MTF Transport Forum Port Phillip

The public event was held on Monday 14 September from 6.30 pm to 8.00 pm at St Kilda Town Hall, 99 Carlisle Street, St Kilda, and was livestreamed and recorded.

This free public forum brought local candidates together to discuss better transport across Port Phillip and beyond ahead of the November state election.

Presented by the Metropolitan Transport Forum and hosted by the City of Port Phillip, the forum explored transport issues across Port Phillip and surrounding areas.

The discussion covered planning for growth and infrastructure, safer and more accessible transport, and reducing transport costs while improving access to jobs, education and services.

The program included a Q&A with questions from the live audience.

Mayor Cr Alex Makin hosted the forum, featuring:
Nina Taylor, ALP MLA for Albert Park
Katherine Copsey, MLC for Southern Metropolitan
David Southwick, MLA for Caulfield

Each speaker outlined their plans for better transport in Port Phillip and beyond. The forum was chaired to provide equal speaking time, and audience members asked short questions and heard responses from the panel.

Q&A question list

During the Q&A session, members of the public raised several specific questions regarding local transport infrastructure and policy:

• Gimme 5 Campaign: Will the candidates endorse the “Gimme 5” campaign, which advocates for allocating 5% of the state transport budget (outside of major projects) to a recurrent active travel budget line to deliver strategic cycling corridors?
• Bus Route 606: Will additional buses or services be added specifically to the 606 bus route, and if so, when will these new services commence?
• Town Hall Access: Will the panel support a safe cycling connection from the St Kilda Town Hall building to the St Kilda Road bike lanes, and what can be done to improve pedestrian safety and accessibility at the “lousy” tram stop directly in front of the building?
• Park Street Tram Link: What are the political parties’ plans regarding filling the missing 500-meter tram network link in Park Street, South Melbourne?
• Frankston Line Pedestrian Bridge: What is proposed to help commuters cross a major arterial road to connect to the Frankston line now that the planned pedestrian bridge from Cheltenham station to Southlands has been removed from the Suburban Rail Loop project?
• Transport Funding: If more money is allocated to transport, from which areas or budgets will the respective political parties take those funds?
• School and Recreation Commutes: What are the plans to reduce the number of people driving their children to local schools, sports, and recreation facilities?
• Fisherman’s Bend Tram Lines: Why has the delivery of two tram lines into Fisherman’s Bend—originally scheduled for completion by 2025 under the 2018 Fisherman’s Bend framework—not yet happened?
• One Nation Coalition: If the Liberal Party forms a coalition with One Nation, what impact will that have on their planned rollout of services, and will it dilute or scrap any transport initiatives?
• Active Travel Plan Implementation: What guarantees can be given that the active travel plan will be implemented in a coherent, network-wide fashion rather than suffering the same piecemeal delivery as the bus network?
• Airport Train Link: When will Melbourne see a train connection built to the airport?
• Queens Road Crossing: What permanent crossing arrangements can be established across Queens Road to connect Lakeside Ward residents to Albert Park?
• Lower Speed Limits: Would the panelists support or commit to lower speed limits on local council streets, particularly around school zones and shopping centers?
• Affordable Airport Buses: Is there a way to provide more affordable bus transport to the airport, given the high cost of the current Skybus service?
• Construction Disruption Communication: What can be done to improve communication and notice regarding basic construction works that disrupt bus stop accessibility?