mayors on board with commuters count

Pictured left to right: Cr Samantha Dunn - ETC Chairperson,
Mayor Karin Orpin - Knox, Mayor Andrew Munroe - Whitehorse,
Mayor Micaela Drieberg - Monash, Mayor Angela Long - Dandenong,
Mayor Jim Child - Yarra Ranges and Mayor Jennifer Yang - Manningham.

Six Mayors from eastern Melbourne are leading the charge for increased Federal public transport spending, signing a joint letter to the Labor, Liberal and Greens leaders at Huntingdale Railway Station this morning.

Cr Angela Long (Greater Dandenong), Cr Karin Orpen (Knox), Cr Jennifer Yang (Manningham), Cr Micaela Drieberg (Monash), Cr Andrew Munroe (Whitehorse) and Cr Jim Child (Yarra Ranges) united to urge the Federal leaders to support funding for urban rail projects.

The mayors called on all parties to support funding for the Melbourne Metro project, which is critical if the much needed extensions of rail to Doncaster, Rowville and capacity improvements to Dandenong, Glen Waverley and Belgrave/Lilydale are ever to come to fruition.

In the letter to Kevin Rudd, Tony Abbott and Christine Milne, the mayors said "Commuters Count this Federal Election as they are the lifeblood of our economy and communities. Gridlock and congestion wastes time and money and can be solved through action on major transport infrastructure.

"That is why we urge you to support improved public transport and a stronger economic future for the eastern suburbs by committing the Commonwealth to funding transport infrastructure on merit.’’

In addition to their own message, the mayors also urged commuters to share their views and improvements that they would like to see by sending photos and comments to the hash tag #commuterscount on Twitter and liking the Eastern Transport Coalition’s Commuters Count Facebook page.