Opposition Statement: Bus and ferry commuters still missing out

[ozbob]

http://www.fionasimpson.com.au/Pages/Article.aspx?ID=639

Bus and ferry commuters still missing out

Thursday, 14 January 2010

South East Queensland commuters who rely on buses and ferries to get to work are still being punished with higher paper ticket fares because of a lack of available go cards.

LNP Transport spokeswoman Fiona Simpson said while Minister Nolan and the Bligh Labor Government had been embarrassed into rolling out go card facilities belatedly at some additional train stations, there were still go card blackspots in suburbs across South East Queensland.

"The vast majority of suburbs across Brisbane have a single newsagent or convenience store selling go cards while many more are without any facilities to top up the cards," Ms Simpson said.

"This isn't just a problem in smaller towns on the Sunshine Coast; people who catch the ferry from Teneriffe or Newstead have nowhere close to home to buy their go card or top one up and residents of Highgate Hill, Kangaroo Point and Stones Corner face the same problem.

"Minister Nolan is trying to paint the take-up of go cards as a success for the Bligh Labor Government, but the only success has been punishing Queenslanders with higher fares for a half-baked system.

"The roll-out of higher fares and the go card network is yet another case of mismanagement by Minister Nolan.

"Cards, retailers and top-up facilities should have been widely available before the punishment fares were introduced — the Minister knows she was wrong about this and that is why she is scrambling around to cover up her mistakes."

[somebody]

But go in to the city once and buy the !@#$ card!!  Or get it mailed to you.  Why's the opposition obsessed with this?

The biggest issue is getting back the bus priority for the west IMHO.  (Would be better on Milton Rd than Coro, due to all the rockets which go that way)

[longboi]

I reckon. These people are obviously not confined to their homes   

[O_128]

I reckon. These people are obviously not confined to their homes   

I agree you only buy the card once

[ozbob]

From ABC News click here!

Sell Go Cards in all newsagencies: Simpson

Sell Go Cards in all newsagencies: Simpson

By Jo Skinner

Posted Fri Jan 15, 2010 12:14pm AEDT

The Queensland Opposition says the Go Card system still has a long way to go to be customer-friendly.

The Government announced yesterday every staffed railway station in the Translink system now sells the transport smart cards.

However, Opposition Transport Spokeswoman Fiona Simpson says Go Cards should be available at all newsagencies as well.

"This is just a smokescreen," she said.

"There's still bus commuters out there waiting for a facility that works - they still can't buy at the local newsagency or top it up.

"There's a lot of people who aren't on the internet or who don't necessarily want to [top up the credit] over the phone."

[ozbob]

http://www.fionasimpson.com.au/Pages/Article.aspx?ID=641

Opposition Statement:

Commuters punished with higher fares

Monday, 18 January 2010

Brisbane commuters are still being punished with higher paper ticket fares because of a lack of available go cards outlets.

LNP Transport Shadow Minister Fiona Simpson said there were still go card retailer black spots in suburbs across Brisbane.

"While many suburbs have just a single newsagent or convenience store selling go cards there are many more without any facilities to purchase or top-up the cards," Ms Simpson said.

"Residents who catch buses from McDowall and Wavell Heights have no outlets in their suburb selling go cards and no facilities to top them up either.

"Minister Nolan is trying to paint the take-up of go cards as a success for the Bligh Labor Government, but the only success has been punishing Queenslanders with higher fares for a half-baked system.

"Cards, retailers and top-up facilities should have been widely available before the punishment fares were introduced — the roll-out of higher fares and the go card network is yet another case of mismanagement by Minister Nolan," Ms Simpson said.



Suburbs without a Go Card retailer* - Banyo, Bridgeman Downs, Brighton, Eagle Farm, Fitzgibbon, McDowall, Wavell Heights

Suburbs without Go Card top up facilities* - Nudgee, Nundah, Shorncliffe, Toombul, Virginia

* Source – Translink website Go Card Retailer list as of 15/01/10

[Derwan]

Suburbs without a Go Card retailer* - Banyo, Bridgeman Downs, Brighton, Eagle Farm, Fitzgibbon, McDowall, Wavell Heights

I had a look and as at today, there are retailers in Banyo and Brighton.  Banyo's station is also manned so would presumably have cards.  Fitzgibbon is a residential area bordering Carseldine and is barely a suburb in its own right.

Suburbs without Go Card top up facilities* - Nudgee, Nundah, Shorncliffe, Toombul, Virginia

Each of these suburbs have train stations - and therefore have top-up facilities.

People who travel on PT go between suburbs - many to the city.  Why can't people pick one up at their destination?  Why can't they order over the phone or on the Internet?

If I were the opposition, I'd stop hammering about the availability of the Go Card and start with, "When are we going to see new services?  15 new trains were delivered in 2009.  Why have only a handful of services been added to the timetable?"

[somebody]

Again they harp on about this only slightly relevant point?  What are we going to do with them?

Derwan, just having a train station doesn't mean that station sells go cards.  I thought the figures were something like 110/144 stations DIDN'T sell go cards.

[Derwan]

Derwan, just having a train station doesn't mean that station sells go cards.  I thought the figures were something like 110/144 stations DIDN'T sell go cards.

I was going by the previous release that every manned station would be able to sell Go Cards from 14 January:  http://backontrack.org/mbs/index.php?topic=3279.0

[longboi]

Suburbs without a Go Card retailer* - Banyo, Bridgeman Downs, Brighton, Eagle Farm, Fitzgibbon, McDowall, Wavell Heights

I had a look and as at today, there are retailers in Banyo and Brighton.  Banyo's station is also manned so would presumably have cards.  Fitzgibbon is a residential area bordering Carseldine and is barely a suburb in its own right.

They're scraping the bottom of the barrel...I mean who lives at Eagle Farm? Brighton is only a stone's throw away from Sandgate and the same goes for Wavell which borders on Chermside and Kedron.

[justanotheruser]

You lot are rather judgemental. I don't go to the city and am very busy with studies, vocational placement, part time job, family and looking after a person with heart problems.  I myself am waiting for surgery which makes excessive walking difficult. I do not have a car and get groceries home delivered. In any case the shops did not have a go card retailer. The train stations I went to did not sell go cards. As of this week they have received the pre-loaded cards which have a set amount and you buy a new one when they run out. They aren't much of an option for a regular user of PT. They are designed for tourists who won't care about having one dollar left on the card. However if you are a regular user and end up with a hundred of these cards you need to be able to balance transfer. Is that available on them? If so why have them? Why not just have normal go cards if there is no difference.

Just because it was easy for you to go out of your way to get one don't assume it is for everyone.

[Derwan]

As of this week they have received the pre-loaded cards which have a set amount and you buy a new one when they run out. They aren't much of an option for a regular user of PT. They are designed for tourists who won't care about having one dollar left on the card. However if you are a regular user and end up with a hundred of these cards you need to be able to balance transfer. Is that available on them? If so why have them? Why not just have normal go cards if there is no difference.

I thought the pre-loaded cards WERE normal ones - but just had an amount pre-loaded onto them.  You can then register and/or top-up as required.  Last I heard they were still working out what to do with tourists!

You can also purchase a card over the phone or online.