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WHAT IS A FAIR FARE?

Frustration and expense are often part and parcel of moving around in the moderncity. And so governments around the world are responding with many initiatives tomake cities more efficient and liveable. Are they doing a good job? In this article,David Bremner suggests that Brisbane residents, at least, can justifiably expect more

from their public transport system.

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BRISBANE LINE MARCH 2010 ISSUE

Public transport is a necessary and vital component of our city. Buses, trains, ferriesand taxis not only help us get to work, and combat the urban impossibility of millionsof people driving wherever and whenever they want, but these services also connectus to universities and schools, hospitals, music and sports events, shopping centresand our friends and family.

I have caught buses and trains all my life, all around the world and Ive heard andseen peoples stories. In Brisbane, these include:

y Pensioners on a tight budget who are no longer able to drive

y Teenagers looking for entertainment with their friends or going to school

y Families wanting to explore destinations the city has to offer like the sciencecentre and GoMA

y Tourists touring Brisbane on the CityCats and buses

y Shift-workers struggling to find a bus late at night or early in the morning

y Commuters and university students struggling against crowds and lateservices.

These stories and more are repeated all around the world. Sometimes transport is aneasy complaint target and we only focus on the negative, but surely we can dobetter.

Translink the government authority responsible for planning and delivering publictransport in South East Queensland is doing a good job within its limited budget.The region we know and love is home to almost three million people and covers23,000 square km. The transport task in the diverse cities of Brisbane, Gold andSunshine Coasts, Ipswich and Logan is huge.

Over the last few years the government has delivered new busways and railwaysand integrated ticketing across Queensland Rail passenger services and seventeendifferent private bus and ferry companies. This is no mean feat and has enabledpassengers to purchase just one ticket for travel on any service. Unlike previously, it

is now possible to interchange between modes and companies, and eligiblepensioners and students now receive a standardised 50% concession.

However, many in our community including myself, think that the frequency,reliability, coverage and ease of use of public transport in SEQ is not as good as itcould be, even in peak times. It is absolutely abysmal on weekends and during off-peak times. If you think this is an exaggeration, try catching a bus after 6.30pm ortaking two kids to New Farm Park on Sunday. It can be harder and more expensivethan you would think.

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In August last year, the government opened two fantastic new pieces ofinfrastructure new sections of the northern and eastern busways. Given the capitalbudget of these projects youd expect significant benefits, yet many on the northernbusway have complained it slows their journey, and students travelling to theUniversity of Queensland on the 109 have had to wait seven months since it openedto use the new section of busway or even to see the frequency of their serviceimproved.

So the question must be asked: is it just more money that will improve our publictransport? And if so, why has only three million dollars in service improvements beenannounced in the last eight months at a time when fares have risen across the boardby 20-40%?

Currently, in order to get the cheapest fare, were being promoted to use Go card,an electronic smart card that calculates and deducts the fare for your journey fromthe prepaid balance on your card.

We have heard time and time again that a single ticket now costs the same orcheaper on Go card than it did in 2007 but this statement ignores the fact thatthousands of passengers previously used weekly, monthly, ten trip or QR periodical

tickets at substantial discount compared to the single ticket price.

Customer dissatisfaction with the removal of ten trip magnetic tickets had forced thegovernment to lower Go card fares in August 2008 to the equivalent cost thatpassengers had been paying with their ten trip tickets. In October last year thegovernment reversed this decision, increased fares by a further 20% (resulting in a38-42% price increase for most customers), and announced news that fares wouldcontinue to rise by 10% per annum until at least 2014.

And despite this cash grab, Translink is still to release the network plan promised byJuly 2008 that was meant to outline the service improvements the organisation woulddeliver!

Customers have a right to feel frustrated when service improvements have laggedgrowth in demand so slowly and when it seems they are being ignored.

I consistently hear passengers say that they would like to fix their monthly transportcost by buying a monthly ticket. Yet the recent changes made it much moreexpensive to purchase a paper monthly ticket. It has also been announced that allpaper tickets will be removed for sale by the end of this year even though we stilldont know what, if any, new products will replace them.

Given that both the technology and the current CEO of Translink come from London(which has unlimited zone based monthly travel passes), one has to wonder why it istaking them so long to offer something similar, perhaps a value based monthly cap,here.

London, unlike Brisbane is a place where it is possible to live without a car and stillbe able to access the places needed by public transport only paying a fixed monthlycost irrespective of the number of trips made.

Translink cannot afford to continue to be deaf to the torrent of public opinion, emails,letters, and telephone calls theyve been receiving about the cost and usabilityproblems of Go card. They cannot continue to do so little market research orcommunity engagement and think they can get away with knowing so little aboutwhat their customers value.

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We have heard time and time again that a single ticket now costs the same orcheaper on Go card than it did in 2007 but this statement ignores the fact thatthousands of passengers previously used weekly, monthly, ten trip or QR periodicaltickets at substantial discount compared to the single ticket price.

Customer dissatisfaction with the removal of ten trip magnetic tickets had forced thegovernment to lower Go card fares in August 2008 to the equivalent cost that

passengers had been paying with their ten trip tickets. In October last year thegovernment reversed this decision, increased fares by a further 20% (resulting in a38-42% price increase for most customers), and announced news that fares wouldcontinue to rise by 10% per annum until at least 2014.

And despite this cash grab, Translink is still to release the network plan promised byJuly 2008 that was meant to outline the service improvements the organisation woulddeliver!

Customers have a right to feel frustrated when service improvements have laggedgrowth in demand so slowly and when it seems they are being ignored.

I consistently hear passengers say that they would like to fix their monthly transport

cost by buying a monthly ticket. Yet the recent changes made it much moreexpensive to purchase a paper monthly ticket. It has also been announced that allpaper tickets will be removed for sale by the end of this year even though we stilldont know what, if any, new products will replace them.

Given that both the technology and the current CEO of Translink come from London(which has unlimited zone based monthly travel passes), one has to wonder why it istaking them so long to offer something similar, perhaps a value based monthly cap,here.

London, unlike Brisbane is a place where it is possible to live without a car and stillbe able to access the places needed by public transport only paying a fixed monthlycost irrespective of the number of trips made.

Translink cannot afford to continue to be deaf to the torrent of public opinion, emails,letters, and telephone calls theyve been receiving about the cost and usabilityproblems of Go card. They cannot continue to do so little market research orcommunity engagement and think they can get away with knowing so little aboutwhat their customers value.

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