The transport industry is currently looking into ways to improve transport connections between Melbourne Airport and the CBD, with the SkyBus bus service in the middle of discussions.
A recent report on The Age suggests the delay to the Airport Rail project has meant more eyes have turned on SkyBus, with the four years delay to the rail link meaning bus services become more important.
Monash University chair of public transport Professor Graham Currie says the most appropriate response to this delay is to add a dedicated lane in the interim for SkyBus services.
“It’ll not take long before the airport’s under pressure with access by road and that will put SkyBus under pressure,” Currie told The Age.
“The most obvious thing to do is to give SkyBus more right of way.”
When SkyBus was first implemented, it was meant to be a 20-minute service from Southern Cross, with estimates now having the trip from Southern Cross station to the airport going for more than 50 minutes by 2041.
Kinetic, who runs SkyBus, co-chief executive Michael Sewards told The Age that average travel time will still be 21 minutes during the day and that he doesn’t forecast that changing anytime soon.
“It’s sensible to have a dedicated bus route, it’s obviously beneficial and at some point it needs to be pursued,” he says.
He says SkyBus should also be considered to continue as a frequent alternative method of transport to and from the airport once the rail line is built.