14 May 2014: Queensland: High Cost Public Transport Set To Destroy Needy ...

[ozbob]

Media release 14th May 2014



Queensland: High Cost Public Transport Set To Destroy Needy and Vulnerable

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 calls for the immediate extension of public transport concession fares to all health care card holders.

Robert Dow, Spokesman for RAIL Back On Track said:

"The 2014 Federal Budget proposes to make the unemployed face a six month waiting period to access payments. And payments will be cut off after six months as well! It can easily take more than six months to find another job, how are these people going to survive or get to job interviews? Why do these people have to pay full fare? They barely have any money to feed themselves!"

"The Newstart eligibility age will rise to 25, this means younger people will have to make do with the lower Youth Allowance payment. People already cannot live on Newstart's $36.46 per day. There is no way these people are going to be able to afford to drive a car or pay for petrol. The high costs of public transport are already slamming this group hard."

"Queensland is the only state or territory in Australia that does not afford concession public transport fares to the unemployed.  A vicious double whammy in south-east Queensland that has some of the highest fares in the world!"

"There are powerful social justice reasons to reduce waste and inefficiencies from both bus and train operators and use this to fund concessions for those on Centrelink payments, those unemployed and doing it tough"

"We estimate train supply costs to be 100% higher than comparable operation in Perth (due to lack of driver only operation and lack of Automatic Train Protection), compounded by the 'taxi style' Brisbane bus network design which has contributed to 'taxi style' fare levels out of reach of many. Savings from these areas should be used contribute to fare concessions for those doing it tough. Fare evasion is already a major issue on the south-east Queensland network, it will only worsen from here."

Contact:

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


References:

1. Health care cards and concession fares around the nation
http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=9124.0

2. BCC Bus Cost Explosion Engulfs Community
http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=10458.0

3. SEQ: "Strong Choices" required for BCC Bus Network
http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=10641.msg141091#msg141091

4. Federal budget 2014: Young to wait until 25 to get dole http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/business/federal-budget/federal-budget-2014-young-to-wait-until-25-to-get-dole-20140513-388di.html

[ozbob]

Discussion --> http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=9124.msg142112#msg142112

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

15th May 2014

Re: Queensland: High Cost Public Transport Set To Destroy Needy and Vulnerable

Greetings,

This is getting very serious.  The other week I was travelling on the western line (Ipswich line) out of peak, and I did some quick counts at a number of stations.  It appeared to me that about 1 in 15 to around 1 in 20   were using a go card.  It beggars belief to think that they are all using extreme cost paper single tickets.  The majority are clearly fare evading.  I regularly observe people boarding buses without valid tickets as well.

The fact that unemployed in Queensland do NOT get concession fares (do in all other states and territories) is alarming.  As their meagre benefits get further cut back, how on earth can they meet the cost of fares in SEQ?  One of the worlds most expensive fare systems.

It really is time that some commonsense was exercised.  Get unemployed at least paying half fares, get them onto go cards.  It is in the best interests of our community to do that.  Turning the unemployed into criminals is clearly counter-productive, and will be very costly in the longer term on many levels.

Best wishes
Robert

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

Media release 14th May 2014



Queensland: High Cost Public Transport Set To Destroy Needy and Vulnerable

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 calls for the immediate extension of public transport concession fares to all health care card holders.

Robert Dow, Spokesman for RAIL Back On Track said:

"The 2014 Federal Budget proposes to make the unemployed face a six month waiting period to access payments. And payments will be cut off after six months as well! It can easily take more than six months to find another job, how are these people going to survive or get to job interviews? Why do these people have to pay full fare? They barely have any money to feed themselves!"

"The Newstart eligibility age will rise to 25, this means younger people will have to make do with the lower Youth Allowance payment. People already cannot live on Newstart's $36.46 per day. There is no way these people are going to be able to afford to drive a car or pay for petrol. The high costs of public transport are already slamming this group hard."

"Queensland is the only state or territory in Australia that does not afford concession public transport fares to the unemployed.  A vicious double whammy in south-east Queensland that has some of the highest fares in the world!"

"There are powerful social justice reasons to reduce waste and inefficiencies from both bus and train operators and use this to fund concessions for those on Centrelink payments, those unemployed and doing it tough"

"We estimate train supply costs to be 100% higher than comparable operation in Perth (due to lack of driver only operation and lack of Automatic Train Protection), compounded by the 'taxi style' Brisbane bus network design which has contributed to 'taxi style' fare levels out of reach of many. Savings from these areas should be used contribute to fare concessions for those doing it tough. Fare evasion is already a major issue on the south-east Queensland network, it will only worsen from here."

Contact:

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


References:

1. Health care cards and concession fares around the nation
http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=9124.0

2. BCC Bus Cost Explosion Engulfs Community
http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=10458.0

3. SEQ: "Strong Choices" required for BCC Bus Network
http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=10641.msg141091#msg141091

4. Federal budget 2014: Young to wait until 25 to get dole http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/business/federal-budget/federal-budget-2014-young-to-wait-until-25-to-get-dole-20140513-388di.html

[ozbob]

Media release 14th May 2014 re-released 25th May 2014



Queensland: High Cost Public Transport Set To Destroy Needy and Vulnerable

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 calls for the immediate extension of public transport concession fares to all health care card holders.

Robert Dow, Spokesman for RAIL Back On Track said:

"The 2014 Federal Budget proposes to make the unemployed face a six month waiting period to access payments. And payments will be cut off after six months as well! It can easily take more than six months to find another job, how are these people going to survive or get to job interviews? Why do these people have to pay full fare? They barely have any money to feed themselves!"

"The Newstart eligibility age will rise to 25, this means younger people will have to make do with the lower Youth Allowance payment. People already cannot live on Newstart's $36.46 per day. There is no way these people are going to be able to afford to drive a car or pay for petrol. The high costs of public transport are already slamming this group hard."

"Queensland is the only state or territory in Australia that does not afford concession public transport fares to the unemployed.  A vicious double whammy in south-east Queensland that has some of the highest cost fares in the world!"

"There are powerful social justice reasons to reduce waste and inefficiencies from both bus and train operators and use this to fund concessions for those on Centrelink payments, those unemployed and doing it tough"

"We estimate train supply costs to be 100% higher than comparable operation in Perth (due to lack of driver only operation and lack of Automatic Train Protection), compounded by the 'taxi style' Brisbane bus network design which has contributed to 'taxi style' fare levels out of reach of many. Savings from these areas should be used contribute to fare concessions for those doing it tough. Fare evasion is already a major issue on the south-east Queensland network, it will only worsen from here."

Contact:

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


References:

1. Health care cards and concession fares around the nation
http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=9124.0

2. BCC Bus Cost Explosion Engulfs Community
http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=10458.0

3. SEQ: "Strong Choices" required for BCC Bus Network
http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=10641.msg141091#msg141091

4. Federal budget 2014: Young to wait until 25 to get dole http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/business/federal-budget/federal-budget-2014-young-to-wait-until-25-to-get-dole-20140513-388di.html

5. Fare evasion - articles discussion  http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=9539.msg142358#msg142358

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Wellbeing Index shows impact of jobless on society

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

10th June 2014

Go card free trips - comment

Good Morning,

Brisbanetimes and Minister Emerson have risen to the challenge! See below article.

Interesting to finally see some data re free trips on go card in the public domain.  It has taken a while.  Lets examine the real implications.

"More than 78,500 people in southeast Queensland now take a free bus, train or ferry trip each week"  is this total trips or just the number of passengers who take one or more trips?

Assume it is just total trips then real cost is roughly 78,500 x $7 = $550,000 per week, which equals about $28 million per year in costs, forgone fares and subsidy.  If the trips are actually higher then the real cost is a lot more of course.

Many people freely admit to rorting.  But people out in the suburbs who only take a few trips each week find it impossible to offset the base high fare costs.  The flawed after 9 journey fare paradigm just ensures that the base fares in SEQ remain one of the most expensive in the world.  It is a flawed fare paradigm. It is a grossly inequitable fare system.  For example, a lady with a couple of children out in the suburbs is struggling to pay for fares on the bus to get to the local shopping centre.  Unemployed in Queensland are denied concession fares on public transport, something that occurs in every other State and Territory of Australia.  The 'free trip' fare paradigm just ensures that the disadvantaged in our community are punished with high cost base fares.

Rather than deny the obvious and release limited data, how about releasing the full go card free trip profile?  Actual trips (not just people), modes and days of the week.  This would then allow for a more detailed and honest analysis free from spin.

The Premier promised a new fare structure in the the January 2013 Six Month Action Plan.  It has still not happened.  The LNP has just carried on with the very flawed fare system introduced by the ALP.

Proof of the failure was again demonstrated in the recent Queensland Budget.  They said the fare subsidy would increase and the number of patronage would fall on public transport - exactly the opposite of would should be happening on a proper public transport network.  Is this evidence of a successful fare system?  No it is not, it is just 'throwing' in the towel and continuing to promote a failed fare system.

All is not what it seems is it?  Once the spin is dissected.

Have a great day.  Get those lunch time trips up to hit the free cap hey?  I have been informed by reliable sources that some of the best go card rorters work  in TransLink and TMR.  They would know of course how to best rort the failed fare system in SEQ.  Meanwhile those who can least afford the high cost fares needed to prop up the rorting continue to struggle.

Best wishes
Robert

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

From the Brisbanetimes --> Bus, train, ferry passengers not rorting free transport: Emerson

More than 78,500 people in southeast Queensland now take a free bus, train or ferry trip each week after the Newman Government introduced their "free trips after nine journeys" policy in June 2012.

Since that time there have been 7.1 million free journeys on southeast Queensland's public transport system.

However Transport Minister Scott Emerson said there was little evidence of commuters rorting the system, an issue raised consistently by rail lobby group, Rail Back on Track.

Mr Emerson said there was only a slight increase in the percentage of commuters using the nine free journeys early in the week.

"Latest figures show 0.6 per cent of Go Cards reach a free trip on a Wednesday compared with 0.5 per cent before the policy was introduced," Mr Emerson said.

"This negates claims there is wide-spread rorting of the policy," he said.

The Queensland Government has set aside $38 million over the next four years for its "nine and free" policy.

Rail Back on Track has consistently called for a simple reduction in weekend fares to replace the "nine tips and free policy" arguing it is costing Queensland Transport money.

However Mr Emerson argues the policy is encouraging more people to use public transport.

"Many of these trips would not have been taken without the incentive of free travel with the policy encouraging passengers to choose to get out of their cars and on to public transport,'' he said.

"Under our policy a passenger using their Go Card travelling to and from work five days a week can travel home for free on Friday and then enjoy free travel all weekend."

Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/bus-train-ferry-passengers-not-rorting-free-transport-emerson-20140609-zs29d.html

[ozbob]

North West Star

How do we fix public transport in Brisbane?

--> http://www.northweststar.com.au/story/1224339/how-do-we-fix-public-transport-in-brisbane/

[#Metro]

Scrap this silly program! People are going to go home anyway on Friday free trip or not!! Pure waste! It is pork, plain and simple. Workers have jobs and can pay for this "free" trip. It is not "free" anyway, where is the money coming from? Santa Claus? It's just money from the left hand (high base fares) into the right hand ('free' trip at the end).

Assume it is just total trips then real cost is roughly 78,500 x $7 = $550,000 per week, which equals about $28 million per year in costs, forgone fares and subsidy.  If the trips are actually higher then the real cost is a lot more of course.

@ 5 million per year, you could get 5 NEW BUZ services. But because most areas would have some baseline service already (half hourly) topping up would unleash 10 new BUZ routes around the city, stimulating patronage far more than this faux discount.

[SurfRail]

^ For that much you might get 1 or 2 BUZ routes depending on which ones we are talking about (ie length and run time).

[#Metro]

Maroon CityGlider was about $5m/year from memory and that was a de novo (i.e. entirely new) route.

[SurfRail]

Maroon CityGlider was about $5m/year from memory and that was a de novo (i.e. entirely new) route.

And as they go it is a fairly short one too.  BUZing something like the 359 (in its current form) would undoubtedly be a bit more expensive.

[James]

Maroon CityGlider was about $5m/year from memory and that was a de novo (i.e. entirely new) route.

And as they go it is a fairly short one too.  BUZing something like the 359 (in its current form) would undoubtedly be a bit more expensive.

I agree - but remember, about a third to half of the service already exists in some of these areas.

The Money and Route-km MaroonGlider Uses

MaroonGlider operates 18 hours a day with services every 15 minutes off-peak and 10 minutes in peak (assume peak period is 6 out of those 18 hours on weekdays). MGLD is 12.3km in length. Thus,
Weekdays: (12 x 4 + 6 x 6) x 2 x 12.3 = 2066.4 km
Weekends: 18 x 4 x 2 x 12.3 = 1771.2 km
TOTAL: 13874.4 km

Note that the figure does not include dead-running. For a service like the MaroonGlider, dead-running can be calculated rather easily, but for most routes (where buses come from a variety of depots), this is difficult/unrealistic to measure, so I don't include it.

Money spent per-km: 5 million / (13874.4 x 52) = $6.93/km

Where could we put this unused route-km if MGLD was scrapped then?

Now, BUZ 450 already has 18386 km worth of route km contributed from routes 450 and 453 - P459 inclusive.
18386 + 13874.4 = 32260.4 km

A future BUZ 450 will be using 22.3 km per service (using the F26 alignment/one in my bus review).
32260.4 / 22.3 = 1446 services, or 723 services in each direction. Leave 163 services per week for P-rockets, a route to cover West Jindalee etc., giving us 560 services to work with.

560 / 7 = 80 buses per day. Divide by 4, gives a span of hours of 20 in both directions. Probably excessive - about 5000km or so could be used to BUZ a route elsewhere.

Conclusion

Scrapping the MaroonGlider, the useless P-rockets and simplifying the route structure in the Centenary area can provide a BUZ to this area as well as improved services in another area.

This exercise can be repeated for the 160, 222, 333 and other associated BCC bus conga lines running across Brisbane.

[#Metro]

And as they go it is a fairly short one too.  BUZing something like the 359 (in its current form) would undoubtedly be a bit more expensive.

The 359 is about twice as long as the Maroon Cityglider, however the MaroonGlider runs more frequently. Using data from my Hi-Waste Model of the BCC bus network (BCC-HWBN), the 359 only consumes around 600 km/day of bus service, while the Maroon Glider consumes around 2000 km/day of bus service (and remember since much of this is duplication it is debatable whether this is money well spent, particularly on the Cultural Centre - Stones Corner section under the current network plan).

Because the 359 is hourly, it would not take much to improve the service a lot, by doubling service to half hourly standards, that would take the route consumption to around 1200 km/day and would have significant (30 minutes) time savings. In addition, for the adventurous, conversion of the network to a connected model would see services only need to run to the train station at Mitchelton. This would unleash BUZ level of service for just 1600 km of bus service per day (1600 km/day - 600 km/day = 1000km/day boost), which is far less than what would be required to BUZ the whole thing direct to the Brisbane CBD (3520 km/day).