Interesting concept.  We have already explored developer charges for road and transport (although I would argue transport has not been done well).

taxpayers have been billed on rates notices for other non transport items.  

This could work but also raise awareness of the rail network and maybe help people form their cars?

Experts suggest levy for residents to secure fast trains in council-commissioned report

A couple of random sinickle thoughts.

I bet the ‘experts’ don’t live in Geelong, but they will have lots of ideas about how to use money raised in Geelong.

I can see people getting rather annoyed by being asked to pay for a fast train line, and then pay again to use it. All the while paying taxes which should, theoretically, be used for such infrastructure but are often seen as largely paying for a bloated public service.

There is already a railway line in place, and the blockages seem to be well away from Geelong, the suggested source of the funding. This will add to the feeling of unfairness

A couple of random sinickle thoughts.

I bet the ‘experts’ don’t live in Geelong, but they will have lots of ideas about how to use money raised in Geelong.

I can see people getting rather annoyed by being asked to pay for a fast train line, and then pay again to use it. All the while paying taxes which should, theoretically, be used for such infrastructure but are often seen as largely paying for a bloated public service.

There is already a railway line in place, and the blockages seem to be well away from Geelong, the suggested source of the funding. This will add to the feeling of unfairness

well snickle, you can only hope that this happens during the next council election.

Mayor Bruce Harwood said the proposal — for the project that could deliver a 32-minute commute between Geelong and Melbourne — would be put to the community soon.

Then  you can vote out this bunch of fools that wasted your money, to produce a fool report, on a topic that the Vic Transport Dept does all the time anyway.

Typical over-reach by local government wanna-bees that want to play with the big boys and spend everybody else's money.

Don't be too hard on the "experts". Take it with a grain of salt. They just write what the council wanted to hear.

cheers
John

Typical over-reach by local government wanna-bees that want to play with the big boys and spend everybody else's money.

Correct. Sometime there are legitimate reasons for a council to do this sort of stuff (for instance, Geelong council could investigate a Geelong tram, that seems reasonable) but commissioning yet another study into a rail corridor where the solutions are bleeding obvious (and don’t involve “fast trains”) is just pathetic.

On the other hand, value capture is a legitimate and clever funding mechanism that is arguably more “fair” that flat taxation. If your land value goes up because the rail service has improved, reinvesting some of that value into the service seems entirely reasonable. Of course it’s not that straightforward in practice.

Of course Geelong residents should pay if they want a fast train.

Why should those who work nearby to where they live subsidise those who choose to commute hundreds of kilometres?

Of course Geelong residents should pay if they want a fast train.

Why should those who work nearby to where they live subsidise those who choose to commute hundreds of kilometres?

You've changed your tune over the past few years ZH.

Once upon a time you'd have said that because it's a local government sourced report, that it has little to no influence on a state government matter.

Moreover...I wonder if these 'consultants' have actually hopped on a train and travelled to Melbourne where, admittedly in ideal situations it's possible to travel from Sunshine to SCS & vv in around 10 mins...even less if Footscray were skipped for a true expr