STOP PRESS: Go card changes

[#Metro]

C-R-I-K-E-Y!!!

* Seniors to get capped fares (everyone else apparently not)
* Paper tickets will remain
* Temporary Go card aborted
* Another 305,000 weekly public transport seats added to the TransLink network by July next year.

Government backflips as paper tickets for public transport remain with go cards

A PLAN to phase out the popular paper tickets on southeast Queensland's public transport network has been scrapped by the State Government.

Transport Minister Rachel Nolan will announce today that paper tickets will remain alongside go cards, after it was found to be too costly to implement a temporary version of the go card for tourists and infrequent travellers.

But the cheap daily off-peak fares currently available with paper tickets will be abolished, in favour of the introduction of capped go card fares for seniors and pensioners.

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/government-backflips-as-paper-tickets-for-public-transport-remain-with-go-cards/story-e6freoof-1225944895453

[STB]

Interesting.  

It did say in the article that it would be seniors AND pensioners who get the capped deal so I presume that's basically anyone with either a Senior Go Card or a Concession Go Card (which includes students and pensioners).  I'm guessing that they worked out that the majority of journies for more than 2 a day is done by concession holders and I must admit with myself travelling in off peak, at least 80% of people I've seen who are travelling in off peak are concession Go Card/ticket holders (students, pensioners, stay at home mums etc), very few adult tickets sold/Go Cards touched.  That's based on my own observations over the past 12 months and I've done a lot of travel over this year to and from different campuses and universities, and beyond, and during off peak that's what I've found on face value.

At a guess, all daily and off peak daily tickets are to be scrapped leaving only single paper tickets and presumably season tickets (weekly, monthlies) available.  Although I can see it now, people who don't have Go Cards will be buying single ticket there, single ticket back and will just be plain expensive for those who refuse to make the switch.

At least it makes sense now why there has been no word on it, knowing TL inside out, they would've not of approached any stakeholders until they did the sums themselves.

[STB]

Hmm, I just thought how capped fares can be abused, eg: do a couple of short trips then take one nice long free trip to the Gold Coast and back!

[STB]

Apologies for multi-posting but have just discovered that this info has been posted on the TransLink website.

http://www.translink.com.au/fares2011.php

http://www.translink.com.au/resources/ticketing/101029_fares.pdf

Changes to fares and ticketing in 2011
Home > Changes to fares and ticketing in 2011

From Monday 17 January 2011, a number of changes will be introduced to fares and ticketing.

The changes include:

   * New daily go card cap on fares for Seniors, Pension Concession Card holders and Repatriation Health Care Card (Gold Card) holders - after two journeys are made in one day all additional journeys are free.
   * Increase in the go card off-peak discount from 10 to 15 per cent providing more incentive to travel during the day and on weekends or public holidays.
   * go card fares and single paper ticket fares will increase by 15 per cent - a go card fare will still be 30 per cent cheaper for a single journey.
   * go card will replace all multi-trip paper tickets - including all daily, weekly and monthly paper tickets.
   * Single paper tickets will remain for sale to ensure infrequent users and tourists are able to easily access public transport.

These changes will help ensure we are well placed to continue to deliver a world-class public transport network and address the challenges of a rapidly growing population and record patronage.

http://www.translink.com.au/farechange2011.php

Well, I was wrong about Concession Go Card holders.  It's Senior Go Card holders only.  And my usual 3 zone off peak fare goes up from $1.44 to $1.57.

EDIT: Actually scratch that, I'm utterly confused, I thought those with pension concession cards get the Concession Go Card, not the Seniors Go Card?

[ozbob]

The 'journey capping' only applies to "Those using a maroon seniors or green pension go card will pay for the first two journeys they take in a day and then go card will allow them to travel for free for the remainder of the day." *  from government statement

It does not apply to all concession go card holders, only those who have a green go card through a pension entitlement eg. DVA gold card.  That is students and others do NOT have the journey capping under the detail as announced.

[ozbob]

From the Courier Mail click here!

Government backflips as paper tickets for public transport remain with go cards

Government backflips as paper tickets for public transport remain with go cards

    * by Ursula Heger
    * From: The Courier-Mail
    * October 29, 2010 12:00AM

A PLAN to phase out the popular paper tickets on southeast Queensland's public transport network has been scrapped by the State Government.

Transport Minister Rachel Nolan will announce today that paper tickets will remain alongside go cards, after it was found to be too costly to implement a temporary version of the go card for tourists and infrequent travellers.

But the cheap daily off-peak fares currently available with paper tickets will be abolished, in favour of the introduction of capped go card fares for seniors and pensioners.

Last year, the Government announced paper tickets would be completely phased out from the end of this year as go card use widened, with a temporary version of the commuter cards to be made available for tourists.

At the time, paper ticket fares were increased above those for go cards, to convince more commuters to make the switch. Ms Nolan said the decision to keep paper tickets was in response to feedback from the community and public transport operators.

"The work that we did around implementing a disposable go card showed that it would be quite an expensive model to introduce," she said.

"But (second) bus drivers in particular are talking to us about a concern with carrying a large amount of money – and it is always going to be cheaper for a punter to get on a bus and buy a paper ticket to where we are going than to buy a $10 disposable go card. So keeping a model of retaining some paper tickets is a lot simpler and involves less cash handling than would otherwise have been the case."

As a result the Government would be able to expand services, with another 305,000 weekly public transport seats added to the TransLink network by July next year.

Ms Nolan said she expected the uptake of go cards to continue despite paper tickets remaining, with 64 per cent of regular commuters currently using the technology.

Fares for both go cards and paper tickets will still rise by 15 per cent next year, with the cost of a two-zone trip on paper tickets to jump from $3.90 to $4.60, while the same go card journey will increase from $2.70 to $3.11.

Under the new fare arrangements for seniors and pensioners to be introduced from January 17 next year, cost of travel would be capped at two journeys a day, and any subsequent trips will be free.

[ozbob]

Media Release 29 October 2010

SEQ:  Go card, go card, paper ...

RAIL Back On Track (http://backontrack.org) a web based community support group for rail and public transport and an advocate for public transport commuters has welcomed the announcement of the journey capping for the go card for Seniors (red go card) and those users who use a green concession go card through a pension entitlement (1).

Robert Dow, Spokesman for RAIL Back On Track said:

"RAIL Back On Track is delighted that Seniors and pensioners will now have a journey cap on their public daily public transport use.  This means that these users can make multiple daily journeys and only pay for the first two.  This is important as this constituency does the greatest number of daily journeys as they go about their daily commitments and tough financial times have meant that many Seniors and pensioners have restricted their outings since the implementation of the fare structure on 4th January last. That was not acceptable and we are pleased that journey capping is to be introduced from 17th January 2011 for Seniors with a red go card and pensioners using the green go card."

"Having said that, we call for the journey capping to extended to ALL green concession go card users from the 17th January 2011.  Students are the other constituency that do proportionally more daily journeys.  They are in many cases 'learner earners' and they need to undertake multiple daily journeys in the course of their study and often part-time employment. They too do it tough."

"The abandonment of the limited use go card is sensible considering that the a paper alternative will be continued.  Single paper tickets are an acceptable alternative for limited use, however we call for increased education, publicity, and availability of go cards particularly with an emphasis for easy purchase by tourists."

"RAIL Back On Track has constantly called for a capping system to be brought in for Seniors.  We have also called for improved capping and periodical options to be extended to all go card users.  Other smart card jurisdictions have these capping and periodical options and we think that this should be further considered by Government and TransLink.  Clearly, capping algorithms are possible with the go card.  Why not drive public transport use to reap the whole of community benefits?"

"We note that the planned fare increases are to proceed and that the off peak discount is to rise to 15%.  We think that a greater off peak differential is needed to further drive shift away from peak services and better utilisation off peak services.  Recently the ADC Forum suggested free off peak travel was needed universally (2).  This highlights the conservative approach by Queensland is out of whack with contemporary thinking.  Increase the off peak discount to 30% which is line with previous off peak discounts in Queensland and this will actually lead to an improved fare box and better utilisation of off peak services."

"We are very grateful that Seniors and other pensioners will now have the availability of capped daily public transport travel in south-east Queensland and thank the Queensland Government and TransLink."


References:

1. http://www.translink.com.au/farechange2011.php

2. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/10/22/3045762.htm?section=justin


Contact:

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org

[ozbob]

http://www.translink.com.au/farechange2011.php

Changes to fares and ticketing in 2011

From Monday 17 January 2011, a number of changes will be introduced to fares and ticketing.

The changes include:

    * New daily go card cap on fares for Seniors, Pension Concession Card holders and Repatriation Health Care Card (Gold Card) holders - after two journeys are made in one day all additional journeys are free.
    * Increase in the go card off-peak discount from 10 to 15 per cent providing more incentive to travel during the day and on weekends or public holidays.
    * go card fares and single paper ticket fares will increase by 15 per cent - a go card fare will still be 30 per cent cheaper for a single journey.
    * go card will replace all multi-trip paper tickets - including all daily, weekly and monthly paper tickets.
    * Single paper tickets will remain for sale to ensure infrequent users and tourists are able to easily access public transport.

[ozbob]

From the Brisbanetimes click here!

Go Card backdown: Paper tickets to stay

Go Card backdown: Paper tickets to stay
Daniel Hurst
October 29, 2010 - 4:00AM

Plans to abolish paper transport tickets in southeast Queensland have been scrapped, amid fears tourists and occasional commuters would be left stranded.

The Bligh government today announced it would walk away from plans to roll out a special limited-life Go Card for casual transport users, opting to keep single-journey paper tickets available.

The backflip follows concerns that people who rarely use public transport would prefer to buy paper tickets when catching a bus, train or ferry.

Daily, weekly and monthly tickets will, however, be scrapped in mid-January.

Translink is pushing ahead with a planned 15 per cent rise in Go Card and single paper ticket fares in January, but it will roll out new incentives to lure more people across to the smartcard technology.

Seniors and pensioners using Go Cards will effectively enjoy a two-journey daily fare cap, with any subsequent trips coming free of charge.

Transport Minister Rachel Nolan said the government had decided to retain one-way paper tickets so that occasional users and tourists could easily access public transport.

"We've listened to the community reference group, tourists and infrequent users who have told us they would prefer to be able to purchase a single-trip ticket at a station or on-board a bus or ferry, rather than an alternative Go Card," she said in a statement.

"It is also cost effective. It will allow us to add another 305,000 weekly public transport seats to the Translink network by July next year."

The state government last year announced conventional tickets would be scrapped at the end of 2010, with paperless public transport hailed as "a smarter way to go".

But while Go Card use has increased dramatically over the past year on the back of paper ticket fare increases and railway station gate changes, some occasional travellers still prefer paper.

brisbanetimes.com.au last month revealed the end-of-the-year deadline for phasing out paper tickets was in doubt, amid concern from tourism and transport groups over progress on the promised Go Card alternative.

The state opposition had also questioned the government's readiness.

Ms Nolan said she was determined to encourage more people to make the switch from private vehicles to public transport.

Go Card fares would still be 30 per cent cheaper than paper tickets for single journeys, she said.

New fares coming into effect on January 17 will push up the cost of a two-zone Go Card journey from $2.70 to $3.11. The fare for the same journey on a paper ticket will rise from $3.90 to $4.60.

As previously announced, the 10 per cent off-peak discount will rise to 15 per cent next year.

Off-peak fares apply on weekdays between 9am and 3.30pm and after 7pm weekdays, all day weekends and public holidays.

The incentive for frequent Go Card users will remain the same, with a 50 per cent discount applied to subsequent journeys once 10 journeys have been made in any one week.

On Monday, Premier Anna Bligh said the government wanted to ensure public transport ticketing was fair.

"We are working rigorously and carefully to make sure that this decision is financially viable, is fair to commuters and is capable of implementation," she said.

[frereOP]

Hmm, I just thought how capped fares can be abused, eg: do a couple of short trips then take one nice long free trip to the Gold Coast and back!

It would only be capped within zones that the previous trips covered.  So no City to Toowong and back a couple of times then a trip to Tweed Heads for free.  You would get charged for the extra zones.

[ozbob]

No.  

after two journeys are made in one day all additional journeys are free.

Also see here --> http://www.translink.com.au/resources/ticketing/101029_fares.pdf

Once two JOURNEYS are completed all travel thereafter is free for Seniors and green go card pension holders for that day.

So it is theoretically possible to do two one zoners, each a clear hour apart, wait another hour then head off to VL or wherever.  But how many will do that?  The important fact is the greatest group that do multiple journeys during the day are Seniors, followed closely by tertiary students. This is a great move.  More needed overall but you have to start somewhere.

[ozbob]

Minister for Transport
The Honourable Rachel Nolan
29/10/2010

Free journeys for seniors and pensioners

Seniors and pensioners will be eligible for free journeys under new fare arrangements that come into effect early next year.

Transport Minister Rachel Nolan said the new incentives would form part of the transition away from daily, weekly and monthly tickets from 17 January 2011.

Under the changes:

·Single paper tickets will be retained to ensure all infrequent users and tourists will be able to easily access public transport;

·go card fares and single paper ticket fares will increase by 15 per cent as announced in October 2009;

·A go card fare will still be 30 per cent cheaper for a single journey;

·Any journey made by go card for seniors and pensioners in excess of two journeys in the one day will be free;

·The go card off-peak discount will be increased from 10 to 15 per cent providing more incentive to travel during the day and on weekends or public holidays;

·Add another 305,000 seats to the network over the next year.

·The 50 per cent frequent user discount will remain for more than 10 journeys in a week (Monday to Sunday).

"This is all about getting more people to make the switch from private vehicles as part of our push to double public transport use over the next 20 years," Ms Nolan said.

"This will cut congestion and carbon emissions and help us manage growth in South East Queensland."

Ms Nolan said the single trip paper ticket would be retained to ensure that all infrequent users and tourists will be able to easily access public transport.

"We've listened to the Community Reference Group, tourists and infrequent users who have told us they would prefer to be able to purchase a single trip ticket at a station or on-board a bus or ferry, rather than an alternative go card," Ms Nolan said.

"It's a model that is working successfully on other public transport networks, including in London and Perth.

"It is also cost effective. It will allow us to add another 305,000 weekly public transport seats to the TransLink network by July next year."

Ms Nolan said the Queensland Government is also providing further incentives for senior and pensioner groups who prefer to use public transport several times on one or two days a week rather than travelling every day.

"Many seniors and pensioners rely on public transport as a convenient way to travel," she said.

"Those using a maroon seniors or green pension go card will pay for the first two journeys they take in a day and then go card will allow them to travel for free for the remainder of the day."

The go card has already been recognised by the peak Tourism and Transport Forum as Australia's leading smart card with up to 2.5 million trips a week saving up more than 3500 hours a week in boarding time on buses alone.

It also recognises that Brisbane's public transport network is cheaper than both Sydney and Melbourne,

The go card continues to be supported by the largest transport smartcard retail system in Australia with more than 520 outlets to purchase a go card, more than double the 208 locations in October 2009.

Paper tickets for a two-zone trip, taken by more than one-third of all passengers, will rise from $3.90 to $4.60 in January, while the rise in go card fares over the same journey would be 41 cents - from $2.70 to $3.11.

The off-peak fare for the same journey would be $2.65

For every $1 a commuter pays in fares, the Queensland Government currently pays $3 to keep public transport affordable.

"Public transport in South East Queensland has changed significantly in recent years," Ms Nolan said.

"We have grown patronage by more than 50 per cent.

"We have integrated ticketing, more buses, more trains, more busways, new railway lines, new and upgraded stations.

"The changes will enable the government to continue to rollout services to meet growing demand and the challenges of population growth.

"The government will continue to provide additional funding for public transport with a record budget of $1.4 billion committed in the current year."

==============================================================

[#Metro]

"This is all about getting more people to make the switch from private vehicles as part of our push to double public transport use over the next 20 years," Ms Nolan said.

Won't work unless you increase train frequency by doubling that too!

The go card has already been recognised by the peak Tourism and Transport Forum as Australia's leading smart card with up to 2.5 million trips a week saving up more than 3500 hours a week in boarding time on buses alone.

Groan. 

[O_128]

Lmao what about students

[Jonno]

What an absolute failure to mange this situation.  There are multiple examples around the world that could have been considered but we get...a non-solution.  Now we will get a 15% price rise with no major improvement to service levels.  If this was road tolls or rego costs rising every man and their dog would be screaming the roof down and saying it is the end of the world. But when PT prices so up all we hear is that it is to reduce the extremely high subsidy and about time they paid their way.  The double standard is sickening.  The Translink board and management should be sacked!!!! The Minister should also resign.  Hand transport over to the kids at a kindergarten and I reckon we would get a better outcome than this lot.

[unixbigot]

In various places the press releases state periodic tickets will be "replaced by go card" but do not elaborate on whether this means a go card periodic option or normal pay-per-trip pricing.

Has anyone worked out what "replaced by" actually means in this instance?

[Derwan]

Has anyone worked out what "replaced by" actually means in this instance?

It's the media's way of saying that people will have to use the Go Card instead of periodic paper tickets.  There is no change to the fare structure for the Go Card - except for Seniors and Pensioners.

[ozbob]

612 ABC Brisbane Breakfast with Spencer Howson, interview with Minister for Transport

Click here!

Paper tickets to stay

29 October 2010 , 9:13 AM by Spencer Howson | Comments (0)

Paper tickets are now here to stay with the State Government today dumping the plan to phase them out.

They decided it would be too costly to introduce a temporary go-card for tourists and infrequent travellers.

Cheap daily off-peak tickets will be scrapped and instead, there will be capped go card fares for seniors and pensioners. Transport Minister Rachel Nolan:

[STB]

Bit of a pity that students won't get the concession cap.  I know some students who need to do more than 3 trips a day just to get to different campuses for different classes.  There are those who also work and study and obviously they do more than 3 trips a day as well.

The last I checked, students get paid less then pensioners and seniors if a student is on Centrelink benefits.

[colinw]

It is sensible to continue paper tickets for now, and the capping for seniors is a very good thing.

BUT - why exactly can't a limited use / temporary Go Card work?  Queensland isn't that "special", and the fact remains that they are available on many CUBIC based systems that are all but identical to Go Card in underlying technology.

Is this yet another case of something that is perfectly straightforward & obvious to the rest of the world being somehow "too hard" for the QLD Government & TransLink?

I have a feeling that it must be the planning & implementation side of things - here in Queensland - that is "too hard".  Because the technology definitely isn't.

[BribieG]

On Bribie the buses are nearly all used by seniors (including myself) to pop up to the shops etc and provided we complete the trip within 3 hours, only get charged "continuation continuation continuation" and by the time we get home we only get charged for one single trip, so benefit already from go card use as opposed to a paper daily. To do three or four trips a day, seniors would have to be sitting on trains and buses from dawn to dusk, can't see that it's going to be a real benefit - however it might help the occasional gran to visit the family from Bribie to Ipswich and stop in the city for a bit of shopping... can't see it's going to affect more than a few seniors in reality. I'd rather a genuine off peak discount instead. Sounds good though.

Edit: unless things have drastically changed, when I visit Sydney I can buy a daily Concession ticket for $2.50 (as at last Feb) which entitles me to any train bus or public ferry in Sydney out as far as Newcastle, Wollongong, and out to Goulburn. Beat that Nolan 

[longboi]

The last I checked, students get paid less then pensioners and seniors if a student is on Centrelink benefits.

QFT

Also, It would be nice to know if they actually considered cardboard/paper RFID tickets or just limited life plastic cards. The latter obviously being more expensive and requiring a deposit but I have a sneaking suspicion its the only option they considered.

[somebody]

Might I say, somewhat disappointing?

A sizeable portion of the 305k seats would come from the Richlands opening.

My calcs:
17hours/day on weekends
4 hours/day on weekdays
2tph
=(17*2 + 4*5)*2*500=54 000.

Seems like there won't be a change to basic service frequencies in 2011.  I think this is the point we need to emphasize here.  Although perhaps one or two BUZifications.

Edit: unless things have drastically changed, when I visit Sydney I can buy a daily Concession ticket for $2.50 (as at last Feb) which entitles me to any train bus or public ferry in Sydney out as far as Newcastle, Wollongong, and out to Goulburn. Beat that Nolan 

It goes further than Newcastle.  Scone/Dungog in the north.  I suspect past Wollongong to Bombaderry in the south also.  And I think it might be to Bathurst (on a CityRail bus from Lithgow) in the west.

[STB]

Don't forget there may/may not be more seats for the western region changes that were teased about by the TL CEO at the CPTF slated for 2011.  But yeah, the upgraded Ipswich/Caboolture corridor timetable will take a large chunk of that 305,000 extra seats.

[somebody]

Don't forget there may/may not be more seats for the western region changes that were teased about by the TL CEO at the CPTF slated for 2011.  But yeah, the upgraded Ipswich/Caboolture corridor timetable will take a large chunk of that 305,000 extra seats.

I don't remember that.  What did he say?  Do you mean the Ipswich region?

[STB]

That's the one! Although TL don't call the Ipswich Region, the 'Ipswich Region', instead it's the 'Western Region'. 

[ozbob]

I was at Darra today, documenting history and a number of television crews arrived, and then some more media.

The Minister for Transport was conducting a press conference on platform 4 Darra on go card changes announced today.

Spoke to a number of media representatives.   Might be items on this on all channel news services this evening.



Photograph R Dow 29th October 2010

[O_128]

Ozbob press realease? Why are students not included in the capping I make an average of 4 trips a day , time for the pathetically incompetent minister for transport to resign

[ozbob]

Ozbob press realease? Why are students not included in the capping I make an average of 4 trips a day , time for the pathetically incompetent minister for transport to resign

See  -->   http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=4738.0

I have mentioned it in every interview I have done today that we support extending the capping to ALL holders of concession cards (been a few interviews too by the way ..)

Cheers

[ozbob]

From the Brisbanetimes click here!

Go Card backdown: Paper tickets to stay

Go Card backdown: Paper tickets to stay
Daniel Hurst
October 29, 2010 - 1:00PM

Scrapping paper tickets and introducing a tourist-friendly Go Card would have cost more than $30 million, the state government says.

The Bligh government today dumped plans to abolish paper transport tickets in southeast Queensland, amid fears tourists and occasional commuters would be left stranded.

A proposal to roll out a special limited-life Go Card for casual transport users will not proceed, with the government opting to keep single-journey paper tickets available.

The opposition seized on the backflip, saying it was evidence of "shambolic" transport planning. Commuter lobby group Rail Back on Track welcomed the announcement as a sensible decision.

Transport Minister Rachel Nolan said the government had "seriously looked at" options for tourist-friendly alternative products but it would have cost between $30 million and $50 million to implement

"I really don't make any apology for us seeking to do something pretty ambitious," she said of the earlier plan to abolish paper tickets.

The backdown follows concerns that people who rarely use public transport would prefer to buy paper tickets when catching a bus, train or ferry. Premier Anna Bligh on Monday also revealed worries over the cost and practicality of rolling out a casual-user Go Card.

Single journey paper tickets will stay in place but daily, weekly and monthly tickets will be scrapped in mid-January.

Translink is pushing ahead with a planned 15 per cent rise in Go Card and single paper ticket fares in January, but it will roll out new incentives to lure more people across to the smartcard technology.

Seniors and pensioners using Go Cards will effectively enjoy a two-journey daily fare cap, with any subsequent trips coming free of charge.

Earlier, Ms Nolan said the government had decided to retain one-way paper tickets so that occasional users and tourists could easily access public transport.

"We've listened to the community reference group, tourists and infrequent users who have told us they would prefer to be able to purchase a single-trip ticket at a station or on-board a bus or ferry, rather than an alternative Go Card," she said in a statement.

"It is also cost effective. It will allow us to add another 305,000 weekly public transport seats to the Translink network by July next year."

Opposition transport spokeswoman Fiona Simpson welcomed the backflip, saying she had long argued paper tickets should not be scrapped without an occasional-user alternative in place.

"It's actually exposed the fact the whole thing hasn't been properly planned from the start," she said.

Ms Simpson said the government probably thought it "could just force" everyone onto Go Cards, without understanding they did not suit everyone.

The state government last year announced conventional tickets would be scrapped at the end of 2010, with paperless public transport hailed as "a smarter way to go".

But while Go Card use has increased dramatically over the past year on the back of paper ticket fare increases and railway station gate changes, some occasional travellers still prefer paper.

brisbanetimes.com.au last month reported the end-of-the-year deadline for phasing out paper tickets was in doubt, amid concern from tourism and transport groups over progress on the promised Go Card alternative.

The state opposition had also questioned the government's readiness.

Ms Nolan said she was determined to encourage more people to make the switch from private vehicles to public transport.

Go Card fares would still be 30 per cent cheaper than paper tickets for single journeys, she said.

New fares coming into effect on January 17 will push up the cost of a two-zone Go Card journey from $2.70 to $3.11. The fare for the same journey on a paper ticket will rise from $3.90 to $4.60.

As previously announced, the 10 per cent off-peak discount will rise to 15 per cent next year.

Off-peak fares apply on weekdays between 9am and 3.30pm and after 7pm weekdays, all day weekends and public holidays.

The incentive for frequent Go Card users will remain the same, with a 50 per cent discount applied to subsequent journeys once 10 journeys have been made in any one week.

Ms Simpson welcomed the use of fare capping for seniors and pensioners, but said a better fare structure should also be rolled out for other commuters.

"I think we need to see more flexibility in the fare structure," she said.

Rail Back on Track spokesman Robert Dow said the incentives for pensioners and seniors were "very very welcome".

Mr Dow called for improved capping and periodical options to be extended to all users, including students.

The off-peak discount should also be higher, he said.

On Monday, Ms Bligh said the government wanted to ensure public transport ticketing was fair.

"We are working rigorously and carefully to make sure that this decision is financially viable, is fair to commuters and is capable of implementation," she said.

[Golliwog]

"Public transport in South East Queensland has changed significantly in recent years," Ms Nolan said.

"We have grown patronage by more than 50 per cent.

From the media statement above.

Our 2009-10 highlights
...
•80.5 million go card trips out of a total 181.8 million passenger journeys - with more than 60 per cent of trips taken on go card in June 2010.
...
Our 2008-09 highlights
...
•181.9 million passenger journeys - a 7.4 per cent increase in patronage on the previous year

http://www.translink.com.au/facts.php

They must mean up 50% over a longer period seeing as it went down 100,000 from 08/09 to 09/10

[BrizCommuter]

BrizCommuter is not amused (as usual) with the 2011 TransLink cash grab.
http://brizcommuter.blogspot.com/2010/10/not-fare.html

[ozbob]

Channel Nine News story Go Cards causing trouble click here!

[#Metro]

WOW! Somebody, you had better lend the pollies your flameproof suit- when the price goes up in January, and rail services are not improved, there are going to be some very unhappy people!

[somebody]

BrizCommuter is not amused (as usual) with the 2011 TransLink cash grab.
http://brizcommuter.blogspot.com/2010/10/not-fare.html

But these fare rises were announced over a year ago!  All they are doing is sticking to their plan.

[BrizCommuter]

BrizCommuter is not amused (as usual) with the 2011 TransLink cash grab.
http://brizcommuter.blogspot.com/2010/10/not-fare.html

But these fare rises were announced over a year ago!  All they are doing is sticking to their plan.

The lack of capping for commuters, tourists, and commuters, backflip on removing paper tickets, and lame service improvements were not announced a year ago.

[somebody]

The backflip is a good thing.  Otherwise, it's just the inaction which is the problem.

[ozbob]

As I thought there would be, a bit of confusion between journeys and trips.

Journeys means journeys not trips.  A journey is a distinct trip with no further transfer within one hour, or series or trips within one hour transfer (up to the limit of 5).  Eg.  If I travel from Oxley to Corinda by train at say 8am.  Touch off at Corinda at 8.10am.  Shop and then go back to Oxley at 9.30am.  Touch off at Oxley at 9.40am.  That is two journeys.  But if I returned back to Oxley at 8.30am, within the one hour transfer so that trip would be free, but I have only completed one journey.

Once a Senior with a red go card or pensioner with a green go card completes TWO journeys (not necessarily just trips) there after all trips and journeys free for that daily period come 17 January 2010.

So a Senior could travel between Oxley and Corinda as outlined above to complete two journeys, and then after lunch head off to the Gold Coast for free.

[ozbob]

From the Queensland Times 30th October 2010 page 8

Ban on paper tickets ditched

[ozbob]

From the Brisbane mX 29th October 2010 page 1

Give us a free ride too