Transport in Port Phillip
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Public Transport Improvements

While the City of Port Phillip has relatively good public transport, it is by no means world class. Public transport to the central business district (CBD) is reasonable but our connections with surrounding municipalities are more difficult, tram travel along St Kilda Road is very slow, there is no public transport in the early hours of the morning when many people are trying to head home from a night out and some of the bus services could run more often.

Port Phillip Public Transport Strategy

The City of Port Phillip appointed the University of Melbourne to identify the top priority public transport needs for Port Phillip. The university's report was tabled with the council in November 2002 and the recommendations were accepted by the council as a basis for advocacy and working with other councils.

The full report is available for downloading -  Port Phillip Public Transport Strategy 

PT study recommendations - summary

Port Phillip is not an island - we can only reduce the impact of traffic on our municipality if all of Melbourne has a fast, frequent and integrated public transport system.

Within Port Phillip, the public transport study identified the need to supplement the transport routes to the city. The first step is to provide four high frequency and quality routes connecting across Port Phillip:

  • Inner western suburbs via Westgate Bridge and Port Melbourne to St Kilda
  • Port Melbourne via Albert park to South Yarra Station
  • Garden City via South Melbourne to South Yarra
  • St Kilda to Caulfield and East Malvern Stations. This could be done initially by bus services connecting to the existing tram route, then by extending the tram route.

These new linkages would be supplemented by recasting existing routes to improve their connectivity by:

  • Extending the tram route 112 (South Melbourne tram) past its present terminus at Fitzroy Street to continue along the Boulevard and along Balaclava Road
  • Reinstating the tram route 16 (Melbourne University to St Kilda), whose service had been cut back when combined with another tram route, and extending it past Melbourne University to East Coburg
  • Bringing the number 78 tram from Chapel Street round the corner onto Carlisle Street and into St Kilda all the time, not just off peak
  • Extending bus route 630 (Elwood to Monash University) through to St Kilda and combine it with a revised route 600 (St Kilda to South Land Shopping Centre) to provide a high quality service
  • Improving the Garden City/Fishermans Bend bus routes.

For these services to provide adequate choice they would need to have:

  • Improved minimum frequency standards applied to buses and trams
  • After midnight services
  • Improved facilities at interchanges
  • A safe system
  • Improved running times through priority at traffic signals.

In addition, a program of early provision of trunk public transport linkages to new developments in Docklands, Southbank and Yarra's Edge is required. Current planning for these areas is rapidly producing a high-density concentration of population and employment characterised by poor public transport, poor pedestrian facilities, lack of local convenience retailing and extreme car dependency.

The highest short term infrastructure needed to provide for and improve these services are:

  • A very short piece of new tram track to allow the tram to turn onto Fitzroy Street
  • Tram priority along St Kilda Road significantly improved.

Otherwise buses could provide the other proposed services until tram routes were proved necessary.

In order for these services to be implemented the State Government will need to allow private transport operators to operate outside of their existing territory and require them to have their services integrate with each other

More information

Use eServices to ask us a question, request information or give us feedback online. If you prefer call ASSIST on (03) 9209 6777 or TTy (03) 9209 6713 and ask for Sustainable Transport Planner.