2 Aug 2009: Call for free Sunday TransLink travel for Seniors ... Families ...

[ozbob]

Media Release 2 August 2009

SEQ:  Call for free Sunday TransLink travel for Seniors on Go Card and the reintroduction of a weekend 'family' ticket!

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, 3).  Senior citizens 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.  In these difficult times a further initiative with positive community benefits would be the re-introduction of a family ticket arrangement for weekends.  Allow up to three children to accompany a fare paying adult for free on weekends. This is done in other states (4).

Robert Dow, Spokesman for RAIL Back On Track said:

"Free travel for Senior citizens on Sundays 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. WA Seniors, Aged and Disability Support Pension cardholders are entitled to travel for free on all Transperth services between 9.00am and 3.30pm Monday to Friday, all day Saturday and Sunday, as well as public holidays (5)."

"South Australia has free travel for seniors between 9.01 am to 3 pm weekdays and all day on weekends and public holidays (6)."

"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 some of the concessions afforded to our Seniors."

"Public transport in south-east Queensland has some slack on weekends, and it will be no additional load for our public transport generally to make these ticketing concessions available.  It will assist families and 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."

"Other Australian state governments get on with positive community initiatives, why are we marking time in Queensland? Lets move forward with smart moves that encourage utilisation of our public transport network and improve efficiency with the reduction in congestion costs, reduced environmental impacts and less expenditure for our health system."

References:

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

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

3.   http://backontrack.org/mbs/index.php?topic=1982.0

4.   http://www.vline.com.au/fares/concessionfares/familytraveller.html

5.   http://www.transperth.wa.gov.au/TicketsandFares/FreePublicTransportTravelEntitlements/tabid/400/Default.aspx

6.   http://www.adelaidemetro.com.au/publish_article/Seniors_free_travel.html

Contact:

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org

[ozbob]

Family ticket arrangements in NSW.

http://www.131500.com.au/faresandpasses/tickets_family.asp

Ticket conditions
An adult travelling with more than one child only pays for themselves and the first child. All other children travel for free. Not applicable to premium services.

And

http://www.131500.com.au/faresandpasses/funday.asp

Family Funday Sunday

You don't have to spend a lot on a fun day out for the whole family.

For $2.50 per person, your family can enjoy a fun day out with unlimited travel on Sydney's buses, trains and ferries every Sunday. The ticket will even take you to Newcastle and Wollongong!

Buy your ticket from bus drivers (excluding PrePay services), CityRail stations, ferry ticket offices and authorised newsagents, 7-Elevens and convenience stores.

For some great ideas on what to do and where to go around Sydney, visit the Tourism NSW Family Funday page.

Services excluded: Light Rail, Monorail, Sydney Explorer Bus, Bondi Explorer Bus, special event buses and Private Ferry Operators. A station access fee also applies when using any of the Airport Line stations.

View the Family Funday Sunday ticket terms and conditions and the map where your ticket is valid.

A family must include at least one adult and one child (an eligible child is aged up to 15 yrs, or 16-18 yrs with a valid school travel pass or current 202 card. Children under 4 yrs travel free).

[ozbob]

From the Northside Chronicle 7th October 2009 page 5

Seniors' no cash bus woe

[#Metro]

This should be a go-card only feature, to drive  up gocard uptake.

[ozbob]

From the Courier Mail click here!

Queensland retirees in crisis as price of living rises

Queensland retirees in crisis as price of living rises
Article from: The Courier-Mail

John McCarthy

November 08, 2009 11:00pm

QUEENSLANDERS are facing an affordability crisis, with hikes in housing, transport, health and food, and Brisbane second only to Perth as the most expensive city to retire.

Food costs around Australia also soared with the cost of feeding a family up 40 per cent in a decade.

Self-funded retiree Marjorie Green is one of the many battling to make ends meet as investments dive and expenses continue to rise.

"By and large, most of us can manage day to day," she said. "But that's all we're doing."

While housing costs leapt 6 per-  cent in the past year despite the global meltdown, home affordability in the southeast was expected to worsen with Government red tape scuttling several housing estates.

Rents also continued to rise with the average in Brisbane now about $370 a week while the inner city commands $460 on average.

The scrapping of the fuel subsidy earlier this year has also led to steep rises at the bowser to near the highest in the country while public transport costs will spike next year with dramatic increases already flagged by the State Government.

Of the major capitals Brisbane also topped the table for inflation in September, beaten only by Darwin.

It adds to the continued rise in unemployment in Queensland despite national levels falling last month, a factor blamed on the state's reliance on tourism and mining.

The escalating costs now mean retirees need to have investments providing almost as much as the average wage to afford a comfortable life.

A survey from Westpac and the Association of Super Funds showed the cost of a comfortable retirement in Brisbane was now almost $52,000 a year .

Even a modest retirement costs just over $28,000 a year, according to the survey.

The spike meant that some retirees were now skipping some costly medicines so they could afford food, according to the Pensioner and Superannuants League spokesman Ray Ferguson.

He said retirees "suffered greatly" during the economic crisis and many had been trapped into taking out expensive reverse mortgages to survive.

Retirees have missed out on price cuts in some areas of the economy including education and financial services, but have had increases in health services, food, transport and recreation.

They even missed the benefit of significant cuts to mortgage rates because most already owned their own home. But the drop in interest rates had slashed returns from investments such as bank deposits, he said.

[ozbob]