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Introduction >
Ministers' messages > Sustainable
transport
 
Sustainable transport
Melbourne 2030 is a blueprint for the future of metropolitan
Melbourne. It is vital that we locate community activities to be
as widely accessible as possible. The shape of the city has a fundamental
impact on our need for improved public transport services and roads.
Recently, the Premier announced a bold vision for transport in
metropolitan Melbourne in the policy statement, Growing Victoria
Together. That vision is described as ‘20/2020’. It
intends that by the year 2020, the proportion of motorised transport
trips taken on public transport will more than double, from the
present 9 per cent to 20 per cent.
To reach this target, we must plan for the future by finding answers
to important questions. What sort of city do we want metropolitan
Melbourne to be? How will people travel around it? How will we increase
the travel choices available to them? Which suburbs will grow and
what kind of houses will people want? How can we better plan the
city so that our transportation systems are efficient and ‘green’?
How can improved transport systems help build communities and enhance
the quality of life for Melburnians?
Not surprisingly, in the consultation process for Melbourne 2030,
transport emerged as a dominant theme. It also proved to be the
feature Melburnians liked most and least about their city.
Melbourne 2030 proposes to integrate land-use and transport
policies around activity centres, to create a balanced and workable
city.
The focus has shifted from expansion on the city’s perimeter,
requiring major new infrastructure, to urban consolidation and better
use of existing transport resources. This includes action to address
a key weakness – the shortage of quality bus routes that link
activity centres and complement the radial train and tram services.
I urge you all to read on, and provide us with feedback about the
initiatives proposed in the Strategy so that metropolitan Melbourne
is the kind of city we want it to be, in public transport terms
by 2020, and as a whole in 2030 and beyond.
Peter Batchelor
Minister for Transport
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