Article: Transport chief on board

[mufreight]

Having had a number cruncher (accountant) make a total disaster of the old Translink, the now departing Mr Franzman the Government has now appointed a new man to head up the replacement Translink Transink Transit Authority, Mr Geoff Harley who has come in from the legal field.  Doies his appointment indicate that the Government now acknowledges that Public Transport in South East Queensland is such a basket case that it now needs a proficent lawer to defend its position and ensure that the lack of communication and surplus of spin will not result in commuters taking the Government to the courts in class actions for damages.
It may well be that Mr Harley is capable of the position and it goes without saying that we wish him every success but it might have been better if the head of such an orginisation had a practical background in both the administration and operation of some form of passanger transport and actual hands on experience.  There are such people around such as the QR Passanger services group manager, Mr Andy Taylor, who has a track record of hands on, proactive and innovative.
Good luck Mr Harley.

[ozbob]

From Sunday Mail 18 May 2008 page 40 not online



I think this position for Mr Harley is overall Director - Chairman of the Board.

The day to day manager is still be appointed. I will endeavour to get this confirmed.

[ozbob]

I think Mr Harley has an excellent back ground for the position of Director/Chairman.

More info here -->  http://www.claytonutz.com/people/controller.asp?pid=82

One of the most important qualifications for all board members of the TTA in my humble opinion is that they are active users of public transport.  Mr Harley seems to met that requirement 

His comments as quoted in the Sunday Mail article are in line with much that needs to be achieved.

The go card can be a great benefit to our public transport but it must be fixed!  So we are in agreement there.

Overall I think this is a good step forward.

Cheers
Ozbob

[ozbob]

18 May 2008

Memo to Mr Harley.

Subject:  Go card

1.  All the problems with the go card were predicted here and elsewhere.

2.  A refusal by Translink to take on board constructive feedback from firstly their pilot group for the smart card (now go card) was mistake number one.

3.  Continued refusal to listen and publicly acknowledge the ongoing issues with the card has meant a loss of faith of the public transport community with Translink, and is mistake number two.

4.  The go card can be rescued.  See here for some solutions --> http://backontrack.org/mbs/index.php?topic=880.0

5.  We too want the go card to be a success. 

Admin

[ozbob]

The following email has been sent to Mr Harley, and a copy to the Minister and Translink.

18 May 2008

Dear Mr Harley,

Congratulations on your appointment as Chairman for the TransLink Transit Authority, and we look forward to improvements in our public transport in south-east Queensland.

RAIL Back On Track is web based community group that advocates for sustainable transport solutions mainly rail and advocates strongly for rail commuters, and at times other public transport commuters eg. bus and ferry. We are also concerned with the interface of other modes of public transport with rail.

On behalf of the members of RAIL Back On Track I would like to extend an invitation to yourself, and your board when in place, to visit our web site at http://backontrack.org and review some of the comments, constructive suggestions and ideas posted there.

We have an active discussion forum and also receive a significant amount of feedback on public transport issues from the public transport community via our web based form.

We are all active public transport users and only wish to see best sustainable transport outcomes for our community within realistic environmental and economic constraints.

Best wishes.

Regards,

Robert

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