Article: Transport chief signals train, bus cuts

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Transport chief signals train, bus cuts

Transport chief signals train, bus cuts
10th December 2008, 6:00 WST

The head of the Public Transport Authority has given the clearest indication yet that train and bus services will be cut to meet the State Government?s planned 3 per cent reduction in public service spending next year.
 
Appearing before Parliament?s estimates and financial operations committee, chief executive Reece Waldock said that the authority would face a challenge to meet the efficiency drive without cutting services.
 
He did not provide details of cuts, saying the authority had yet to respond to the Government on how it would meet its required savings.
 
Outside Parliament, committee member and North Metropolitan MLC Ken Travers said cutting public transport would be short-sighted.
 
?We have a lull in petrol prices at the moment but long term they will be going up,? he said. ?Passengers will suffer if services are cut.?
 
Mr Waldock also revealed that it would have been possible to deliver the Government?s broken promise to provide free public transport to seniors, veterans and disability pensioners between 10am and 3pm on weekdays by Christmas, but the authority had urged the Government to delay the scheme until April so ticketing changes could be made.
 
He took full responsibility for the authority inadvertently advertising that the free travel scheme would be in place before Christmas, saying that the option was canvassed with the Government but would have required two ticketing systems and would have confused pensioners.
 
Mr Waldock urged pensioners not to conduct a protest campaign to avoid paying for travel on Sunday, the day first flagged for introduction of free travel.
 
?Our view is that our seniors are our best customers and they wouldn?t even think about it,? he said. ?I hope that the seniors and pensioners would understand that we?re doing the best we can to get a system they would be proud of.?
 
Mr Waldock told the committee that some northern suburbs residents would be disadvantaged by the Government?s decision last month to mothball the $160 million northern suburbs railway extension to Butler.
 
He said car parking at Clarkson station was already 75 per cent full on most days and squeezing 1500 extra park-and-ride bays into northern suburbs stations for extra commuters would be difficult.

PETER KERR