8 Mar 2009: SEQ: Call for free Sunday TransLink travel for Seniors on Go Card

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Media Release 8 Mar 2009

SEQ:  Call for free Sunday TransLink travel for Seniors on Go Card!

RAIL Back On Track (http://backontrack.org) a web based community support group for rail and public transport and an advocate for public transport users has previously called for free Sunday public transport travel for Senior Citizens (1, 2).  Senior citizens now have access to a special Seniors Go Card (a red Go Card), and as a further incentive for uptake of the card and to encourage senior citizens to get out and about, it would be a simple matter to program the smart card system to allow Seniors free travel on Sundays.

Robert Dow, Spokesman for RAIL Back On Track said:

?Free travel for Senior citizens was introduced by the Victorian Government on the 27 August 2006 in Melbourne. This worthwhile initiative has been a huge success and when on visits to Melbourne it has been encouraging to hear senior citizens comment on how helpful it has been to them.?

?Western Australia also has free travel for seniors on Sundays and Public Holidays and is poised to extend this to weekday travel as well.?

?Recent announcements of the possible portability of Seniors? public transport travel concession entitlement cards around the nation make a lot of sense. As part of this it would make even more sense to standardise the concessions afforded to our Seniors.?

?Public transport in south-east Queensland has some slack on Sundays, and it will be no additional load for our public transport generally to make this service available.  It will assist the Senior citizens to get out and about, visit family and friends, and have more healthy life styles. It will assist them in this time of financial stress. The Go Card will allow for easy implementation of such an initiative.?

?RAIL Back On Track calls on all political candidates for the 2009 State Election to consider providing free public transport to retired Seniors in Queensland on Sundays who use the Seniors Go Card.?

Reference:

1.  http://backontrack.org/mbs/index.php?topic=52.

2.  http://backontrack.org/mbs/index.php?topic=567.0

Contact:

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org

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From the Adelaide Advertiser click here!

Premier Mike Rann announces free off-peak public transport for seniors

Premier Mike Rann announces free off-peak public transport for seniors
Article from: The Advertiser

GREG KELTON, STATE EDITOR

March 24, 2009 03:30pm

ADELAIDE seniors will be able to ride off-peak trams, trains and buses for free under a $10 million scheme announced by the State Government today.

All 275,000 holders of the Seniors Card will be able to travel free on trains, buses and trams from 9.30am to 3pm on weekdays, all weekend and public holidays from July 1.

The current 50 per cent ticket concession available to senior's cardholders and other concession groups for peak-hour travel will be maintained.

Premier Mike Rann said it was an initiative that older South Australians deserved.

Transport Minister Patrick Conlon, asked if the election campaign had started early, said it was an idea "people can get their teeth into as opposed to the Liberals' three ideas for a hospital".

"There are things you do for people and there are gimmicks," Mr Conlon said. "We are not going to offer three options about how people catch buses."

Concessions from the State Government - on council rates, water, energy and vehicle registration fees - that directly assist elderly South Australians and pensioners cost, on average, between $300 and $870 a year.

Mr Conlon said the new scheme would cost about $10 million a year.

He said it would help attract even more people to public transport and would improve the situation on peak-hour travel by freeing up more space for those commuters.

Mr Rann said people were being hit hard during the global economic downturn - especially self-funded retirees whose investments were returning very little as interest rates dropped and so much had been wiped off the value of shares and stocks.

"We want older people to keep moving and this scheme offers a good incentive to help them to do so," Mr Rann said.

Opposition spokeswoman on the ageing Isobel Redmond said the plan to offer free public transport to senior citizens was a carbon copy of Liberal policies.

She said the WA Liberal Government had announced an identical plan just a couple of weeks ago.

"Last week, when the state Liberals proposed free public transport during Clipsal, Mr Rann demanded to know how it would be funded," Ms Redmond said.

"Mr Rann must now explain how he will afford his plan and where are his costings?"

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From the Sun-Herald 5th April 2009 page 13

Seniors need transport-card reward: lobbies

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From The Satellite 29th April 2009 page 3

Call for free transport for seniors