The state government’s plan to introduce free train travel for “early bird’’ commuters was a good short-term initiative, Environment Victoria’s climate change director Tricia Phelan said today.
Ms Phelan said the free early bird services would help ease overcrowding of morning peak-hour trains and encourage more people to leave their cars at home.
But she warned the government more needed to be done to avoid a future public transport crisis.
“It’s great to see the state government thinking outside the square because these sorts of ideas will get people out of cars and into sustainable transport,’’ Ms Phelan said.
“This initiative will be good for the environment by reducing the impact of climate change and make travelling on morning trains more comfortable for everyone.
“It works on a number of levels because it will mean many workers will travel home before afternoon peak hour as well. Those living in the outer suburbs will benefit from considerable savings on their travel costs.
“But this should only be seen as a short-term fix to a growing problem on our rail networks. The government will have to do more to solve Melbourne’s transport issues.’’