THE Transport Department was not prepared to meet the challenges of rapid growth in public transport patronage in the past decade, a report has found.
Victorian Attorney-General Des Pearson’s report, which was tabled in State Parliament last Wednesday, looked at the performance and satisfaction rating of public transport across the state from 2004-11.
It found that planning for the increased train patronage between 2004-09 didn’t meet needs and the department was unable to deal effectively with performance pressures.
Mr Pearson said that while planning for public transport had improved, the department faced significant challenges. It needed to spend $3billion a year on improving the transport system to cope with growing demand.
Mr Pearson found satisfaction with public transport had deteriorated in the past 10 years, with operators’ performance falling short of most government targets in the past five years.
Transport Minister Terry Mulder said the government was preparing to manage the growing demand for public transport by getting more out of the existing network, building major new infrastructure and planning rail projects.
