Public transport fare concessions for tertiary students

[Derwan]

Instead of having uni's endorse applications so that students can get a 12-month TTCC so that they can then get a 12-month concessional Go Card....... why don't they just have uni's endorse applications so that students can be issued with a 12-month concessional Go Card?

The endorsement could remain on file in the case of a lost card, etc.

Why do they need a card just so that they can get a card?   

[longboi]

I know of a 'student' (working full time) who is currently studying as part of his career advancement.
I told him of the TTCC changes that were announced today.

He was unconcerned.
He said that he would apply to do 3 subjects and then just defer or drop out of the 3rd subject after getting the TTCC just so he can continue getting a 50% discount on his fares.

If you read the rules, it states that it is based on hours, not the number of subjects.  So, it must be at LEAST 12hrs a week for 12 weeks, meaning that you must be doing at least 4 subjects, not 3, unless that 3rd subject has additional hours than the usual 3hrs a week (not including the additional 7-10 hrs in study and assignments that the university expects of you).

I think you're interpreting the policy incorrectly. The 'course duration' of 12 weeks; from my reading, refers to the requirement that the entire course of study be more than 12 weeks (i.e. Somebody doing a one week short course full-time would not be eligible).

Also, what you are forgetting is that universities will be confirming the study load of students. A policy decision will most likely be made to consider all subjects to be an equal 4 contact hours per week, at least for the purposes of attendance classification.

Remember, it's in the best interest of unis to retain as many academically-qualified students as possible. They don't want to lose students over the fact that those students can't afford to travel to uni.

As for no student/go card integration, there is only one word for that; Cubic.

So how does this work if part of the course is done online?  Is it just a blanket 4hr (even though in reality, it's timetabled as 3hrs) regardless, as lectures for example are becoming more and more common to be delivered online, rather than on campus.

Also, I strongly believe that online degrees (that go for longer than 12 weeks - normally the ones that are distance education eg: USQ), needs to be recognised as a full time student.  They still do the same workloads as an on campus student, and still have a small amount of on campus work, depending on the type of degree.

This was just some chattering on facebook. I think there are means of blurring the lines between what is 'online' and 'on campus'.

As blended study becomes more common, I also suspect TMR may revisit their own position.

Having said all of this, I wouldn't know how on board the education sector has been with all of this, what arrangements exist and what the full policy document looks like. Like all policy development, it's all been pretty low-key.

[dancingmongoose]

I don't see why the government doesn't just enforce all unis to give out student ids that expire on the day the graduate. Mine does, but something i read said that some unis hand out cards with a 5 year expiry, so they kept using it until it expired, which is why this is being brought in in the first place. Would save all the screwing around they want to put in. You'll need a card to get another card to get another card. Cardception. Good job.

[longboi]

Instead of having uni's endorse applications so that students can get a 12-month TTCC so that they can then get a 12-month concessional Go Card....... why don't they just have uni's endorse applications so that students can be issued with a 12-month concessional Go Card?

The endorsement could remain on file in the case of a lost card, etc.

Why do they need a card just so that they can get a card?   

That would be because your personal details aren't stored on a go card, so there's no way to confirm the actual cardholder (i.e. Student sharing their go card with friends or family).

The card is a "link" between the go card and proof of identification (i.e. Student card with photo, drivers licence etc.)

Very convoluted and hopefully only a temporary solution until a more streamlined product can be developed (read: funded).

[longboi]

I don't see why the government doesn't just enforce all unis to give out student ids that expire on the day the graduate. Mine does, but something i read said that some unis hand out cards with a 5 year expiry, so they kept using it until it expired, which is why this is being brought in in the first place. Would save all the screwing around they want to put in. You'll need a card to get another card to get another card. Cardception. Good job.

QUT does and there is probably some sort of reason why.

TMR don't really have any power over how unis produce their ID cards...so yeah.

[ozbob]

Media release 1st February 2014



Queensland: Tertiary Transport Concession Card concerns

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 said the recently announced Tertiary Transport Concession Card (TTCC) is overly complex and restrictive.

Robert Dow, Spokesman for RAIL Back On Track said:

"RAIL Back On Track is strongly supportive of all moves to address fare evasion.  Using concession ticketing on public transport when not entitled to do so is fare evasion."

"Tightening up the access to concession public transport by tertiary sector students is needed. However the present definition of what constitutes a full time student in the the context of the TTCC may actually exclude many full time students (1). Many students may be full time and not actually do a minimum 12 hours on formal campus course-work. Group work, blended learning options, study,  assignment research and preparation add on to campus hours, and are all additional to work experience, and are all things that do add to the students load."

"Universities classify students as full time if a normal semester subject load is 3 or more subjects.  This is administratively straightforward and is line with other jurisdictions (2,3). This should be the basis for the TTCC."

"For the purposes of the TTCC the students' institution should be able to verify the students' enrolment status as full time.  Any other approach is administratively overly complex, will unnecessarily penalise many full time students and further cause hardship for an already struggling demographic, particularly in SEQ with one of the worlds most expensive fare systems."

References:

1. http://translink.com.au/tickets-and-fares/concessions/tertiary-transport-card

2. http://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/content/travel-concessions-tertiary-students

3. http://www.transperth.wa.gov.au/TicketsandFares/SmartRider/BuyingSmartRider/TertiarySmartRiders.aspx

Contact:

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

[Golliwog]

I don't see why the government doesn't just enforce all unis to give out student ids that expire on the day the graduate. Mine does, but something i read said that some unis hand out cards with a 5 year expiry, so they kept using it until it expired, which is why this is being brought in in the first place. Would save all the screwing around they want to put in. You'll need a card to get another card to get another card. Cardception. Good job.

QUT does and there is probably some sort of reason why.

TMR don't really have any power over how unis produce their ID cards...so yeah.

When I was at UQ, I'm pretty sure your student card stated whether your were fulltime or part time (the definition I believe being 3+ courses). They also put a little QR logo on it to signify that you were eligible for student PT prices (I think that may have been a hangover from pre-translink). The only problem is that they didn't really keep it up to date. I ended up needing to extend my study by a year so as my previous student card expired when I originally expected to graduate I needed to get a new one for the final year and despite the fact that my extension was only 1 course, I was given a card stating I was full time.

I think a better approach would have been to get the universities onside with putting a Translink logo on their cards for students who meet the criteria of full time, and making sure they kept that up to date. When you show a student card to get a student go card, they do record the expiry date of your student card (they make the student go card expiry date match). I don't think it would be much to get them to record the institution and your student number, that way if they want to go down the path of WA the universities can let them know if/when you graduate early or drop out and lose your eligibility and they can give you something like a 2 week expiry after they've been notified for you to either get an adult card or show a new student card.

[ozbob]

[ozbob]

As you probably know, I am a retired academic.  I spent a number of years as a course coordinator as well.  Doing that you become very familiar with the sheer struggle many students have.

My family members still participate in teaching at university.  We regularly give food eg. groceries and that to the student groups.  It all helps.

Making life even more difficult through the poorly thought out TTCC is going to seriously rebound on the authorities is my guess. 

Students who are internal full time should be given the concession.  There will always be a few who are abusing, but the vast majority are in struggle street.

[longboi]

I don't see why the government doesn't just enforce all unis to give out student ids that expire on the day the graduate. Mine does, but something i read said that some unis hand out cards with a 5 year expiry, so they kept using it until it expired, which is why this is being brought in in the first place. Would save all the screwing around they want to put in. You'll need a card to get another card to get another card. Cardception. Good job.

QUT does and there is probably some sort of reason why.

TMR don't really have any power over how unis produce their ID cards...so yeah.

When I was at UQ, I'm pretty sure your student card stated whether your were fulltime or part time (the definition I believe being 3+ courses). They also put a little QR logo on it to signify that you were eligible for student PT prices (I think that may have been a hangover from pre-translink). The only problem is that they didn't really keep it up to date. I ended up needing to extend my study by a year so as my previous student card expired when I originally expected to graduate I needed to get a new one for the final year and despite the fact that my extension was only 1 course, I was given a card stating I was full time.

I think a better approach would have been to get the universities onside with putting a Translink logo on their cards for students who meet the criteria of full time, and making sure they kept that up to date. When you show a student card to get a student go card, they do record the expiry date of your student card (they make the student go card expiry date match). I don't think it would be much to get them to record the institution and your student number, that way if they want to go down the path of WA the universities can let them know if/when you graduate early or drop out and lose your eligibility and they can give you something like a 2 week expiry after they've been notified for you to either get an adult card or show a new student card.

Yep, as a former UQ student and current QUT student I'm well aware of the practice.

The way things have worked in the past is that educational institutions would apply to TMR to be listed as an 'approved educational institution'. There would have been some sort of criteria around this, to separate real educational institutions from some of those more dubious organisations, usually with names like 'Exceed College' etc.

You're right, the student number and institution is recorded. However, that is on the go card account (not the card itself). There are two issues with this; one I mentioned previously and the other I won't comment on.

Clearly some sort of data-matching would be the ideal solution. But like anything in a democratic society, there are always so many fingers in the pie (existing policy and legislation, budget, capabilities of stakeholders, technology, public sentiment, political interference, past decisions, contractual obligations etc.) that the end result is always a bastardised version of what you set out to achieve.

I fully expect that unis will act in the best interests of students. Depending on how many full-time students are affected by the 12-hour thing, then I think Government may be forced to revise the policy.
I also expect that this will only be a relatively short term measure until a single card or data-matching becomes viable.

So basically, it's not the end of the world.

[ozbob]

I have received advice that the TTCC is an active go card ...  waiting confirmation ...

[ozbob]

See this Facebook thread --> here!

Guy seems to know what is going on ..

TransLink information and Minister's statement rather vague ...

I have asked for confirmation.

[ozbob]

Have been told by authorities that the TTCC is an ID card only ...

Not sure what Harry is up to then ..

[Arnz]

The person's profile has him listed as employed with Cubic.  So it's pretty a watch this space (I would hope he doesn't get into trouble for sharing the information to the general public on FB however).

[ozbob]

I have been  advised again that the TTCC is an ID card only.

[Arnz]

If that is the case, why would the state government pay ABNote (a smart card supplier) just to provide IDs only? :|

Mentioned here:

http://www.abnote.com.au/

and TL's website tells you to send your application to ABNote
http://translink.com.au/tickets-and-fares/concessions/tertiary-transport-card

So a "fancy" non-paper card that isn't smart-carded.  Why not just print it on the same paper used to print out Health Care Cards/Pensioner Concession Cards.

[James]

I've held off commenting until now, but I'll contribute my 2 cents now.

The reason why this tertiary rort is going on, is because Adult fares are extortionate. During my 'transition period' between High School and Uni (when I had to pay Adult fares), I did not touch PT unless I had to. Primarily due to my lack of go card, but also because I refuse to pay over $3 to travel a distance I can walk. I had a few friends who lived in the outer suburbs, and they just used the go cards of siblings (child/concession cards). I believe one uses a concession card despite now studying part time, I suspect this individual though is totally oblivious to the fact she isn't eligible for a concession.

This isn't an issue for someone like me, whose go card fares are small (primary made up of 1 and 2-zone off-peak trips) and not funded from my own income, but this is a huge cost for someone living far from Uni who has to pay their own fares.

Yes, it's not correct, but this is what occurs with unsustainable fare policy. Now on the note of the TTCC - why can't they just get better communication between the Universities and TransLink? Would not be that difficult to direct Universities to have expiry dates specific to degrees on cards, and introduce better communication.

My issue with this is there is still a loophole there, it just requires being a part-time student. You'd do it like this - part-time student lists themselves as full time, does four courses. Gets TTCC pass for the year. Drops two courses, changes to part-time. TTCC card is still showing full-time, yet student is only studying part-time. Student gets concession fare travel for the year. When TTCC comes up to expiring, rinse and repeat.

The loop-hole will only be closed with:
1. An integrated smart card - preferably integrated with student IDs, but something which BOTH the Uni and TransLink have some form of control over and can activate/deactivate according to study loads
2. Better communication between the two organisations

I don't think it would be difficult to implement really, but of course we live in Queensland, so we couldn't possibly do something so logical.

[SurfRail]

[STB]

Taken from the apparent insider's (Cubic) FB page...

Basically it will work like this:
1. The students get an Adult card
2. Loaded onto that card is a Tertiary pass.
3. That pass gives them 50% discount on fares
4. The pass is configured to expire on the day Uni's break up.
5. Once the pass is no longer valid the card goes back to being a normal Adult card and they get charged normal Adult prices.
6. Once they go back to Uni they can have another pass loaded onto the card.
7. If you already have an Adult card and you start Uni they can load a pass onto your existing card.

I think they are going to do this with "Student" cards in the future. Instead of throwing away your card after you leave school (like my son just did) you just don't get another pass and the card reverts to charging Adult prices.

[longboi]

Just look at the sample card and you will see Harry doesn't know what he's talking about.
Big hint: The expiry date printed on the front and the conditions of travel.

ABnote print plan PVC cards as well as smart cards, bank cards etc.

I'll say it again...the most obvious solution (an all-in-one card or data matching) will happen when we get a better AFC contract.

[aldonius]

I'll say it again...the most obvious solution (an all-in-one card or data matching) will happen when we get a better AFC contract.

Here's hoping they've got their heads screwed on... unlikely, of course.

Be interesting to see how the transition will operate...

[ozbob]

My working hypothesis re Harry's FB comments is this.  I think the original intention may well have been that the TTCC was to have been an active go card. Perhaps Harry had a bit to do with it then.  Since the original concept perhaps TMR/TL changed it because it might have been too costly. Perhaps Harry moved on to other things and perhaps not aware the original concept changed.  Sounds logical to me?

Perhaps ... 

[ozbob]

[aldonius]

Someone on reddit rang up TransLink this morning, and asked a few questions.

They don't know when the application form will come out, but it'll probably be March 3rd - i.e. first day of semester. Note that this is the day by which we are supposed to have the card - even with the leeway period, that's ridiculous.

[longboi]

My working hypothesis re Harry's FB comments is this.  I think the original intention may well have been that the TTCC was to have been an active go card. Perhaps Harry had a bit to do with it then.  Since the original concept perhaps TMR/TL changed it because it might have been too costly. Perhaps Harry moved on to other things and perhaps not aware the original concept changed.  Sounds logical to me?

Perhaps ... 

Cost will be everything; Considering the whole concept is to recoup what is really just a qualified estimate (The $8M in revenue loss figure).

There are always so many competing things that occur with policy development that you can't look at every issue individually.
That's why you end up with policies or very bureaucratic procedures that seem crazy to the public. There are so many fingers in every pie that any good idea is always bastardised and waterted down. This is pretty much the western democratic process.

Ironically, it's usually the will of the people that drive these sorts of convoluted processes (e.g. Demand for strict controls over privacy of personal info and the resulting legislation).

So yeah, my personal opinion:

- Stupid, but stupid for a reason
- Nothing is ever set in stone
- The 12 hours of on campus time might need some attention

[longboi]

Someone on reddit rang up TransLink this morning, and asked a few questions.

They don't know when the application form will come out, but it'll probably be March 3rd - i.e. first day of semester. Note that this is the day by which we are supposed to have the card - even with the leeway period, that's ridiculous.

Take what the call centre people say with a grain of salt.

[#Metro]

Even more reason to get the Health Care Card concession discount to cover the gap. My issue is the HCCs can be easily forged as it's just printed colour paper and the fares are so high that there is a large incentive to do this.

I think fare rorting is wrong and bad, but as others have said, policy is a bloody minefield to formulate and administer.

[STB]

http://www.reddit.com/r/brisbane/comments/1wowur/the_new_translink_concession_card_only_available/

More comments about the TTCC.  TransLink and the State Govt getting ripped apart, very angry students out there.

[STB]

Even more reason to get the Health Care Card concession discount to cover the gap. My issue is the HCCs can be easily forged as it's just printed colour paper and the fares are so high that there is a large incentive to do this.

I think fare rorting is wrong and bad, but as others have said, policy is a bloody minefield to formulate and administer.

This is where I think they should just issue concession cards that double as the concession.  A bit like the Seniors+Go Card, you'd have a Health Care Card+Go Card and a Full Time Student+Go Card, that say a university or Centrelink can easily cancel as soon as you are no longer needing the concession, voiding your card from being touched on, the old Red Light + Invalid Card error.

And that's just one card needed, less administration c%ap and you can easily just flip the card over if someone asks what the concession is for.  It could also hold your personal details on the card, such as address etc that is only available to someone who has a reader for it, ie: your address would not appear on the card except perhaps your student ID or health care card ID number would be on the card, but instead on the chip, which can be wiped once you return the card for a refund.

When you drop out of university or switch to part time study, it would just update the system to show that you are now part time and void the card, as soon as that changes, say you return to study or go back to Full Time, the card opens up again and you can use it.  Should be fairly easy given that enrollment is all done online nowadays via university websites.

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

2nd February 2014

Re: Queensland: Tertiary Transport Concession Card concerns

Greetings,

As you may know, I am a retired academic (QUT).  I spent a number of years as a course coordinator as well.  Doing that you become very familiar with the sheer struggle many students have.

My family members still participate in teaching at university.  We regularly give food eg. groceries and that to the student groups.  It all helps.

Making life even more difficult through the poorly thought out TTCC is going to seriously rebound on the authorities is my guess.

Students who are internal full time should be given the concession.  There will always be a few who are abusing, but the vast majority are in struggle street.

The standard definition of a full time student is 3 or more subjects per semester.  This is the only way that equity will be achieved for the TTCC.

See http://www.reddit.com/r/brisbane/comments/1wowur/the_new_translink_concession_card_only_available/ for the building foment and rage over this issue.

Best wishes
Robert

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

Media release 1st February 2014



Queensland: Tertiary Transport Concession Card concerns

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 said the recently announced Tertiary Transport Concession Card (TTCC) is overly complex and restrictive.

Robert Dow, Spokesman for RAIL Back On Track said:

"RAIL Back On Track is strongly supportive of all moves to address fare evasion.  Using concession ticketing on public transport when not entitled to do so is fare evasion."

"Tightening up the access to concession public transport by tertiary sector students is needed. However the present definition of what constitutes a full time student in the the context of the TTCC may actually exclude many full time students (1). Many students may be full time and not actually do a minimum 12 hours on formal campus course-work. Group work, blended learning options, study,  assignment research and preparation add on to campus hours, and are all additional to work experience, and are all things that do add to the students load."

"Universities classify students as full time if a normal semester subject load is 3 or more subjects.  This is administratively straightforward and is line with other jurisdictions (2,3). This should be the basis for the TTCC."

"For the purposes of the TTCC the students' institution should be able to verify the students' enrolment status as full time.  Any other approach is administratively overly complex, will unnecessarily penalise many full time students and further cause hardship for an already struggling demographic, particularly in SEQ with one of the worlds most expensive fare systems."

References:

1. http://translink.com.au/tickets-and-fares/concessions/tertiary-transport-card

2. http://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/content/travel-concessions-tertiary-students

3. http://www.transperth.wa.gov.au/TicketsandFares/SmartRider/BuyingSmartRider/TertiarySmartRiders.aspx

Contact:

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

[STB]

http://www.reddit.com/r/brisbane/comments/1wlj3r/the_five_year_uni_student_go_card_will_be_a_thing/

Here are more comments on the TTCC, in response to the CM article on it.

[STB]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-02/students-angered-over-changes-to-travel-concessions-in-seq/5233152

Students angered over changes to public transport concessions in south-east Queensland
By Lucy Sweeney
Posted 38 minutes ago

Student groups around south-east Queensland have raised concerns about recent State Government changes to student concessions on public transport.

Minister for Transport and Main Roads Scott Emerson on Friday announced the introduction of the Tertiary Transport Concession Card (TTCC) from March 3.

Student groups have taken to social media to voice concern about the changes, arguing the new requirements exclude some full-time students who should be allowed discounted travel.

Under the new scheme, tertiary students will be required to apply for a TTCC in order to receive the 50 per cent fare discount.

Students who are enrolled in a course with less than 12 contact hours are not eligible for the TTCC, even if their workload is classified as full-time by their educational institution.

Mr Emerson says the scheme is being introduced to crack down on public transport users falsely claiming to be full-time university students in order to receive cheaper fares.

"As a Government which promised at the election to improve and revitalise frontline services, we will not stand for people cheating the system and ripping off honest users," Mr Emerson said.

"This form of fare evasion is costing taxpayers up to $8 million a year which is why we are introducing a state-wide Tertiary Transport Concession Card."

New scheme 'unfair' for low-income students: student group

Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Guild president Courtney Mulder says the State Government's policy may make life harder for many cash-strapped university students.

She says the main concern voiced by the student body is over the 12-hour coursework requirement.

"There's a lot of ambiguity around what constitutes coursework, and whether [practical requirements are] part of that," Ms Mulder said.

"What if my course is full-time as deemed by the university and Centrelink but it's not full-time according to this State Government policy?

"PhD and research students don't actually have any official contact hours but they do a heap of work online and in the library.

"This could mean that they wouldn't get to have this concession fare."

University of Queensland postgraduate student Shashi van de Graaf says the change could deter students from using public transport.

"It would definitely encourage me to not take public transport so much because it will end up being cheaper for me to drive to university even with parking costs," she said.

Translink says there will be a five-month grace period before fines are issue to students not carrying a valid TTCC.

Labor welcome changes; PUP questions need for 'more red tape'

Opposition transport spokesperson Jackie Trad welcomed the measures but says they will not stamp out rorting.

"Nobody likes to see rorting of the fare system and I welcome ideas to reduce fare evasion, but the Minister Scott Emerson is turning a blind eye to the types of rorting that have been made even easier by the LNP," Ms Trad said.

"The Newman Government has made the Go Card easier to rort when they lowered the weekly cap to nine trips."

Tertiary Transport Concession Card: key points

- Under the previous arrangement, students were required to provide student ID upon purchase of a concession Go Card.
- The expiry date of the student ID was set as the expiry for the student Go Card.
- TTCC will be valid for a maximum 12 months.
- To be eligible for TTCC students must be engaged in a full time course at approved university, engaging in 12 hours on-campus 'coursework' per week for a minimum of 12 weeks.
- Interstate residents, part-time students, and those undertaking studies externally or online are not eligible.
- Students will be required to re-apply at the beginning of each university year.
- All TTCC applications must be approved by the student's educational institution.
- Student passengers must carry student ID, Go Card, and TTCC during travel.
- Palmer United Party MP for Gaven Alex Douglas has questioned the necessity of another card for student travellers.

"I'm astounded that Campbell Newman's LNP Government which boasts about removing red tape, is adding another layer of officialdom when the current system appears adequate," Mr Douglas said.

"Rather than introducing another layer of red tape, the Minister should be looking at improving the bus services for people who have lost weekend services and have no way of getting home from work or school because buses finish running mid-afternoon."

Public transport advocacy group RAIL Back on Track has supported the government in addressing fare evasion but suggest the TTCC is overly complex and restrictive.

Students are now required to carry three cards whilst travelling: their Go Card, student identification, and the TTCC.

Mr Emerson says the change brings south-east Queensland into line with arrangements in other states.

Whilst both Victoria and New South Wales require students to apply for a travel concession card in order to travel at the discounted rate, neither state dictates the number of hours that classifies a course as full-time.

Both states accept the classification determined by educational institutions.

Universities to play key role in TTCC system

To apply for the TTCC, students must download an application form and have it authorised by their educational institution before lodging the paperwork to receive the card in the mail.

Education institutions also have to be registered with the Department of Transport and Main Roads, and any institutions found to be non-compliant with the policy and eligibility requirements will not be registered.

Ms Mulder says this places undue pressure on universities.

"I wonder if some universities would have the facilities to cope with that, especially because you need to renew the card every 12 months," she said.

"During orientation week, where there's already a huge demand with new students getting their student cards, this would just add a lot of pressure and cost a lot more money with the extra administration costs."

The TTCC rules also exclude students who study externally or reside interstate from obtaining the concession.

[ozbob]

^  good,  traction.  Should explode from here ...

[ozbob]

Nice timing, on the eve of the by-elections ....    drongos ... lol

Tertiary students have friends, families ... they are a united voice at times like these  ..

[STB]

Nice timing, on the eve of the by-elections ....    drongos ... lol

Tertiary students have friends, families ... they are a united voice at times like these  ..

They are also brilliant at spreading the news via social media in particular, breaking down the wording and getting the troops together for a fight.

My friends who are still at uni are in a genuine panic about this, given that there are degrees there that don't go to the 12hr minimum limit due to the way the unis has structured the degrees, but are still full time students and on a 2min noodle income, and are getting fired up.  Those doing 75% loads are also in a panic over this, as they are all on Austudy etc and only getting less than $400/fortnight.  I'm getting word (seeing comments) that they may have to ditch university and/or not turn up to classes if they are forced onto the Adult fares due to the way TMR and the State has deemed what "Full Time Study" is.

It will be interesting to see how universities deal with this.

[STB]

Just for the record, here's the link to the Reddit comment page for the ABC article.

http://www.reddit.com/r/brisbane/comments/1wsd8o/students_angered_over_changes_to_public_transport/

EDIT: Another Reddit link, comments on the same story:

http://www.reddit.com/r/australia/comments/1wsdml/fulltime_students_in_qld_studying_less_than_12/

[HappyTrainGuy]

There is plenty of waste and rorting on the public transport network is this is what they are going after to "save" a few bucks??? Good lord.

[SurfRail]

What an unmitigated cluster.

[minbrisbane]

Personally, I'm pretty annoyed about this. 

My full-time study is 3 on campus and 1 online, so I will now excluded from concession fares.  It's an absolute joke.

[STB]

A petition on change.org is now going against these changes, targeting the minimum 12 hours for face to face and how that is out of touch to how universities work and that it will cause a severe impact if the changes go ahead as worded.  Currently sitting just over 1000 signatures and growing fast.