Opposition Statement: Sunshine Coast commuters to be slugged more

[ozbob]

 
Tim Nicholls MP
Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party
Shadow Minister for Transport, Traffic Management,
Trade, Employment and Industrial Relations   
Member for Clayfield            

5 February 2008

Sunshine Coast commuters to be slugged more

Sunshine Coast commuters face an increase of over 20 percent under the State Labor Government?s long-awaited Smartcard ticketing system.

Under the Smartcard discount scheme, commuters travelling from the Sunshine Coast to Brisbane for work using the ?Go Card? can expect to pay anywhere up to $1,000 or more a year, than if they were to buy weekly and monthly tickets.

The popular paper discount tickets allow commuters unlimited travel within the week.  Commuters using the new Go Card will only be entitled to half-price travel after their sixth trip in a week.

Shadow Minister for Transport Tim Nicholls said commuters travelling from the Sunshine Coast would cop some of the biggest price increases.

?The current weekly tickets provide a convenient form of discount travel for commuters who are using the transport system on a daily basis,? he said.

?The discount option that is currently available for commuters using the Go Card is nowhere near as competitive.

?Until the Government is able to come up with a similar discount option for the Go Card, it is unfair to expect commuters to be slugged with the hefty price increase.?

Mr Nicholls said the State Government?s decision to withdraw paper based tickets from sale at Queensland Rail ticketing agencies would also make it harder for commuters to buy the discount weekly tickets.

?If the State Government?s plans go ahead, commuters will be forced to buy their paper tickets from a QR station?s ticket office,? he said.

?Commuters who would normally buy their tickets from a ticketing agent because their local train station is unmanned, will instead have to travel to a manned station just to buy a paper ticket.

?The State Government is systematically trying to force commuters to use Go Card by making it harder to buy paper tickets.

?The Government needs to stop the games and start thinking about how to create a discount ticketing system where no commuter will be left worse off.?

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[ozbob]

Our weekly ticket cost comparison can be found here http://backontrack.org/mbs/index.php?topic=431.0

What is also worth noting is that with a weekly  if you travel outside the zones of the weekly extension tickets can be purchased (staffed stations only, not machines).

This statement further highlights the true cost of the FU scheme.

[ozbob]

From Sunshine Coast Daily click here!

GoCard adds $900 a year to bill

GoCard adds $900 a year to bill

11:23a.m. 5 February 2008

Sunshine Coast commuters have blasted the new fee structure under the GoCard with it adding $900 a year to some train travellers costs between here and Brisbane.

"Translink are using the introduction of the GoCard to increase regular commuter train travel prices up to a staggering 23.08%,'' regular commuter Jeffrey Addison said.

"Compare your paper ticket weekly price against the Translink price list and you will find that commuters north of Glasshouse Mountains are worse off under their new scheme. This is after the claimed ?discount?,'' he said.

The Palmwoods commuter, who travels to Brisbane to work five days a week, has even drawn up a table which he is handing out to fellow commuters to highlight the fee changes.

Mr Addison said under the changes Glasshouse Mountains gets a 6.57 % increase, Beerwah cops a 14.29% increase, while Landsborough and beyond get a massive 23% hike.

The same increase will apply to commuters to the south, west and east of Brisbane city according to the zone system.

The current Consumer Price Index is approximately 3-4%. How can they justify such an astonishing increase?,'' Mr Addison asked.

He warned authorities would make it harder to purchase paper tickets or increase prices in July to push commuters onto the GoCard.

Mr Addison said he had written to Translink to voice his disapproval of the new fees but just got a reply praising the new system.

When he pressed further on the issue, he was given a reply saying it would take 10 working days to get a response.

Terry Cullen, who has been lobbying for a better deal for Coast commuters for years, shared the frustration.

"I have found getting any, let alone relevant or even coherent, answers from Translink very frustrating,'' Mr Cullen told thedaily.com.au.

"And it doesn?t surprise me that something as blindly obviously unfavourable and unacceptable to public transport users as increased fares would be claimed as praiseworthy.

"But the underlying assumption that this passenger rail service ? for which the cost to use is to be increased ? is adequate or even good is an insult.

"It is a mish mash of a timetable and a mish mash of a system and every effort is made at every opportunity by the spin merchants at Translink to peddle it to us and the responsible Minister as a qualtiy service.

"The contrasts with the rest of the QR Citytrain network - and particularly the Gold Coast line with its week-round minimum half-hourly full express service ? are stark indeed.

"I think Translink and its parent, Queensland Transport, need a serious reality check,'' Mr Cullen said.

The figures below are based upon a regular 5 day working week (10 trips)