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Inner West strategies and trials

We are testing new ways to manage population growth and keep freight moving, while reducing the impact of trucks on the environment and residents.

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Clean air for the Inner West

We’re delivering $3 million to seal more local roads in Melbourne’s west to reduce dust pollution and improve air quality.

Local road resealing and Freight Sector Co-Investment funding has been re-purposed from the truck grants program.

Learn more

No-Truck Zones

The West Gate Tunnel Project will offer a vital alternative to the West Gate Bridge, providing faster and safer journeys. As part of this project, there will be 24-hour truck bans on local streets, and more than 9,000 trucks will be removed from the inner west(opens in a new window).

Air quality monitoring

We’re enhancing the level of air quality information(opens in a new window) and understanding of its impacts, through a suite of air monitoring, source identification, and assessment initiatives that complement the EPA’s air monitoring network and programs.

For the inner west, this includes:

Victorian air quality strategy

The strategy raises awareness about the impact of air pollution on human health and the environment by encouraging Victorians to act through community education programs.

This includes $2.8 million to establish two Air Quality Improvement Precincts in the inner west and outer west of Melbourne.

These precincts will reduce air pollution and address emerging environmental challenges, in partnership with the community and business.

We’ve developed a fact sheet outlining the actions underway to improve air quality in the inner west and across Victoria.

Clearing the air in Melbourne’s inner west PDF 6.5 MB (opens in a new window)

Climate change strategy

Victoria’s Climate Change Strategy(opens in a new window) charts the path to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

Our transport sector pledge includes actions that reduce emissions now and lay the foundations for a cleaner future, such as:

Former Melbourne Market site

In August 2024, the Victorian Government finalised the lease of the old Melbourne Market site to the Port of Melbourne until 2066.

Equivalent to more than 14 MCGs – the old Melbourne Market site has the potential to further increase the Port’s capacity by an additional one million containers a year. This will help trade and make supply chains stronger in Victoria.

The new site will make it easier to store containers and manage freight deliveries, reducing traffic around the port and cutting down the number of trucks through the inner west.

This lease will help Australia’s busiest container port grow and deliver on a key action in the Victorian Freight Plan: Delivering the Goods.

Moving more with less

Part of the Victorian Freight Plan, Moving More with Less supports the use of more efficient, safer, and environmentally friendly road freight combinations known as High Productivity Freight Vehicles (HPFV).

This strategy aims to grow the HPFV network to encourage the adoption of newer, performance-based vehicles that can meet the growing freight task while improving safety and reducing heavy vehicle impacts on the community and environment.

Moving More with Less: High Productivity Freight Vehicle Plan PDF 6.92 MB (opens in a new window)

Moving More with Less - accessible version Word 8.64 MB (opens in a new window)

Shifting freight from road to rail

The Department of Transport and Planning is partnering with industry and the Australian government to establish a network of port rail shuttles and intermodal terminals to enable more freight to be transported by rail.

This transformational investment includes:

An integrated and efficient rail freight network will reduce truck numbers in the inner west, removing congestion around the port and giving industry a more cost-effective way to get their products to market.

Transport Integration Act

We’ve improved Victoria’s planning system to give effect to the Transport Integration Act 2010.

State planning policy has been updated to support a more integrated transport system that is simpler and more certain for decision-makers, infrastructure providers and the community.

We need to plan for increased movement of people and goods, deliver critical infrastructure and jobs via our transport system. Delivering integrated transport and land-use planning will ensure our cities and regions are efficient, liveable and well placed to face these contemporary challenges.

More information about transport planning reforms is available on the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action website(opens in a new window).

Learn more about Victoria’s rail freight network.

Zero Emissions Bus Program

To support our transition towards zero emissions public transport, the Victorian Government has invested $20 million in a state-wide trial of zero-emission buses to run over the next three years.

Melbourne’s inner west suburbs and routes have been identified as a priority region for the rollout of this initiative.

A further 36 electric buses have been introduced across metropolitan Melbourne as part of the Metropolitan Bus Franchise agreement with Kinetic.

This includes five new electric buses running along 11 dedicated routes in the inner west from mid-2022.

Transport

Updated 6 February 2026

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