27 Feb 2011: SEQ: Go card fare structure is failing - urgent review needed

[ozbob]

CM Blog and poll is interesting ...  --> here!

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

11th August 2011

Re: Go card fare structure

Greetings,

An  amazing response on the Courier Mail blog and poll on an article highlighting problems with the present ticketing structure for public transport in south-east Queensland.

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/brisbane-lord-mayor-graham-quirk-wants-translink-to-reintroduce-daily-tickets-as-passenger-numbers-on-ferries-fall/story-e6freoof-1226113052792

We have suggested solutions.  Concerns with the lack of a suitable tourist ticketing product are not new. See --> http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=5215.msg44769#msg44769

Best wishes
Robert

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

[ozbob]

From the Brisbanetimes click here!

Tourists shun Go Card travel

Tourists shun Go Card travel
Tony Moore
August 11, 2011 - 4:24PM

Queensland's peak tourism industry body has backed calls for a major overhaul of the Go Card system, saying it causes too much confusion and inconvenience for international visitors.

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk this morning urged the state government to reintroduce daily tickets after a significant decline in the number of tourists using Brisbane's CityCats and ferries.

Queensland Tourism Industry Council chief executive Daniel Gschwind backed the Lord Mayor and said the Go Card was too cumbersome for tourists and debate over price structures was missing the point.

"This is about the consumers at the end of the day and the customers," Mr Gschwind said.

"It is not about the administration, that is not what it is about."

Mr Gschwind said it was too complicated to explain how to buy in to the Go Card system.

"It is not very convenient if you are here for one day or two days," he said.

"You want to find in Brisbane what you find in many international cities; a convenient day pass or multi-day pass where you don't have to understand the complex zone system, you don't have to understand fare systems.

"You just want to buy one ticket that allows you to travel around."

Cr Quirk said Brisbane's previously consistent growth in ferry patronage had "abruptly halted" since 2010.

"We are known as a river city and our CityCats and ferries are arguably the most popular way to explore Brisbane for tourists and locals alike," he said.

"But with the state government cancelling the daily ticket while at the same time increasing fares by up to 40 per cent, river tourism is fast becoming something people avoid."

Cr Quirk said recent figures showed the number of tourists using the CityCats and ferries had dropped by 16 per cent in the past year, which was twice the decline in the number of regular passengers.

"That is a very concerning trend considering they make up almost half of all ferry trips," he said.

Queensland Transport recently agreed to sell Go Cards on CityCats and ferries.

Cr Quirk said tourists still preferred paper tickets, which were still available but more expensive than Go Card fares.

However, Queensland Tourism figures show a decline in the total number of tourists to the state, which may also have had an effect.

The figures show domestic tourists dropped four per cent and international tourism dropping one per cent by March 2011.

A spokesman for Transport Minister Annastacia Palaszczuk said the issue of funding any new service for tourists became complicated after former lord mayor Campbell Newman made a 2008 election promise to deliver three new CityCats, without consultation with the state government or Translink.

Brisbane City Council recently asked for funds for "CityCats 17, 18 and 19".

In a letter sent yesterday to Cr Quirk, Ms Palaszczuk points out that CityCat and ferry patronage "has been in decline since June 2009".

Ms Palaszczuk disputes that Go Card fare increases are responsible for declining passengers.

"It should be noted that patronage on these services has been in decline since June 2009, six months prior to to the first fare increase under Translink's five-year fare strategy," she said in correspondence with the Lord Mayor.

Ms Palaszczuk also told Cr Quirk "any consideration of funding by the Queensland government would have to come at the cost of other public transport initiatives".

In April, Ms Palaszczuk said she wanted to make it easier for tourists to catch southeast Queensland's public transport.

"One issue that is very important I think is that when tourists come to southeast Queensland that they have the ability to purchase a travel card, which they're able to purchase in some other states and other countries," Ms Palaszczuk said.

However it is understood that the 'travel card' idea is not being explored because Queensland Transport believes Go Cards are more flexible and can be bought by by tourists before they arrive.

Any money on a Go Card not spent on holidays could be refunded.

Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/tourists-shun-go-card-travel-20110811-1iobr.html

[somebody]

CM Blog and poll is interesting ...  --> here!

Derwan posted on the blog:

Correction: Rail - Back on Track has NOT been campaigning for the return of daily and other periodical tickets. It has been campaigning for a better fare structure on the Go Card - equivalent to the value of former periodical tickets (e.g. daily capping). Periodic tickets are a relic of the past. Go Card is the way forward (if only it would work properly and could be set up with a decent fare structure).

I think this is incorrect.  RailBoT (read ozbob) has indeed been campaigning for the return of daily and/or periodical tickets.

[ozbob]

Not so Simon, Derwan is correct. As recently as last week I suggested to the Minister that we don't want paper periodical tickets as such but improved fares on the go card ...

[somebody]

Not so Simon, Derwan is correct. As recently as last week I suggested to the Minister that we don't want paper periodical tickets as such but improved fares on the go card ...

Is that quote still correct if you remove the word "paper"?  If so, then I am confused as to what RailBoT is arguing for.

[ozbob]

An improved fare structure, we have suggested many options, including capping, journey capping, increases to off peak discounts, lowering the journey trigger for 50% discounts.  It is TransLink and Government that will determine how they improve, and it is clear they will improve it.

One option previously considered by the authorities, wait for it,    free travel after 10 journeys in a week (not our suggestion this one).  This could still happen.  We have suggested a number of options we just have to see what eventuates

[somebody]

So the plan is more to raise issues than to put forward a consistent plan.

[AnonymouslyBad]

Introducing more caps and more discounts on the go card won't fix the tourist issue, though.

At the moment, visitors are expected to:
- find out where they can get a go card;
- get to the go card outlet (without catching any public transport);
- pay a $5 deposit;
- get their go card;
- use the go card (correctly);
- hopefully never need to top up;
- fill out endless paperwork if they ever want that deposit back.

This is all fine if someone is visiting for a significant length of time. But those visiting Brisbane for one day, or two days, are not going to bother with it. They'll just assume (reasonably) that there is some other way to meet their travel needs - and find out after buying their fourth single paper ticket that they are wrong.

And this is the same system as the Gold Coast! But I think Surfside still has some periodical options for tourists, whether TL like it or not.

Go cards, in their current form, could be made more palatable to short-term visitors, though there would need to be big changes in how they're marketed and distributed. I'd suggest making them completely free, for starters, then they will be much easier to get out there.

The other option is simply to reintroduce daily tickets (whether paper or integrated with the go card system). They need not be attractive to "regular" commuters, they just need to do what you would expect them to do.

[somebody]

See here: http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=6543.0

[somebody]

And this is the same system as the Gold Coast! But I think Surfside still has some periodical options for tourists, whether TL like it or not.

Looks like that only applies to travel starting and finishing in NSW.

[AnonymouslyBad]

See here: http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=6543.0

Yeah, I did think that attended rail stations can process refunds. But that's not really enough. Agreed on marketing it better in any case...

[somebody]

See here: http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=6543.0

Yeah, I did think that attended rail stations can process refunds. But that's not really enough. Agreed on marketing it better in any case...

But not at the Airport.  What if you are staying on the Gold Coast and flying out of BNE (let's say to Mt Isa which isn't served from OOL).  You have to get off the train at Central, cash in your Go Card, wait half an hour for the next train and get on it with a paper ticket.  Or pay an exorbitant paper ticket far from the Gold Coast train station, which you may have gotten a bus to so could lose your transfer.  It's also a pain if leaving town through OOL.

The $50 limit could be an issue in some circumstances also.  Basically you have to know not to put more on it or you need to fill in a form.  Doh!

[SurfRail]

And this is the same system as the Gold Coast! But I think Surfside still has some periodical options for tourists, whether TL like it or not.

Looks like that only applies to travel starting and finishing in NSW.

They do sell a Freedom Pass and a Gold Pass for 3, 5, 7 or 10 days.  A Gold Pass allows unlimited travel on all Surfside services (NSW and Qld) and unlimited theme park transfers, whereas the Freedom Pass is the same thing but with a return airport transfer included.

These are mostly pre-ordered or bought at the airport, so there is no reason to change this set-up for the time being.

One glaring failure is that you can't buy an Airtrain fare on a bus.

[somebody]

That seems to be a competing service to the Translink services.  Or am I mistaken?

[Fares_Fair]

Letters to the Editor
Courier-Mail
Monday 15 August, 2011

Stop this go card craziness.

[Fares_Fair]

Letters to the Editor
Courier-Mail
Monday 15 August, 2011

Premier should wake up on fares.

[Stillwater]

And who said transport was not political?  It's certainly political in Queensland.

[AnonymouslyBad]

That seems to be a competing service to the Translink services.  Or am I mistaken?

The Surfside passes? No, it's all the same services as far as I know (bar the airport transfers). Surfside buses just accept their own tourist passes as well as TL tickets.

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

23rd August 2011

Re: Go card fare structure

Greetings,

Another nail into the coffin of a failing fare structure ...

From the Couriermail 23rd August 2011 page 4

Fare cap call



This is very concerning.  Increases in bus/ferry services is not attracting commensurate pax loading increases.  This highlights why swift action is needed with respect to the fare structure.

Best wishes
Robert

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

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

24th August 2011

Re: SEQ: Uncertainty surrounds public transport ticketing, direct action needed today

Greetings,

Some simple strategies for moving forward:

1.  Fare structure for the go card - needs urgent improvements.

2.  Fix the go card equipment.

3.  Immediately clarify conditions of use of the go card.

Yes, we all know it is not rocket science, so what's the problem?

Best wishes
Robert

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