In 1997 premier Jeff Kennett decided to privatise trains and trams after strikes disrupted public transport to that year's Formula 1 Grand Prix. Say what you like about him but that was how important he thought that working transport was for a government-defining event he snatched from Adelaide.
In 2023 a state government-commissioned Ernst and Young report claimed that the Grand Prix delivered $268m in economic benefits, or a return of $2.66 per dollar spent, to the state (others disagree but we'll accept it for today's exercise). Gross attendance exceeded 444 000 people over the event's four days.
Just last month Taylor Swift attracted 288 000 fans over three nights at Melbourne in her biggest ever shows. Public transport contributed hugely to the tour's success with thousands using the frequent trains added to the timetable.
Then this last weekend was the 2024 Melbourne Formula 1 Grand Prix. They recommend use of public transport to get there, warning there was no public parking at the venue.
Information focused on the 'last mile' transport to Albert Park from surrounding suburbs, with the pamphlet even titled Yarra Trams Travel Brochure (whose single mode title warns of what to come - but more on that later). This may be suitable for tourists staying in the CBD but not for those staying or living in most suburbs who might also have wished to attend.
The Grand Prix is the sort of event (like football, cricket and concerts) that attracts occasional users to our public transport, including those who ordinarily drive for all their other trips. Melbourne generally has a good reputation for event transport that assists its standing as an event and sporting capital. Was this upheld during the weekend? Keep reading!
Here's the PTV website item. It's dated 21 March so there might not have been very much notice given. It's also the first item that comes up when you do a Google search.
Just last month Taylor Swift attracted 288 000 fans over three nights at Melbourne in her biggest ever shows. Public transport contributed hugely to the tour's success with thousands using the frequent trains added to the timetable.
Then this last weekend was the 2024 Melbourne Formula 1 Grand Prix. They recommend use of public transport to get there, warning there was no public parking at the venue.
Information focused on the 'last mile' transport to Albert Park from surrounding suburbs, with the pamphlet even titled Yarra Trams Travel Brochure (whose single mode title warns of what to come - but more on that later). This may be suitable for tourists staying in the CBD but not for those staying or living in most suburbs who might also have wished to attend.
Here's the PTV website item. It's dated 21 March so there might not have been very much notice given. It's also the first item that comes up when you do a Google search.
When you start scrolling down you see this in relation to Thursday and Friday. There's a line about train services operating to normal daily timetables. Similar appears for metropolitan buses, regional (V/Line) trains and regional coaches. So there's a pattern - nothing more but nothing less either. Except for trams which do get a lot of changes.
Say you're interested in the Saturday and Sunday. You keep scrolling down. This time there's no assurance regarding what's running. But the casual user might assume so given (i) what they read above for Thursday and Friday and (ii) it would be unthinkable not to run a full service on a major event weekend.
Clicking on this gives a list of disruptions as long as your arm. However some would have missed seeing it despite its importance.
Shutting two lines reduces high capacity travel options and puts more pressure on rail substitute buses compared to if only one didn't run. The West Gate Tunnel road works wouldn't have helped either.
And even if both lines were shut then there may have been a choice to bolster V/Line service (which normally has 40 and 60 minute weekend gaps from Wyndham Vale and Melton respectively) to supplement Werribee Line replacement buses. There may also have been scope to relax archaic V/Line rules about not allowing suburban passengers to board at stations like Sunshine and Footscray, at least for inbound trips.
The potential for a frequent weekend V/Line service was demonstrated during last year's Avalon Air Show (48 000 attendees over three days) when a special timetable with intervals as close as 10 minutes was run. Such a frequent service from Wyndham Vale and Tarneit direct to Southern Cross would be superior to the Metro rail substitute offering that involved a train to Newport, slow bus (in traffic) to North Melbourne and an indirect (via City Loop) train to Southern Cross.
I received a report of such a trip (from Williams Landing to the Grand Prix) taking 133 minutes for a distance of little more than 20 km, indicating the substantial delays encountered. Even if people needed to take a bus to Tarneit time could have been saved, provided the service was frequent enough.
The Grand Prix wasn't the only major event taking place over the weekend; there was also the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show, making this last weekend a particularly poor choice to be doing works.
I received a report of such a trip (from Williams Landing to the Grand Prix) taking 133 minutes for a distance of little more than 20 km, indicating the substantial delays encountered. Even if people needed to take a bus to Tarneit time could have been saved, provided the service was frequent enough.
The Grand Prix wasn't the only major event taking place over the weekend; there was also the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show, making this last weekend a particularly poor choice to be doing works.
Ten recommendations for major events transport
1. The minister seek a briefing from DTP, operators and event organisers on what worked well and what didn't for public transport in the last weekend. This briefing should include input from 'on the ground' staff and passengers.
2. Have a state-significant events calendar on which preventable occupations (ie bus replacements) are not to be scheduled. A well-informed unit of DTP, working in conjunction with experienced transport operator personnel, Visit Victoria, the City of Melbourne and possibly the Premier's office to be the final arbiter.
3. Simultaneous occupations on adjacent lines to be avoided unless absolutely necessary. Where occupations are necessary service levels on adjacent lines still running are to be increased, with passengers advised. Such adjacent lines could include nearby tram routes and V/Line if present.
4. Modified traffic control and dedicated lanes for replacement buses are a non-negotiable necessity for major occupations, especially for unpreventable ones on major event weekends.
5. Pick up and set down restrictions on V/Line in the Metro area should be removed for the event duration and eventually permanently in directions and at times where there is no risk of longer distance passengers (who have fewer service choices) being unable to board.
6. The planning of special event services should be done across all modes with visitors from a wide catchment in mind, and not just those staying in CBD hotels. The weekend's case where no new Metro or V/Line services were added is a poor example here. Ditto for passenger information material.
7. The transport requirement of event organising staff (who need to be there earlier and finish later than attendees) needs to be a part of planning event transport services. Again it should be assumed they come from a wide area and use a variety of modes.
8. 'Nasties' in timetables (eg 30 and 40 minute gaps in train and tram timetables and short operating hours for regular buses near the events) should be known so that extra trips can be added on major event weekends. While they may not be strictly necessary on capacity grounds they prevent bad experiences (eg lateness due to missing a Grand Prix Sunday morning train every 40 min or half hour waits at night) and have a relatively low marginal cost.
9. Cutting maximum waits to make the regular network useful over more of the day and week. This would support major and minor events, regardless of whether services have been added or not. The ultimate aim could be Sydney-style 10-15 minute maximum waits, with the first steps being something like this:
a. Cutting 40-70 min waits on the rail network to 30 minutes maximum. This is mostly Sunday mornings for Metro as well as weekends for Wyndham Vale and Melton V/Line.
b. Ensuring 7 day service, longer hours and maximum 30 minute waits on key bus routes.
c. Further cutting the 30 minute maximum rail network waits as achieved in (a) above to 20 minutes, starting with 7pm - 10pm evenings and 7am - 10am Sunday mornings. Followed by 10pm - midnight.
d. Cutting 30 minute maximum waits on most tram routes to 20 minutes (mostly Sunday mornings and evenings) with similar for major bus routes (mostly evenings and weekends).
The above would create a vastly more useful and connected network with maximum waits reduced from 40 to 30 and then 20 minutes across the week. This would apply even if rail does need to be replaced by buses as maximum waits would lower.
10. A stronger operational voice within government that prioritises keeping services running (as opposed to replacing them with buses) with the spine to say no occasionally. It needs to be more widely understood that while often unavoidable, each occupation reduces passenger goodwill and, on major lines, undermines the case to use rail for freight by making it unreliable (with freight users complaining that they get even less consideration than passengers with regards to alternative arrangements).
1. The minister seek a briefing from DTP, operators and event organisers on what worked well and what didn't for public transport in the last weekend. This briefing should include input from 'on the ground' staff and passengers.
2. Have a state-significant events calendar on which preventable occupations (ie bus replacements) are not to be scheduled. A well-informed unit of DTP, working in conjunction with experienced transport operator personnel, Visit Victoria, the City of Melbourne and possibly the Premier's office to be the final arbiter.
3. Simultaneous occupations on adjacent lines to be avoided unless absolutely necessary. Where occupations are necessary service levels on adjacent lines still running are to be increased, with passengers advised. Such adjacent lines could include nearby tram routes and V/Line if present.
4. Modified traffic control and dedicated lanes for replacement buses are a non-negotiable necessity for major occupations, especially for unpreventable ones on major event weekends.
5. Pick up and set down restrictions on V/Line in the Metro area should be removed for the event duration and eventually permanently in directions and at times where there is no risk of longer distance passengers (who have fewer service choices) being unable to board.
6. The planning of special event services should be done across all modes with visitors from a wide catchment in mind, and not just those staying in CBD hotels. The weekend's case where no new Metro or V/Line services were added is a poor example here. Ditto for passenger information material.
7. The transport requirement of event organising staff (who need to be there earlier and finish later than attendees) needs to be a part of planning event transport services. Again it should be assumed they come from a wide area and use a variety of modes.
8. 'Nasties' in timetables (eg 30 and 40 minute gaps in train and tram timetables and short operating hours for regular buses near the events) should be known so that extra trips can be added on major event weekends. While they may not be strictly necessary on capacity grounds they prevent bad experiences (eg lateness due to missing a Grand Prix Sunday morning train every 40 min or half hour waits at night) and have a relatively low marginal cost.
9. Cutting maximum waits to make the regular network useful over more of the day and week. This would support major and minor events, regardless of whether services have been added or not. The ultimate aim could be Sydney-style 10-15 minute maximum waits, with the first steps being something like this:
a. Cutting 40-70 min waits on the rail network to 30 minutes maximum. This is mostly Sunday mornings for Metro as well as weekends for Wyndham Vale and Melton V/Line.
b. Ensuring 7 day service, longer hours and maximum 30 minute waits on key bus routes.
c. Further cutting the 30 minute maximum rail network waits as achieved in (a) above to 20 minutes, starting with 7pm - 10pm evenings and 7am - 10am Sunday mornings. Followed by 10pm - midnight.
d. Cutting 30 minute maximum waits on most tram routes to 20 minutes (mostly Sunday mornings and evenings) with similar for major bus routes (mostly evenings and weekends).
The above would create a vastly more useful and connected network with maximum waits reduced from 40 to 30 and then 20 minutes across the week. This would apply even if rail does need to be replaced by buses as maximum waits would lower.
10. A stronger operational voice within government that prioritises keeping services running (as opposed to replacing them with buses) with the spine to say no occasionally. It needs to be more widely understood that while often unavoidable, each occupation reduces passenger goodwill and, on major lines, undermines the case to use rail for freight by making it unreliable (with freight users complaining that they get even less consideration than passengers with regards to alternative arrangements).
Conclusion
In our rush to build things, we also need to be mindful of the need to keep our city moving, including for public transport and major events. While there are new well-funded and effective bodies to push forward with construction, the institutional voice for reliable operations, as one might have hoped to have been championed by DTP or a railways commissioner of old, has fallen silent or become ineffective.
Disruptions are inevitable but were best possible endeavours taken to make transport to this year's Grand Prix as good as it can be? Possibly not. For example busy adjacent rail lines were shut down, no attempt was made to add V/Line service and on other lines extra trains were not scheduled, even where regular frequencies were as low as 40 minutes. A consistent failure to upgrade cheap-to-boost regular frequencies, especially nights and Sunday mornings, entrenches long waits, increases crowding risks and reduces service legibility, especially for new and occasional users.
We can and should do better if Melbourne is serious about maintaining its 'events capital' title.
If you travelled over the weekend feel free to share your experience below.
Disruptions are inevitable but were best possible endeavours taken to make transport to this year's Grand Prix as good as it can be? Possibly not. For example busy adjacent rail lines were shut down, no attempt was made to add V/Line service and on other lines extra trains were not scheduled, even where regular frequencies were as low as 40 minutes. A consistent failure to upgrade cheap-to-boost regular frequencies, especially nights and Sunday mornings, entrenches long waits, increases crowding risks and reduces service legibility, especially for new and occasional users.
We can and should do better if Melbourne is serious about maintaining its 'events capital' title.
If you travelled over the weekend feel free to share your experience below.
1 comment:
Absolutely baffling thing to me is that PTV/Yarra Trams advise everyone to go through Flinders St and Southern Cross. It's dead simple to understand as a passenger, but you've got an entire south eastern tram network that isn't being used properly. You can ferry people from St Kilda Rd to the Cranbourne/Pakenham/Frankston/Sandringham lines and take pressure off the incredibly crowded city trams. Maybe it's an issue of rolling stock, but there wasn't any advice to take these routes, no extra services, and even worse, the 58 tram which runs within 400m of Gate 5 and stops out the front of South Yarra station was replaced by buses.
I took a tram to Armadale or Toorak each day instead of going into the city and back out (not to mention the queues, apparently as long as 50 minutes on Sunday after the race). Not too crowded and it saved me sooo much time.
Anzac station will be a game changer in 2025/2026 though.
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