Article: Fewer people catch trains

[techblitz]

https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/24842632/fewer-people-catch-trains/

2013-2014 figures tabled

2 million trips down

Patronage on Perth's public transport network fell by more than two million in 2013-14 - the first annual decline in more than a decade.

opposition has stated 3 reasons....1. overcrowding 2. fare rises 3. lack of network expansion
PTA has stated its economy related

fare rises   <<<<<<<<<< if  this is a reason the perth patronage has dropped...then this shows that even a "perfect fare system" (where have i heard that before)....and small fare rises...will not give your public transport network immunity from patronage drops....changes in economic conditions is what will wreck it...and both W.A and QLD are in a downturn...

either way brisbane and perth are not so dissimilar given the current economica/jobsl climate

[ozbob]

Bit of peak overcrowding (why bother) and flailing economy .. both biting .. frankly I don't think fares have a great deal to do with it in Perth.  They are affordable.

Simply don't have enough trains.  Recent and planned expansions will soon turn it around again.

[ozbob]

> http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=10914.0

[ozbob]

Clutching at straws ...

A drop of 1.4% easily explained by ..

Mr Hynes said the Perth City Link project had two major shutdowns, in July and August, which had an impact on patronage.

"There was also very bad weather between July and September last year," he said.

https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/24842632/fewer-people-catch-trains/

[dancingmongoose]

They need more trains, simple. Overcrowding is discouraging users, and the lack of trains also means growth stagnates.

[techblitz]

will be intersting to see the 2013-2014 QR figures
guaranteed they have lost passenger trips...will be interesting to see how much...
opening of springfield line will help it along...

brisbane may actually struggle to hit 2mill passengers lost on previous year...
we know that Council buses lost 980kish trips on prior
ferry was up on previous for brisbane but we know that reason.....still... it will offset the losses overall.
what these figures demonstrate is that perth is not invincible to patronage drops...even though you have a good network/good fare system...if people own a car then they will start to use that car...give up on public transport if the economic conditions are right...

[SurfRail]

I would have thought the shutdowns were reason enough to account for this.  The numbers don't entirely support that if you look at Transperth's excellent patronage reporting, but they probably account for more than half. 

Average growth trend is still significantly better than ours.