The Suburban Rail Loop is a great idea and will provide an orbital loop around Melbourne, with new stations connections between major railway lines from the Frankston line to the Werribee line via Melbourne Airport. Suburban Rail Loop will connect Melbourne’s middle suburbs to priority growth precincts, and link all Victorians to major health, education centres at Deakin, Monash and Bundoora, and outer employment centres. But it will take 50 years, or more, to build. Putting SMARTbus services on the route will bring all the benefits of the Suburban Rail Loop to Melbourne residents right now. In addition, a SMARTbus loop will create a single route that will reduce current overcrowding and address the need for bus upgrades now. For more information see https://rodbarton.com.au/issues-page/smartbuses-on-the-suburban-rail-loop-route/

At least once a week a bus driver in Brisbane is assaulted by a member of the public. With injuries ranging from mental health trauma to broken bones that require hospitalisation, bus drivers are being left with lasting injuries for simply doing their job. RTBU members and concerned community members believe this is an unacceptable situation which doesn't just harm bus drivers but also places the travelling public at massive risk. The Lord Mayor and his council have been hiding from this issue and engaging in disgraceful victim-blaming. Enough is enough, it's time now that bus drivers and the community stand up for our right to safe public transport in our city. We can no longer stand by while the Lord Mayor and his council allow these assaults to continue. We won't stand for this any longer, will you?

Public transport has been chronically underfunded for decades, suffering cuts to staffing and a lack of investment to keep pace with population. Staffed stations have always played an important role in our community to ensure children can get to school safely, provide security at night, to simplify ticketing and customer enquiries, minimise vandalism and ensure our public transport network is accessible for all users. It is important that we raise our voice now to ensure commuters are treated with dignity and our network receives the support it deserves now and for the future!

We are all for accessibility at existing stops, even if that means getting rid of a few car parks. BUT DONT TAKE OUR STOP! The current plans to make the 96 tram accessible is all well and good but why do they have to remove stop 26. They say they are merging the stops but really they are just abolishing the stop at Victoria street completely. You can read more here: https://getinvolved.transport.vic.gov.au/route-96-upgrade If the stop at Victoria street is taken away that could mean 10s of hours extra every year some of us take to get to and from our home!

No worker deserves to be abused at work. When trains are cancelled or delayed, or simply people are disgruntled by the transport operator, often this anger is taken out on the human face that might sell tickets or provide customer service. Public Transport workers are proud of the work we do and want to feel safe in serving the community. While this only affects a minority of the population, this legislation will make a big difference to our safety on the job.

The NSW Government are hell bent on selling off our public services, and there is no better example of this than what they have done to public transport in our great state. They’ve sold off Inner West buses, bungled the light rail, over-worked and under-staffed our train drivers and now they want to sell off the Illawarra/Eastern Suburbs Line (https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/eastern-suburbs-and-illawarra-line-to-stand-alone-in-a-decade-report-20180327-p4z6j3.html) Public transport should remain just that. We need public services that exist to serve our community to the highest standard possible, not a system that is motivated by profit and which can leave ordinary working people with a higher cost of living. Tell Andrew Constance and the NSW Liberal Government that NSW Public Sevices are NOT for sale and to keep the Illawarra/Eastern Suburbs Line in public hands.

The number of full-time domestic postgraduate students in Victoria has more than doubled in the last 10 years—from 13,858 in 2005 to 28,798 in 2015 —while part-time domestic postgraduate enrolments have remained steady (1). The changing nature of domestic postgraduate study requires a different approach from the Victorian government, one that recognises that full-time students at all levels of study deserve the same support (2). Students often work jobs that are low paying. Furthermore, students often are involved in volunteering and unpaid internships. It is not sustainable for a person to be working full-time and studying full-time. These students are using their time to study, and will proceed to use these skills to contribute to the workforce of Victoria. While they are unable to work, but are refining these skills, they deserve the support of their government - like in every other state. Victoria, as seen on our number plates, refers to itself as "The Education State" - it's time that this is reflected in its policies. A myki full fare daily fare is (Zones 1+2) is $8.60. A concession daily fare (Zones 1+2) is $4.30. (1). University students generally have two 12 week semesters a year. If attending 5 days a week, that is a total of 120 days, the difference in cost is $516 a year. For those living out of home and not working full-time, that is a lot of money. 1. Department of Education and Training 2016, Higher Education Statistics Data Cube (uCube) 2. Fares Fair PTV position paper Public transport concessions for Victorian postgraduate students, March 2017. http://faresfairptv.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Fares-Fair-PTV-Position-Paper.pdf

Last night while another driver was being assaulted, instead of trying to improve their safety, our Lord Mayor was heading a smear campaign against them, stooping so low he's even using school children as a political tool. Physical assaults against Brisbane Transport Bus Drivers are reported once a week, and there's a verbal assault reported every day. Countless more go unreported. Three weeks ago a driver was stabbed, and last October, one was brutally murdered. Our drivers have learned the hard way that Graham Quirk doesn't seem to care. It’s time for the Lord Mayor to stop insulting his drivers, to recognise their hard work, to stop belittling them for their very real fears for their safety at work. It's time for Mayor Quirk to work with Bus Drivers for everyone's safety. All they are want is safety and fair working conditions, things all Australians should have.

Despite failures of maintenance, reliability and staffing, the government is soon to renew their lucrative contracts for Melbourne’s train and tram operations. Many issues have been brought to the surface over the past months including network failures, derailments, un-maintained tracks, and under-staffing as well as typical canceled, delayed, or altered services. This is while Metro Trains Melbourne continues to make millions of dollars from taxpayers and commuters. These contracts are secret and have left us with a rail network in crisis. Let Minister Allan know that taxpayers and commuters are sick of being shortchanged by a company that values shareholders more than ticket holders! For more information, check out the article in the paper today: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/opinion/luba-grigorovitch-oh-the-places-you-wont-go-on-public-transport/news-story/0e8fdd5bc0117e88cf2a40fa58fb2331

Stage 1 of the Light Rail project has provided workers with some of the best pay and conditions in the ACT. Many workers believed this project would provide years of work, but this Government has not made your job security its priority. Stage 2 is years away at the current rate but by early next year, layoffs are going to begin and the project is due to finish in March of 2018. Without a commitment from the Government to act, many workers will be looking for a new job, just before Christmas. It is no secret that the CFMEU members campaigned for and delivered Stage 1 and will do the same to deliver Stage 2. Our petition will be presented to the Chief Minister, Andrew Barr to show that there are real lives and real families depending on this job. Sign the petition to help secure your job!

Members of the Transport Workers’ Union are running this petition for all workers across the airport. Those who spend their work day servicing the needs of airlines at Sydney’s busy international and domestic airline terminals are standing together to make sure the unfair Airport Station Access Fee is scrapped. This fee is neither appropriate nor effective to airport motor vehicle congestion, it is deterring people from catching the train to work. Now it seems the traffic congestion around Sydney Airport is worse than ever. There is precedent in place that makes the removal of the fee an easy decision for the NSW Government. When a former government removed the Access Fee from Mascot Station, passenger numbers doubled. No other group of workers in NSW have to pay an additional fee simply to catch the train to work.

Our public transport system was privatised by Jeff Kennett in the 1990s under the promise that government subsidies would diminish. Almost two decades on, subsidies have more than doubled leaving taxpayers to foot the bill for lucrative private profits to be sent offshore while our assets fall into disrepair. With the contracts nearing expiry, this Government has the opportunity to explore more cost effective options that would protect the public interest while providing better maintenance and service delivery. Governments around the world are waking up from the privatisation induced hangover of the failing thought bubble of the 1990s and 2000s. Sucking more and more taxpayer money while offering next to no public oversight, the privatisation of a monopoly industry must be questioned and addressed. Victorians deserve better than a multinational corporation all too happy to skip stations, cancel services and poorly maintain State owned assets. Having now sucked more than $7 billion from the Victorian economy, it is high time that the Victorian government put an end to this open exploitation of taxpayer funds and explore how the public can benefit from the sustainable industry of the future.