Melbourne is heralded worldwide for its efficient, far-reaching public transport system, but as much as we locals love being able to zip around our city on a trusty tram or train there's one thing that can be a little hard to swallow: it ain't that cheap. Sure, it certainly makes sense that our public transport network costs money to use. But with that pesky cost of living already hurting our hip pockets, spending $10 a day for carless travel can sting.
And while we hate to be the bearers of bad news, we're sorry to say that traveling by PT just got a little bit more expensive. From January 1, 2024, Myki fares increased by five per cent. So for a full fare paying traveller, the daily cost of travel is now $10.60, or $5.30 for a two-hourly fare if you're travelling in Zone 1 areas. If you're a concession card holder, you'll now have to pay $2.65 for a two-hourly fare or $5.30 for a full day of travel.
When you look at the numbers, it's only an increase of 60 cents for the daily full fare and a 30 cent increase for concessions. But as you'd know from doing your weekly grocery shop at any chain supermarket lately, small cost increases add up pretty quickly to a price that's not so small.
Thankfully, with the way the Myki payment system works, you won't be charged more than the daily fare price if you make multiple trips in one day. Also, the weekend and public holiday fares will stay the same at $7.20 for full fare users or $3.60 for concessions, so that's a (teeny) silver lining.
Unfortunately, if you live in regional Victoria, you haven't dodged the fare increases either. The full fare regional town bus two-hour fare will increase by 20 cents to $2.80 and the daily fare will increase by 40 cents to $5.60.
According to Public Transport Victoria, the fare rise is in line with the annual Consumer Price Index (CPI) rise and will contribute to the operation of the state's trains, trams and buses. The last fare increase was in July, 2023, which was delayed from January of that year.
Let's hope that PTV put the money towards preventing transport delays in 2024, because there's nothing worse than what should be a quick train ride turning into an hour-long ordeal. Melburnians will benefit from some exciting new additions to the public transport network soon(ish) too, with the introduction of G Class trams to routes in the city's northwest.
The simple fact remains that rising public transport fares probably aren't going anywhere, so we'll just have to cop them. But who knows, with carless travel being a much greener way to get around, perhaps we'll get cheaper fares in the future to incentivise travellers to leave their cars at home – here's hoping!