Thursday, 20 March 2025

Ministers statements: public transport

Gabrielle WILLIAMS (Dandenong – Minister for Transport Infrastructure, Minister for Public and Active Transport) (14:32): This Labor government has a very proud history of supporting our tourism and major events sector by delivering world-class public transport services. Whether it is getting hundreds of thousands of fans to Taylor Swift or making sure there are extra services to head to the footy, we know that getting to an event and getting home safe are just as important as the event itself.

Those in the chamber that may have been interstate on holiday last week may have missed that Melbourne hosted one of the biggest events in our sporting calendar, the Formula One Grand Prix, and in the lead-up to that event we announced that fans could catch one of the 4800 extra tram services running to and from Albert Park over that four-day event. Over those four days hundreds of thousands of people used those special tram services to get to and from Albert Park, with a combined 387,000 trips taken to and from the grand prix by tram – that is about 78 cruise ships. And on the Thursday of that grand prix weekend our regional V/Line network saw more than 98,000 trips taken to both the grand prix and the footy, which is our busiest day on record.

Not only did we run all those additional tram services and have a buster day on the V/Line network, we also set up designated rideshare and taxi drop-off and pick-up points around Albert Park. On Friday I met with the team at Safe Transport Victoria, who were at the event to ensure that passengers who were using a rideshare or a taxi were getting a fair deal and that drivers were complying with the law.

While some of those opposite may have been cruising the Great Barrier Reef last week, we were supporting hundreds of thousands of Victorians and visitors to make sure that the grand prix was one to remember.