Liberal candidate for Gembrook Brad Battin, Evelyn MP Christine Fyffe, Eastern Victoria Region MP Edward O’Donohue, Launching Place resident Caulde Valerius and Don Valley resident Shane Edwards. 56228
By Mara Pattison-Sowden
UPPER Yarra commuters will soon have an equal bus system after both political parties said the country fare would be abolished.
Liberal candidate for Gembrook Brad Battin made the announcement to commuters on the 3.14pm Warburton bus at the Allsops Road bus stop in Launching Place, on Friday 5 October along with Evelyn MP Christine Fyffe and Eastern Victoria Region MP Edward O’Donohue.
Although Labor has not come out with a formal announcement to abolish the country fare, Gembrook MP Tammy Lobato told The Mail yesterday (8 October) the fare would be abolished when the myki ticketing system is introduced.
“When myki is introduced on bus route 683 passengers will no longer need to buy two tickets as the country fare will be abolished. Fares will also be lower for both full fare and concession tickets,” she said.
Mr Battin said it has taken 11 years of neglect to acknowledge that cutting the country fare would make public transport fairer and easier to use.
“Getting rid of the country fare will not only make it cheaper for locals to catch public transport but make it easier by removing the hassle of purchasing two separate tickets to travel into Melbourne or out of the Upper Yarra,” he said.
Mr Battin said many communities were isolated in the Upper Yarra, with locals reliant upon the 683 service to get down the line.
“Yet commuters are being forced to double up on tickets in order to access education, social, employment and health services,” he said. Mr Battin said a Liberal Coalition would implement the changes to abolish the fare “as soon as elected according to the contractual arrangements”.
Transport Ticketing Authority CEO Bernie Carolan said although myki was currently valid for use on train, tram and bus services in most of metropolitan Melbourne, there were a number of bus services including Route 683 that would be converted to myki in later stages of the rollout.
“This is only temporary and, once the final rollout is complete, customers using these services will be able to use myki for their entire journey,” he said.
Don Valley resident Shane Edwards said getting rid of the country fare is “a major win for residents – but it should have happened earlier”.
“When the kids used to go down to the movies and didn’t want mum and dad to tag on, we used to drive them to here or Woori to save the extra dollars,” he said.
