19 Mar 2012: SEQ: State Government contributes to CityCycle failure?

[ozbob]

Media release 19 March 2012

SEQ: State Government contributes to CityCycle failure?

RAIL Back On Track (http://backontrack.org), a web-based community support group for rail and public transport and an advocate for public transport passengers has slammed the failure to integrate CityCycle and GoCard under one ticketing system.

Robert Dow, Spokesman for RAIL Back On Track said:

"The 'holy grail' of the CityCycle scheme is to be able to grab a helmet freely and to swipe your GoCard and use it. It was exposed in the media today what we have always suspected - GoCard can be integrated with CityCycle, virtually, at the press of a button (1)."

"The reason why integration with GoCard is absolutely crucial to the success of the scheme, along with easy helmet availability, is similar to the reason why bus, ferry and train tickets were abolished and integrated in 2004 - removing the need for a separate ticket reduces hassle and makes transferring from one mode to another easy."

"Ownership issues aside, the reality is, by refusing to integrate the Go Card when it is technically possible, the State Government must now also be accountable for its own part in the failure of the CityCycle scheme by knowingly withholding integration with the rest of the TransLink system. By way of analogy, it is a bit like forcing Brisbane City Council buses to have a different ticket to the rest of the TransLink network and then blaming the BCC for the poor results from non-integration."

"Brisbane City Council has done their part, it is now time for the State Government to co-operate."

"We call on the next government to put Queensland at the forefront of sustainable transport policy in Australia and integrate GoCard with CityCycle (2)."

References:

1. Bid to link CityCycle with Go Card quashed http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/state-election-2012/bid-to-link-citycycle-with-go-card-quashed-20120318-1vdgt.html

2. http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=6156.0

Contact:

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org
RAIL Back On Track http://backontrack.org


Photograph 24 July 2011 R Dow

[ozbob]

CityCycle discussion thread --> http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=4398.0