I've just written a letter to the Editor at The Age reflecting on the cost of parking at the airport which has just been found by the ACCC to reflect a monopoly! Surprise, surprise! Here's the letter:
It’s no surprise that the price of parking at Tullamarine has been found to be ‘consistent with airports having a monopoly position’ because that’s exactly what exists. Not only are there no convenient alternatives for parking, but the option of not driving is just as expensive – $16 for a skybus trip and over $50 for a taxi trip from the city.
There is however a little known cheaper option of the bus service from Broadmeadows station to the Airport. It only takes 20 minutes and is covered by a Met ticket – the only problem is it only runs every two hours!
A modest but highly effective public transport improvement that would break the parking monopoly would be to run the bus service from Broadmeadows so that it meets every train. It would also service the huge numbers of workers in the airport precinct, for whom a $25 return trip on skybus every day is out of the question.
The new shuttle bus service from North Melbourne to the Hospitals and University has shown how successful bus services can be when they are fast frequent and direct. Run the Broadmeadows trains and buses every 10 minutes throughout the day and I reckon the Department of Transport would have another success story on its hands – something it sorely needs.
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