Connex Melbourne, M>Train and Keolis Downer.
[30] Despite initial plans that government subsidies would decrease to zero by 2015, payments to private companies have instead increased significantly.
Most of the remaining track is mixed with vehicle traffic, which makes it one of the slowest tram networks in the world.
Melbourne is the centre of a statewide railway network consisting of lines used for freight and passenger service.
Intrastate passenger services are operated by the government-owned V/Line corporation, with a fleet of locomotive-hauled trains and diesel multiple units.
The city is also connected to Sydney by the NSW TrainLink XPT, and to Adelaide by Great Southern Rail's The Overland.
AirAsia X began low-cost flights from Avalon to Kuala Lumpur in December 2018, giving Melbourne a second international airport (unique among Australia's capital cities).
Although a small number of regional airlines operate from there, it is primarily used for general aviation and is also home to Victoria's air ambulance.
RAAF Williams, Point Cook, where the Royal Australian Air Force originated, is located near Melbourne's south-western limits.
[52] Its freeway network is the largest in Australia,[2] with an extensive grid of arterial roads dating back to Melbourne's initial surveying.
Expansion took place over the next thirty years, with the Monash Freeway, CityLink and the Western Ring Road all being constructed during this time.
Despite government figures indicating slowed growth in road travel since 2006 (zero growth in 2008–09)[54] and the government's goal to reduce road use to 80 percent of all motorised trips, the State Government have announced several large-scale road infrastructure investments to complete many projects from the original 1969 Plan, including Peninsula Link, East West Link and North East Link).
Five of Australia's top 10 suburbs for bicycle mode share for journeys to work are located in Melbourne.
[58] In 2020, the City of Melbourne Council sought to add 40 km of new protected cycling lanes for the inner-city as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
[62][63][64] Singaporean bike-sharing company oBike briefly entered the Melbourne market in mid-2017, but abandoned its program in 2018 following extensive complaints and issues with its business practices.
[72] Vehicle for hire companies such as Uber, DiDi, Shofer, Taxify, GoCatch, Shebah,[73] and Ola Cabs, also operate in Melbourne.
Privately run ferries and other vessels also travel from Southbank along the Yarra River, to Williamstown, and across Port Phillip Bay.
The government introduced the Transport Legislation Amendment (Taxi Services Reform and Other Matters) Act 2011, which was enacted in late June 2011 to empower the inquiry.
The sectors are subject to a no-fault safety-investigation plan conducted by the Chief Investigator, Transport Safety.
