Interview Highlight: Wayne Speers - Yarra Trams

Sam also speaks with Wayne Speers from Yarra Trams about the upcoming Try Before You Ride event, taking place on 16 October at Southern Cross Station in Melbourne.

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Episode Transcript

S1 (00:13):
Wayne, welcome back to Talking Vision. Thank you very much
for your time.

S2 (00:17):
Thank you very much, Sam. It's great to be back.

S1 (00:19):
We're here to discuss a very exciting little event coming
up in Melbourne for people out there. The Try Before
You Ride event run through PTV. Tell us a bit
about that one.

S2 (00:32):
So try before you ride. It's now in its third
year of returning after the episodes of Covid, and we
have all of the transport operators in Melbourne, so that's
Yarra Trams, Metro Trains, V line and also Kinetic Buses.
We all get together and give people an opportunity to
come and learn about public transport, and also the opportunity

(00:56):
to come and have a look at what features are
on the trains, trams, buses and so on for accessibility,
but also people, if they've not been regular transport users before,
just to understand the layouts of trams and trains and
buses and things. Yeah, really important stuff. We've also got
Travellers Aid who partner with us as well. So they're
there to provide support for people at the event. They're

(01:17):
doing a couple of station tours, but also for people
to get to know a bit more about what Travellers
Aid do.

S1 (01:23):
And how is the format looking in comparison to previous
two iterations? Are there any differences in comparison that if
people have headed along to the last 1 or 2 iterations,
is there anything different in store for people?

S2 (01:39):
So it's almost a rinse and repeat from last year. Okay.

S1 (01:43):
We've that's good. Familiarity is you know.

S2 (01:46):
Certainly.

S1 (01:47):
Is always good.

S2 (01:48):
So what we um what we've got set up there
is metro trains are bringing a train to the station
at Southern Cross. And also V line are going to
be bringing one as well. So it's dedicated for that
event for the 3.5 hours that it's there. Yarra Trams,
we're doing something a little bit different. So we did
this last year and it was a roaring success. And
we actually take people on a guided tram ride. So

(02:11):
that way we still talk about the features and show
people the features on a tram and at the tram stop,
but there's nothing like taking a tram ride.

S1 (02:20):
It's very true.

S2 (02:21):
It's the way to do it. And, uh, it's a
short trip, you know, maybe ten, 15 minutes or so,
but it just gives people the chance to experience what
it's like to be on a moving tram, because it's
quite different to a bus. Um, and also, it's a
bit of an exciting break to do something on the tram. Yeah,
certainly in Melbourne.

S1 (02:38):
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And, um, those 3.5 hours, let's get
those details for people out there in terms of the
when and also remind people of the where at Southern Cross.

S2 (02:52):
Yes. So it's on Thursday the 16th of October and
the event's going to start at 1030. So that's when
we'll be open for business and we'll finish at 2:00.
So the important thing for people to do is to
register for the event ahead of time. That way we
know that you're coming. And there's a couple of ways
that people can do that so that can be done.

(03:13):
There's a link on the Vision Australia web page to
take people to do the registrations. But there's also you
can call the Transport Victoria call centre if you need
assistance registering for the event and the phone number for
the Transport Victoria call centre. It's 1800 800 007. Now once you've

(03:34):
registered we know you're coming. And then on the day
turn up and we mark you off as arriving. And
then the time is pretty much up to up to
the individual. So you can go and do a train
tour with Metro or V line or both. Connecticut buses
are going to be showing their buses there as well
down in the coach area. And there's also a couple

(03:55):
of accessible taxis which will be available for people to
explore as well. People that want to do the tram ride,
they can register with us and we'll have allocated times
for that. And that's all done at the registration desk.
But it's pretty much have a look around, check things
out at your own pace, in your own time. And
then we wrap it all up at 2:00. So it's
a it's all finished by two. Yeah. We had a

(04:16):
really good turnout last year. There were I think well
over 100 people registered and turned up. And we're certainly
hoping for the same success this year. And it's important
for people to know that it's even though we have
a start and a finish time for the event. If
you want to go and try out these different modes
of transport, there's no stress or there's there's no need

(04:38):
to be concerned about the train leaving soon or, you know,
the bus leaving soon because it's in service. These are
dedicated for the events to be there so people can
do it in their own pace, in their own time.
We also welcome people to come along with hidden disabilities.
So we'll have Bailey House, who do the Hidden Disabilities
Sunflower program in Australia and New Zealand. They'll be there

(04:59):
as well. So if people want to understand a bit
more about hidden disabilities and also the sunflower, how that
benefits people with hidden disabilities, they'll be there as well?
And all of the transport operators are members of that
program as well, which is a really, really confident thing
for people to know that if you've got a hidden disability,
we understand that there might be some barriers and things
and we can we can help remove those as we

(05:19):
need to.

S1 (05:20):
Oh, wonderful.

S2 (05:20):
Yeah.

S1 (05:21):
Now, Wayne, where can people keep in touch to hear
about the accessibility measures and future events like the Come
and Try day through PTV, Yarra Trams, etc.?

S2 (05:33):
Yep. So we have the website that you do. The
registration through is Eventbrite and if people want to mark,
I think it's a checkbox that they can mark their
to stay in contact with us. That's right. They can
register that and then we'll keep the names there. So
as another event comes up or something similar comes up,
we can notify people through the Eventbrite website. And also

(05:56):
there's a range of ways that Transport Victoria can keep
in contact. So you can subscribe to updates particularly you know,
if there's disruptions coming up. and also through Metro trains.
They've got some similar registration processes there on our website.
For instance, on Yarra Trams we've got service changes. So
if there's any disruptions coming up that are because of
planned works so people can help plan their journeys around

(06:19):
some occupations we call them, there's information there to help
people with that. But I think for the try before
your ride event, definitely through the Eventbrite page, they can
keep updated with anything that's coming up through the Transport
Victoria and also other operators with future try before your
Ride events and so on.

S1 (06:37):
Okay, wonderful. I've been speaking today with Wayne Spears from
Yarra Trams all about the upcoming Try Before You Ride
event coming up on October the 16th at Southern Cross Station. Wayne,
always a pleasure to chat with you. Thank you very
much for your time and thank you. Returning to talking vision.
Always good. Always good to chat.

S2 (06:58):
Yeah. And if you see me out there, just say, hey,
I heard you on the radio.

S1 (07:03):
Well, good. Thanks so much. Cheers.