Transport for Melbourne (TfM) is a small think tank and advocacy group of transport professionals whose mission is to promote a better understanding of transport issues that Melbourne faces now and how these can be better addressed.
Transport for Melbourne was established in response to what was considered to be a transport crisis. TfM argues that Melbourne needs to change its transport focus to address the major transport and city planning problems it has now. These are fundamental problems of a systemic nature that have been ignored for decades.
TfM argues that Melbourne has enough infrastructure to meet its transport needs in the short term at least, but it is not managed as efficiently and effectively as it should and much of it is not maintained to a high enough standard. Some infrastructure has become obsolete and clearly in need of replacement but this needs to be carried out strategically as part of an overall plan and will not be addressed by cherry picking major projects that have more to do with electoral appeal than a well thought out strategic plan.
It is critical that the existing system is brought up to speed before embarking on major investment to expand the network otherwise anticipated benefits will be limited by the systemic problems that continue to pervade the system as a whole.
TfM has outlined an alternative transport strategy for Melbourne and a Charter, which we would contend outlines community expectations and aspirations for Melbourne transport. TfM is concerned that Melbourne has a closing window of opportunity in which to lay the foundations for a world class transport system but is squandering this opportunity by continuing to spend large amounts of money on large infrastructure projects that will do little to address long standing systemic problems.
Summary of Proposed Key TfM Outputs and Outcomes for 2016
- Build a strong collaboration with other stakeholders and advocacy groups
- Secure and engage with a coterie of “Friends of TfM”
- Launch TfM and its Charter at a Transport Forum on 4 August 2016
- Prepare and implement a marketing strategy and campaign to seek to influence decision makers
- Provide formal TfM input to all government agency requests for submissions, where the TfM charter’s principles and approaches are relevant to improved outcomes