Interview Highlight: Wayne Speers Come and Try day in Melbourne

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

S1 (00:13):
Really fantastic sounding opportunity coming up on October the 16th. Try.
Before you write, let's chat about it with the Wayne
Speers from Yarra Trams. Wayne is advisor for compliance and accessibility. Wayne,
great to meet you and thanks for your time.

S2 (00:26):
Thank you Peter, it's wonderful to be here. And good
afternoon or good day to everyone listening in.

S1 (00:33):
And uh, people who listen to Australia Radio and Victoria
would certainly know your voice. So good of you to
join us as well. Tell us about this. That's a
great sounding idea, how it all come about.

S2 (00:43):
So this is an event which is held every year. Uh,
there was a bit of a hiatus, actually, of course,
around the Covid situation, but, um, it's now back in
its third year, and it's an event where all of
the transport operators in Melbourne. So that's not only Yarra Trams,
but also Metro Trains, V Line and Kinetic Buses and

(01:05):
a couple of other operators as well, the um that
operates accessible taxis. So we all get together and have
a day for people to come along. And if people
are not confident using public transport or they're, um, you know,
their lifestyle now makes it able for them to take
public transport because, you know, we'll progress through life. It's

(01:29):
an opportunity to come down and give it a try.
I've been living in Melbourne now for a while, 13 years,
I think, and when I first moved to Melbourne, I
was petrified of trans because I'd never had any experience
with them before. And someone explained to me, it's just
like a bus, but it's on rails. Uh, once I
got once I got familiar with it, I was, you know,

(01:49):
I was, I was, uh, you know, a more confident
taking them. But even for folks who, you know, have
moved to Melbourne like myself, I did that time ago,
it's good just to come down and have a chat
with people and, uh, take that opportunity to, you know,
practice getting on and off a tram. Um, learn about features,
particularly features for accessibility that might be on trams, trains,

(02:10):
in the buses. You know, kinetic will have a bus
there so people can experience what it's like getting on
and off the tram, on and off the bus with
one of the ramps that they operate. So it's a
good place for people to do that. And there's no
time constraints except for the fact that, you know, we've
got to start and finish time, but it's not as

(02:31):
if people are doing it on a bus or a
train or a tram that's in service. They've got that
time to do that comfortably. We've also got our partners
with Travellers Aid, their Travellers Aid. If people aren't familiar
with Travellers Aid, they operate out of a couple of
places in Melbourne. So Flinders Street station and Southern Cross station,

(02:51):
they've got facilities there for people to, you know, they
might need to, you know, charge up their mobility aid
or there's changing places, facilities there for folks if they
need it. And also just if they need assistance with anything, um,
getting around mobility, especially at Southern Cross, it's a big space.
They operate a buggy to get people to and from
train platforms and stuff. So travelers I partner with with

(03:14):
this event as well. And their services are also available
for people to learn about as well.

S1 (03:19):
Yeah, fantastic. Now for people of any ability or for
all disabilities, not just people who are blind or have
low vision.

S2 (03:25):
Correct? Anyone, anyone can come along. So, um, if people, uh,
have a disability and that's including hidden disabilities as well.
So not just people that might have, you know, low
vision user guide dog or blind with a cane, so on, um,
people with hidden disabilities. And that could be that can
be a really affirming opportunity for them, because, again, that

(03:46):
space and the opportunity just to to take time to
get to be familiar with, you know, the layout of
a of a train or a tram and so on.
It's a really good space for them to do that.
We actually at the event, this is really exciting. At
the event, we've got a metro train at the platform
and a V line train at a at another platform,

(04:06):
so people can just get on and get off the
train as they want to. And what we do here
is because because there's no tram platform in the train station,
what we actually are doing, and it was really popular
last year. We're actually taking people on little, uh, escorted
tram trips so people can register when they register at
the event. Um, and they check in on the day,

(04:29):
it's like, okay, we've got some tram tram journeys. Um,
only about 2 or 3 stops. Get off at the
other end, get another tram back. Um, just to give
people that experience. And it's, um, it's a very exciting, uh,
way to get to learn about the trams, because you
also get to know what the trams, you know, sounds like,
how it feels when it's moving. And, um, and you

(04:50):
can learn about the tram stop as well.

S1 (04:52):
Well, what about in terms of, uh, the people that
will be there, are they trained in this area as
well to kind of work with people with disabilities?

S2 (04:58):
So all of the staff that are at the trial
before urine event work in public transport, as you know,
the staff of Yarra Trams, Metro trains and so on.
So they're all trained to To understand, you know, what
barriers there might be for people that travel by public transport,
but also what innovations and what initiatives are in place
to help remove those barriers. One of those barriers that

(05:22):
people can often have, especially with a hidden disability, is, um,
you know, being able to identify that they're that they
have a hidden disability. And so all of the public
transport operators are members of the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower program.
So we've got we've got, uh, all of our all
of our staff are trained to recognize the sunflower and

(05:43):
understand what it means, but also then we know what
support people might need if they have identified and they
need some assistance. But everyone at the event who's working there, um,
from the transport operators are trained in, um, you know, understanding,
as I mentioned, you know, some of those barriers that
people can face and how we can overcome those barriers. Um,
with some of those initiatives that we've got in place.

S1 (06:04):
When accessibility is really important. Often it can be, you know,
financial accessibility that is all financial exclusion because you can't
afford to do things. So what's the situation as far
as public transport in Melbourne goes? There's quite a bit
of it, either very low cost or indeed free.

S2 (06:20):
So Public Transport or Transport Victoria, they've got a number of,
I guess, um, myki cards uh, available for folks, including
travel passes. So, um, there will be people available from
Transport Victoria who can talk about these, um, opportunities for
folks if, uh, you know, they can qualify for a

(06:41):
travel pass, which can be free, uh, or certainly concession
as well, if people, um, are eligible for concession passes
and so on. In Melbourne, in the CBD, we've got
the free tram, free tram pass, the free tram zone.
So that's, um, um, you know, unlimited travel within the

(07:01):
free tram zone around the CBD. So folks do come
into the city and they want to get on a
tram to go up to the Queen Victoria market and
then ducked back down to um Bourke Street Mall, have
some lunch somewhere, and then head up to Parliament to
check out the sights. Um, they can do all of
that in the free trade zone at no cost.

S1 (07:20):
Yeah.

S2 (07:21):
That's right. We've got, um, those initiatives here. Uh, but yeah,
certainly the Transport Victoria folks will be available at the
try before you resort to talk about, um, you know, those, uh,
concession opportunities for fares and tickets and so on.

S1 (07:34):
Well, often you can have something there and not be
aware of it for whatever reason until it gets out
to you. You don't know until someone points it out.
So that's the great thing. So tell us about Thursday
the 16th. Uh, what sort of time does it get underway?
And what do we need to do to kind of
take part in the day?

S2 (07:50):
You bet. So it's Thursday, the 16th. It starts at
1030 in the morning and it's at Southern Cross railway station.
We will have some banners and signs so people can
identify the area that we're going to be located to
register and let us know that you're here. And the
event finishes at 2 p.m., so it's a good 3.5

(08:10):
hours to register. And the reason we want people to
register is so that we a we know you're coming.
And also b if you do have any um, any requirements.
Certainly if you wanted to uh, let us know, you might, um,
you know, need some assistance. We can let Travelers Aid
know in advance that, um, you're popping in, but also
just to register, as I said, to let us know

(08:33):
that you're you're definitely going to be coming, which is
a really good thing.

S1 (08:36):
You talked about not being in Melbourne a long time,
and Melbourne is pretty famous for its trams. So if
you kind of, uh, utilize them to the best of
your ability, that's got to be a good thing as well.

S2 (08:44):
Do you know what? It's an easy way to zip
across town. Um, you know, people that work in the city,
if you want to duck up to Bourke Street Mall
because you need to buy a pair of shoes, you
can just half off the tram. Um, but even out
to the suburbs, you know, um, and not that far,
you know, if people footy season's finished now, but, um,
people that want to go to the footy, we've got, um,
you know, additional tram services that take people to those

(09:07):
sorts of events. And for, you know, special events like
the Australian Open, Grand Prix, you know, we've got lots
of trans services there, but just also getting around day
to day, you know, it's a really convenient, reliable and,
you know, it's a great way to get around Melbourne
and also is, I think, you know, services that are
operated by our partners at Kinetic Metro. And, you know,

(09:29):
it's making, you know, participation and um, and in everything
that people do from day to day easier. And you
don't have to rely on a car. Yeah.

S1 (09:40):
It's a great.

S2 (09:40):
Thing. Yeah. There was one thing about the registration process
with registering. We do have a couple of ways that
people can do that. There's an Eventbrite web page which
we've set up for people to register, and it's a
bit of a mouthful, but I'll I'll let everyone know
what it is. It's try before you ride Melbourne. 2025

(10:03):
so try before you buy Melbourne. Five dot Eventbrite and
bright is spelled b r I t e.com. Or there's
actually going to be a link on the Vision Australia um,
web page that will take you to that same registration.

S1 (10:19):
All right. And we put it up about the show
on our show notes as well Wayne. So we'll make
sure that link goes on the show notes as well.
So people got all sorts of ways of accessing it. Thanks. Good.
Good on everyone for the initiative. It's got to be
a good thing when more people can be included in
the taking part in the day to day life and
in particular this instance, public transport. We wish you well

(10:42):
and thanks for spending some time with us.

S2 (10:44):
And I certainly look forward to meeting everyone at, uh,
at the event on the 16th.

S1 (10:49):
By the way, I heard you on the radio. That's
why I'm here.

S2 (10:53):
That's why I'm here.

S1 (10:55):
That's the password, anyway.

S2 (10:57):
Thanks, Peter. Cheers.

S1 (10:58):
So, wine spirits, a bit of a character. Certainly sounds
like a well worthwhile guy to get along. October the 16th.
We'll put those details up for their show notes.