Planning our transport system
The Department of Transport is responsible for the long term planning and development of Victoria's public transport network. This includes making sure that public transport is expanded in growing areas, and is integrated with other modes of travel including cars, cycling and walking.
The Government is developing a comprehensive transport plan for Victoria to be released by the end of this year.
The plan will respond to proposals for Melbourne's east-west corridor in Sir Rod Eddington's report, and other transport priorities across the state.
Information on this page
Current transport planning and programs
Meeting our Transport Challenges: Connecting Victorian Communities provides a strategic plan for Victoria's transport system and outlines the Government's short, medium and long-term transport priorities.
Recent initiatives include:
Meeting Our Transport Challenges Reserve
The Government will allocate $5.9 billion to the 'Meeting Our Transport Challenges Reserve' over the next 10 years to ensure that Victoria will have the capacity to meet changing transport needs. Funding has already been allocated from the Reserve to commence a range of projects.
Future projects outlined in Meeting Our Transport Challenges will be sourced from the balance of the Reserve as they are implemented.
The Reserve will be a specific budget provision to ensure that sufficient funds are set aside for longer term projects. The Government will also ensure maximum transparency and accountability by reporting on projects that are funded from the Reserve.
Linking transport and land use for the future
The Director of Public Transport is now a referral authority under the Planning and Environment Act. See
Public transport and planning referrals.
The Government has also drafted new
Public Transport Guidelines for Land Use Development.
The Coordinator-General, Infrastructure aims to achieve whole-of-government coordination of transport and land-use planning through strengthening links between key transport and land use authorities.
DOT works closely with other Departments in the planning and implementing of the
Melbourne 2030 strategy and the
Transit Cities program.
Previous transport planning studies and strategies
In November 2004, the Government released
Linking Melbourne: Metropolitan Transport Plan, a strategic plan for the management and development of Melbourne’s transport system. The Plan identified and examined four key transport challenges: safety, managing congestion, metropolitan growth, and support for economic development.
The
Linking Victoria program was launched in 1999 and since then has delivered new transport infrastructure projects and upgrades to Victoria's ports, roads, and rail network.
The following studies and strategies were conducted between 1999 and 2004 and their findings influenced the development of the
Metropolitan Transport Plan.