Melbourne Visitor Shuttle price to again rise

The City of Melbourne has again increased the price of the Melbourne Visitor Shuttle (MVS).

Councillors last month unanimously voted to change the previously one-day ticket to a two-day pass and up the price to $10 per ticket.

The shuttle started as a free tourism service during the 2006 Commonwealth Games and in 2013 the council introduced a $5 charge per passenger over the age of 10.

The move saw patronage decline by 49 percent in the following 12 months and by 7 per cent year-on-year decline since the introduction of the fee.  

Docklands has two visitor shuttle stops, one located near Etihad Stadium and the other at Harbour Town.

But Docklands Chamber of Commerce president Joh Maxwell doesn’t believe the increase in price will greatly impact on Docklands visitation.

“Ideally it would be great if it was free but we do already have free public transport so we can’t have everything,” she said.

“Visitation is growing and the Docklands Chamber of Commerce is confident that numbers will continue to grow.”

“Docklands has lots to offer visitors to Melbourne and with the increase to fees the council will be able to allocate more funding to promoting the service which, in return, will help to boost numbers and increase the number of visitors using the shuttle.”

The City of Melbourne plans to increase MVS marketing and promotional expenditure by $100,000.

Cr Pinder-Mortimer defended the decision to increase the price of the tickets at the May 26 Council meeting.

She said 88 per cent of respondents to a recent customer survey said the current $5 ticket price was good or excellent.

But the same survey indicated that fewer than 50 per cent of respondents would be happy to pay more than $5 per ticket.

“Capturing the MVS customer with an attractive two-day ticket for $10, compared to commercial operators who charge upwards of $35 I believe is important, which would also give us a marketing budget for online marketing as well as being able to project to international visitors the facility to book in advance,” Cr Pinder-Mortimer said.