The Yarra Trams data reveals that trams and vehicles collided 979 times last year, up from 872 in 2015, prompting further calls to separate trams from road traffic.

Meanwhile, separate figures from Transport Safety Victoria reveal a rise in the number of passenger injuries on trams.

It comes as the government rolls out newer tram models that accelerate faster, but can pose a risk to passengers when there is a sudden brake, especially as overcrowded trams lose seating.

Slips, trips or falls on trams reached 241 in the first nine months of last year, up from 232 in the first nine months the year before and 148 in 2015.

The number of passengers who were injured while getting on or off trams rose to 99 last year, a significant increase from 46 in 2015, Yarra Trams data shows.

New level-access tram stops are being built as part of a requirement to ensure that all tram stops meet accessibility standards by 2022.

Greens' transport spokesman Sam Hibbins said the upgrades, which would improve passenger safety, were occurring too slowly, with many stops on Melbourne's busiest routes still needing to be converted.

"Obviously, this will take some time ... but the government is lacking a plan for this transition."

A recent study found a 43 per cent reduction in pedestrian injury rates after 15 busy inner Melbourne tram stops were changed from being "safety stops" - which is where a thin metal barrier separates people from traffic - to platform stops.

A Yarra Trams spokesman said more than 70 per cent of tram and vehicle collisions were due to motor vehicles turning or merging onto tram tracks.

New tram prioritisation initiatives, expanded driver training and work to fine-tune data identifying crash locations is underway at Yarra Trams, he said.

Public Transport Users Association spokesman Daniel Bowen said separating trams from motor vehicles would boost safety, but there was more that the Andrews government could do, such as installing safety cameras on trams to catch out dangerous drivers.

"Many passengers say they've seen or experienced near-misses, and it's disappointing that the government is reluctant to fit cameras onto trams to penalise this dangerous and illegal act."

Mr Bowen said creating more zebra crossings around stops would save passengers from being forced to "run the gauntlet of motorists, or face a long wait to cross due to poorly-programmed traffic lights".

A government spokeswoman said the Public Transport Victoria, Yarra Trams and VicRoads was working with the government to improve safety.

Recent works to renew 2.2 kilometres of double tracks and overhead lines on Lygon Street, between Weston and Elgin streets, included installing raised kerbs, road markings and coloured asphalt to reduce the risk of tram and vehicle collisions, she said.

"There are more than 200 million trips on Melbourne's tram network each year - the majority of which are safe. However, work is under way on passenger and motorist awareness campaigns, driver awareness and upgrading tram stops to improve pedestrian access, safety and accessibility."

Mr Hibbins backed calls for safety cameras to be installed on trams, and said trams needed to be given priority on the roads.

"Unless the government has a plan to create greater tram separation from traffic ... then we are just going to see more accidents, more collisions and near-misses."

Seventy-five per cent of the Melbourne's tram network is shared with road traffic, with almost 10,000 new cars added to Victorian roads each month, according to VicRoads.

The Victorian opposition's public transport spokesman, David Davis, said the collisions were occurring as a result of "congestion that is strangling Melbourne" - a problem requiring a multi-step solution and "proper investment".

More than 390 of the 1761 tram stops in Melbourne have been upgraded to level access stops.