Using the new go card fare structure optimally.

[dwb]

Point of order: TL aren't marketing the effect that if you take a cheaper than normal journey as one of the first 10 journeys you can have a net saving.

I can't find the quote but the Treasurer has explicitly indicated a local Brisbane commuter who does 10 will then get free, even to the coast on the weekend.

[Fares_Fair]

Point of order: TL aren't marketing the effect that if you take a cheaper than normal journey as one of the first 10 journeys you can have a net saving.

Hello Simon,

Why would they?
There is nothing improper whatsoever at what can be done. Cheeky maybe?, loophole NO (see definition above), smart yes !
Since when do TL dictate the length of our personal trips/journeys?

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

[somebody]

Point of order: TL aren't marketing the effect that if you take a cheaper than normal journey as one of the first 10 journeys you can have a net saving.

I can't find the quote but the Treasurer has explicitly indicated a local Brisbane commuter who does 10 will then get free, even to the coast on the weekend.

Even so that isn't exactly the same as a Coast commuter riding a bus at lunch to reduce weekly costs.

Point of order: TL aren't marketing the effect that if you take a cheaper than normal journey as one of the first 10 journeys you can have a net saving.

Hello Simon,

Why would they?
There is nothing improper whatsoever at what can be done. Cheeky maybe?, loophole NO (see definition above), smart yes !
Since when do TL dictate the length of our personal trips/journeys?

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

Completely disagree.

That's going to be my last word on it, unless new information comes up or a new argument is made.

[Fares_Fair]

Point of order: TL aren't marketing the effect that if you take a cheaper than normal journey as one of the first 10 journeys you can have a net saving.

I can't find the quote but the Treasurer has explicitly indicated a local Brisbane commuter who does 10 will then get free, even to the coast on the weekend.

Hi dwb,

Exactly, spot on.
A Brissie commuter could save just as much by extra trips to the Coasts on a weekend !

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

[Arnz]

Even so that isn't exactly the same as a Coast commuter riding a bus at lunch to reduce weekly costs.

Any commuter in SE Qld can use their local buses after work and have that short journey counted towards their 10. Even outer suburban and coastal commuters.

Are you going try to argue to discourage/ban (charge extra) commuters from using their local buses for the sake of disliking what they do with their time?

Edit: Okay I was told I was too 'harsh' using the 'ban' word, replace with the 'extra charge' phrase.

[somebody]

Are you going try to argue to ban commuters from using their local buses for the sake of disliking what they do with their time?

Gee, when did I ever say anything inferring people being banned from riding any bus?

Please don't put words in my mouth which I didn't say.

[Arnz]

Are you going try to argue to ban commuters from using their local buses for the sake of disliking what they do with their time?

Gee, when did I ever say anything inferring people being banned from riding any bus?

Please don't put words in my mouth which I didn't say.

I didn't say you said it.  

But you were arguing that "long distance commuters" (applies to outer suburban and coastal commuters) were using a "loophole" by riding a bus at lunchtime. TransLink staff had said this was intended to get commuters to use PT where they normally don't use that.  

Besides commuters don't necessarily have to the ride the bus at lunchitme, they could just ride their local buses after work for a multitude of reasons varying from exercise, picking up dinner and so on.  Question still applies, would you still argue to discourage/ban give a extra charge to commuters (on top of their 1 zone fare) from riding their local buses for the sake of disliking what they do with their time (and save some $ in the process).

Edit: Okay I was harsh with using the 'ban' word, maybe I should use "extra charge".

[somebody]

To be logical the system would charge for the most expensive 10 trips per week.  It just makes sense.  Same with the FUD which preceded it.  Arguing that it isn't a loophole just beggars belief IMO.

[Jonas Jade]

:conf It's not a loophole because it's intentional and they are aware that's how it operates.

[Arnz]

:conf It's not a loophole because it's intentional and they are aware that's how it operates.

Exactly.  Especially when TransLink staff came out publicly and said that was the case numerous times.

[somebody]

:conf It's not a loophole because it's intentional and they are aware that's how it operates.

<sarcasm>Yeah, right.</sarcasm>

I don't care what you think of my opinion, it's my opinion.  Have a nice day!

[Arnz]

:conf It's not a loophole because it's intentional and they are aware that's how it operates.

<sarcasm>Yeah, right.</sarcasm>

I don't care what you think of my opinion, it's my opinion.  Have a nice day!

We'll just have to agree to disagree then.  IMO Uni students are the biggest winners out of this as they can get to their cap quicker by making multiple journeys in a day, not "long distance" commuters.   

Even if you want to argue to discourage commuters from using their local buses after work for the sake of this so-called 'loophole', it's best saved for a different thread.

[Mr X]

To be logical the system would charge for the most expensive 10 trips per week.  It just makes sense.  Same with the FUD which preceded it.  Arguing that it isn't a loophole just beggars belief IMO.

Hmmm not a fan
The current system uses carrots 'free travel after 10 trips' for those who stick with the PT system. A free trip to the coast on the weekend, for example, is the carrot. It would be confusing if it was "free travel after 10 trips so long as it isn't an expensive trip".

Plus the " loophole" (can we PLEASE stop using that term??) probably wouldn't be exploited by most commuters anyway.

[somebody]

Even if you want to argue to discourage commuters from using their local buses after work for the sake of this so-called 'loophole', it's best saved for a different thread.

I don't want to effectively pay them to do that, so then I guess you could argue that I'm discouraging them, in your world.

[Arnz]

I don't want to effectively pay them to do that, so then I guess you could argue that I'm discouraging them, in your world.

In the same argument you are also paying for the Uni student concessions as well as Pensioners.  I can understand why disabled\elderley pensioners are needed to be subsidized.  But in other words you should also be arguing for the student concessions to be minimized.

I feel you're just arguing because you hate what certain groups of commuters do with their own time, especially Intercity ones.

[Fares_Fair]

Article: The quirky world of Go Card
    by: Sherine Conyers, Maroochy Journal
    From: Quest Newspapers (online)
    January 12, 2012 2:03PM

The plot thickens ...

http://www.couriermail.com.au/questnews/sunshine-coast/little-surprises-with-every-swipe/story-fn8m0yxo-1226242747405

A few cheeky go card swipes to try and save some money on public transport have revealed some unusual quirks.

Palmwoods resident and commuter advocate Jeff Addison, in an attempt to accrue 10 journeys to gain free travel, hopped on a bus service on Tuesday afternoon to take a short trip.

Mr Addison said he swiped his go card on the card reader at the front of the bus and at the next stop swiped it off again on the same reader.

Later, he said he checked his go card log online only to find the trip had not been registered.

But after a story appeared online yesterday about how Sunshine Coast commuters could save around $1500 per year by taking short trips in the city each week, the trip appeared on his go card log.

"I understand from the (Translink) website that bus changes can take up to 24 hours to appear on logs.

"The failed trip, which did not show to date, and had the longer beep when I egressed at the front of the bus, has suddenly changed to a valid trip today.

"I am positively certain that this change occurred after the 24 hour period was up," he said.

At the time of the trip Mr Addison had been trying to see how quickly he could gain a 'journey' to help him cut costs on his annual travel bill.

The trip took him under three minutes, went one bus stop, and cost him $3.05.

Mr Addison said he was initially frustrated the trip had not been recorded because it didn't count towards his 10 journeys for the week.

But the trip has now been recorded and, after his commute home last night, he qualified to travel for the rest of the week for free.

"Due to the go card history correction yesterday, I will pay just $87.41 this week. A significant weekly saving of $40.99

"I'm certainly very grateful for the correction, but it shows an unusual Translink officiousness to do so," he said.

"If only they were this proactive on other commuter fare corrections.''

A Translink spokesman said the system was designed so passengers could cancel a journey on a bus by touching off at the front card reader provided a bus has not moved.

"This allows passengers who have inadvertently got on the incorrect bus to get off without penalty. This only applies to the front door card reader.

"Once a bus departs the stop, touching off at either the front or rear door will count as a single trip on a go card," he said.

The spokesperson said Translink would look at reasons why the delay occurred.

[somebody]

I don't want to effectively pay them to do that, so then I guess you could argue that I'm discouraging them, in your world.

In the same argument you are also paying for the Uni student concessions as well as Pensioners.  I can understand why disabled\elderley pensioners are needed to be subsidized.  But in other words you should also be arguing for the student concessions to be minimized.

I feel you're just arguing because you hate what certain groups of commuters do with their own time, especially Intercity ones.

I'm doing no such thing.  I really couldn't care less what Sunshine Coasters do with their time.

You are only paying for Uni students if they are doing less zones or more out of peak trips.  The out of peak is such small beer that it isn't worth talking about.  It's those who can now suddenly do 10 12 zone trips but easily only pay for 7 12 zone trips and 3 1 zone trips.  The fare box leakage of this I am not at all in favour of.  Similarly, I don't favour encouraging long distance commuting as a policy objective.

Besides, most Uni students trips aren't high zone.  They are some of the worst suffers of the high flagfall, actually.

But after a story appeared online yesterday about how Sunshine Coast commuters could save around $1500 per year by taking short trips in the city each week, the trip appeared on his go card log.

Probably the go card update from the bus was delayed.

Move along, nothing to see here. 

[Fares_Fair]

I don't want to effectively pay them to do that, so then I guess you could argue that I'm discouraging them, in your world.

In the same argument you are also paying for the Uni student concessions as well as Pensioners.  I can understand why disabled\elderley pensioners are needed to be subsidized.  But in other words you should also be arguing for the student concessions to be minimized.

I feel you're just arguing because you hate what certain groups of commuters do with their own time, especially Intercity ones.

I'm doing no such thing.  I really couldn't care less what Sunshine Coasters do with their time.

You are only paying for Uni students if they are doing less zones or more out of peak trips.  The out of peak is such small beer that it isn't worth talking about.  It's those who can now suddenly do 10 12 zone trips but easily only pay for 7 12 zone trips and 3 1 zone trips.  The fare box leakage of this I am not at all in favour of.  Similarly, I don't favour encouraging long distance commuting as a policy objective.

Besides, most Uni students trips aren't high zone.  They are some of the worst suffers of the high flagfall, actually.

But after a story appeared online yesterday about how Sunshine Coast commuters could save around $1500 per year by taking short trips in the city each week, the trip appeared on his go card log.

Probably the go card update from the bus was delayed.

Move along, nothing to see here.  

Lol, Indeed, some comments are best ignored. 

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

[ozbob]

 :bi

[Fares_Fair]

 :bi.  :bi

[Arnz]

You are only paying for Uni students if they are doing less zones or more out of peak trips.  The out of peak is such small beer that it isn't worth talking about.  It's those who can now suddenly do 10 12 zone trips but easily only pay for 7 12 zone trips and 3 1 zone trips.  The fare box leakage of this I am not at all in favour of.  Similarly, I don't favour encouraging long distance commuting as a policy objective.

Besides, most Uni students trips aren't high zone.  They are some of the worst suffers of the high flagfall, actually.

Most uni students do a lot more than 2 trips a day.  Many have jobs to go to, making it 4 trips in a day.  They would get their free trips by Wednesday afternoon.  I would think that's more than value for money.  While most students are of the Zone 2-5 type, there are also those in Zone 6-9 that travel into Brisbane to study due to the lack the facilities at their local Unis as opposed to their city counterparts.

At the same time, there would also be more students from the Gold Coast travelling to QUT or UQ each morning than those from the Sunshine Coast, as many don't regard Bond Uni or Griffith Gold Coast (or 'Grifftafe' as some of their own students call it) as highly as the Brisbane unis, and both are easier to access via PT.

As for Sunshine Coast, speaking from my own perspective, it seems to have a larger number of those studying locally (at least according to the USC website), but even those that elect to study in Brisbane primarily drive down to Caboolture at the most (apart from those that elect to take the risk and pay more to rent down closer).

But after a story appeared online yesterday about how Sunshine Coast commuters could save around $1500 per year by taking short trips in the city each week, the trip appeared on his go card log.

Probably the go card update from the bus was delayed.

Move along, nothing to see here.  
[/quote]

Indeed.  Like you said, time to close this.  

Fare debating, arguing (or bitching) is best kept for another thread.

[dwb]

To be logical the system would charge for the most expensive 10 trips per week.  It just makes sense.  Same with the FUD which preceded it.  Arguing that it isn't a loophole just beggars belief IMO.

Working within the constraints, this is not a loophole.

Cubic are obviously unable to program it to charge for the ten most expensive... anywho, I don't think is such an issue, not as they've partly corrected/adjusted the long distance fare higher than shorter distance fares (for single journeys). Give and take... and it will make more money as there is more take than give.

[dwb]

Article: The quirky world of Go Card
   by: Sherine Conyers, Maroochy Journal
   From: Quest Newspapers (online)
   January 12, 2012 2:03PM

The plot thickens ...

http://www.couriermail.com.au/questnews/sunshine-coast/little-surprises-with-every-swipe/story-fn8m0yxo-1226242747405

A few cheeky go card swipes to try and save some money on public transport have revealed some unusual quirks.

Palmwoods resident and commuter advocate Jeff Addison, in an attempt to accrue 10 journeys to gain free travel, hopped on a bus service on Tuesday afternoon to take a short trip.

Mr Addison said he swiped his go card on the card reader at the front of the bus and at the next stop swiped it off again on the same reader.

Later, he said he checked his go card log online only to find the trip had not been registered.

But after a story appeared online yesterday about how Sunshine Coast commuters could save around $1500 per year by taking short trips in the city each week, the trip appeared on his go card log.

"I understand from the (Translink) website that bus changes can take up to 24 hours to appear on logs.

"The failed trip, which did not show to date, and had the longer beep when I egressed at the front of the bus, has suddenly changed to a valid trip today.

"I am positively certain that this change occurred after the 24 hour period was up," he said.

At the time of the trip Mr Addison had been trying to see how quickly he could gain a 'journey' to help him cut costs on his annual travel bill.

The trip took him under three minutes, went one bus stop, and cost him $3.05.

Mr Addison said he was initially frustrated the trip had not been recorded because it didn't count towards his 10 journeys for the week.

But the trip has now been recorded and, after his commute home last night, he qualified to travel for the rest of the week for free.

"Due to the go card history correction yesterday, I will pay just $87.41 this week. A significant weekly saving of $40.99

"I'm certainly very grateful for the correction, but it shows an unusual Translink officiousness to do so," he said.

"If only they were this proactive on other commuter fare corrections.''

A Translink spokesman said the system was designed so passengers could cancel a journey on a bus by touching off at the front card reader provided a bus has not moved.

"This allows passengers who have inadvertently got on the incorrect bus to get off without penalty. This only applies to the front door card reader.

"Once a bus departs the stop, touching off at either the front or rear door will count as a single trip on a go card," he said.

The spokesperson said Translink would look at reasons why the delay occurred.

Mr Addison is not you is it fares fair??

I've heard his name before, and too be honest I can't believe this conspiracy theory bullsh*t balls.

{Ed, so as not to upset through "appalling use of language"}

[somebody]

Most uni students do a lot more than 2 trips a day.  Many have jobs to go to, making it 4 trips in a day.  They would get their free trips by Wednesday afternoon.  I would think that's more than value for money.  While most students are of the Zone 2-5 type, there are also those in Zone 6-9 that travel into Brisbane to study due to the lack the facilities at their local Unis as opposed to their city counterparts.

I don't really believe that you are continuing to miss my point.  I'm going to assume that you are just ignoring it because it makes it easier to argue pro-loophole.

To be logical the system would charge for the most expensive 10 trips per week.  It just makes sense.  Same with the FUD which preceded it.  Arguing that it isn't a loophole just beggars belief IMO.

Working within the constraints, this is not a loophole.

Cubic are obviously unable to program it to charge for the ten most expensive... anywho, I don't think is such an issue, not as they've partly corrected/adjusted the long distance fare higher than shorter distance fares (for single journeys). Give and take... and it will make more money as there is more take than give.

I think you need to read the definition of the word.  Everyone else too, really.  If you are doing 10x 12 zone peak journeys and only paying for 7, +3 1 zone off peak journeys, then you are "escaping a difficulty" i.e. paying full price being the difficulty.

I call crap on your second paragraph.  It is not obvious at all.  Perhaps they asked Cubic for a quote and didn't like the answer.  Perhaps they didn't because they don't care.

Also, how do you figure that they've adjusted the long distance fare higher than the short distance one?  They've done the exact opposite since 2004.

Seriously guys, how about raising the standard of this discussion!

[Arnz]

I think you need to read the definition of the word.  Everyone else too, really.  If you are doing 10x 12 zone peak journeys and only paying for 7, +3 1 zone off peak journeys, then you are "escaping a difficulty" i.e. paying full price being the difficulty.

That's not "escaping the difficulty".

http://translink.com.au/tickets-and-fares/fares/conditions-of-travel

"    A passenger must ensure his/her go card is touched on when travelling.
   A passenger must not evade, or attempt to evade, payment of the required fare for the intended journey.
   A concession/child paper ticket holder, or a concession, seniors or child go card holder must be in possession of a valid concession entitlement card.
   A passenger must produce a valid ticket or go card and a valid concession entitlement card (if applicable) when requested to do so, by a driver, ticket seller or authorised person.
   A passenger must not smoke in a public passenger vehicle.
   A passenger must not consume food or drink in a public passenger vehicle.
   A passenger must not interfere with a public passenger vehicle, service equipment or a public passenger service.
   A passenger must not bring an animal on to a public passenger vehicle unless it is an approved guide or assistance animal.
   A passenger must not create a nuisance or disturbance on a railway or public passenger vehicle.
   A passenger must supply his/her name, address and age to an authorised person when requested.
   A passenger must not obstruct an authorised person in the exercise of a power.
"

The passengers are within full rights of doing so under the current regulations and within the Frequent User Discount.

Edit:  Added another link - http://translink.com.au/tickets-and-fares/fares/discounts-and-ways-to-save

"go card off-peak discount

20% off your go card fare when travelling off-peak (between 9am and 3.30pm and after 7pm on weekdays, and all weekend and on public holidays) regardless of zones.
go card frequent user discount

Travel for free after your 10th journey in a 7 day period from Monday to Sunday, regardless of zones travelled.

go frequently then go free - travel free after 10 go card journeys in a week (Mon-Sun).
1, 2, Free - Senior and pensioner concession travel

Seniors Card +go, Senior or Pensioner go cardholders who make 2 go card journeys in one day travel for free for the rest of the day - go frequently then go free.
Concession fares

Concession fares are 50% cheaper than adult fares and apply to children, students, pensioners, seniors and defence force veterans.

Children under 5 travel free.

More about concession fares and eligibility."

[Fares_Fair]

Perhaps you are the one who has lowered it.
Your language is appalling, and you call yourself a moderator.

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

[somebody]

I think you need to read the definition of the word.  Everyone else too, really.  If you are doing 10x 12 zone peak journeys and only paying for 7, +3 1 zone off peak journeys, then you are "escaping a difficulty" i.e. paying full price being the difficulty.

That's not "escaping the difficulty".

If you can accept paying the full price as being the "difficulty" then it is.

[#Metro]

Hello everyone!

Lighten up.
Who cares!
It's not like the Transport Minister just announced demolition of the BUZ network. Not worth going crazy about!!

[Arnz]

I think you need to read the definition of the word.  Everyone else too, really.  If you are doing 10x 12 zone peak journeys and only paying for 7, +3 1 zone off peak journeys, then you are "escaping a difficulty" i.e. paying full price being the difficulty.

That's not "escaping the difficulty".

If you can accept paying the full price as being the "difficulty" then it is.

They are paying the "full price" within their legal limits.  Even if they made a journey at lunch or after work.  

I thought you'd said you were done with this thread long ago.  

I feel you are just continuing to argue because you don't like what pensioners/outer suburban/coastal commuters/students maximising their go card within their legal limits.  If you hate us "evil long distance commuters" (we do pay taxes you know, and 1 zone trips on our local bus network are the same as Zone 1 in Brisbane) why not just admit it and move on?  

Edit:  I'm not the average 9-5 commuter either.  Working times and locations do vary (due to the nature of the work) and whether I decide to take PT depends on accessibility.

[somebody]

If you hate us "evil long distance commuters" (we do pay taxes you know, and 1 zone trips on our local bus network are the same as Zone 1 in Brisbane) why not just admit it and move on?  

I don't hate you, but I do get irked by the argument that the fares are too high when they are the most subsidised in SEQ already.

[Fares_Fair]

Perhaps you are the one who has lowered it.
Your language is appalling, and you call yourself a moderator.

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

I apologise to you Simon, and withdraw what I said. I misread the post.
You are not the one who swore like a trooper, dwb did.

Having said that, and as expected,  I totally disagree with all that you have said and fully agree with Arnz.

I belive that we have proven our case and that your argument (rhetorically speaking) does not have any merit.
I'll leave it at that.
Perhaps we could start a poll ?

Do you believe that using the go card to achieve 10 trips early is a loophole?
Yes or No.

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

[Arnz]

If you hate us "evil long distance commuters" (we do pay taxes you know, and 1 zone trips on our local bus network are the same as Zone 1 in Brisbane) why not just admit it and move on?  

I don't hate you, but I do get irked by the argument that the fares are too high when they are the most subsidised in SEQ already.

Which has been partially done already by removing the outdated up-front seasonal tickets. (Not that I use em, I've only used the weekly back in my TAFE days - 3 zone), and varying locations in Brisbane I've only used the return to the appropriate zone prior to the Go-Card

Per Km/h for "ANY" long distance commuter on "ANY" mode (like those that may commute Brisbane and Sydney on discounted Economy fares instead of business to save money) you might have a argument, but for some regional areas that's countered with a poorer number of services as opposed to their City counterparts (2 per day trains, or every 2hrs to Goulburn with a change of trains from electric to diesel railcar).

Edit: Like Gazza had said in the past, if the funding for regional services (and infrastructure for it) is there and is provided, people may consider paying higher fares for the content.  Like in Europe, or even Regional Victoria.  But right now, services to a number of regional areas are rubbish.  The high fares for rotten apples don't help either, if the service is frequent and it's higher fares, sure I won't mind.  But not in this form.

[somebody]

Per Km/h for "ANY" long distance commuter on "ANY" mode (like those that may commute Brisbane and Sydney on discounted Economy fares instead of business to save money) you might have a argument, but for some regional areas that's countered with a poorer number of services as opposed to their City counterparts (2 per day trains, or every 2hrs to Goulburn with a change of trains from electric to diesel railcar).

Well, I'll allow you get a much rougher end of the stick compared to the Gold Coast who are paying about the same per km.

[Fares_Fair]

Sunshine Coast commuters have told me that they would pay 15% more for improvements to their services and for the return of shorter, read 'express' journeys.
But since we arguably have the worst rail section in the entire SE corner, and that was the State Governments own opinion, we deserve consideration regarding the appallingly high fares to the lowest levels of service.

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

[Arnz]

Sunshine Coast commuters have told me that they would pay 15% more for improvements to their services and for the return of shorter, read 'express' journeys.
But since we arguably have the worst rail section in the entire SE corner, and that was the State Governments own opinion, we deserve consideration regarding the appallingly high fares to the lowest levels of service.

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

+1.  We're not asking for free journeys all around.  

We're asking for something reasonable, and I personally think TransLink encouraging the use of PT outside their normal routines (such using the local Bus network after work towards their FUD) does that without resorting to the "outdated" pre-paid periodic system of 2004.

Discouraging the use of PT outside their working hours would not do wonders for local PT share in the outer regions (Local PT usage in many regions are low enough as it is).

[somebody]

I belive that we have proven our case and that your argument (rhetorically speaking) does not have any merit.
I'll leave it at that.
Perhaps we could start a poll ?

I disagree and wouldn't care if said poll came out 99 to 1.  It's like saying that the "Living away from home allowance" - a tax concession - isn't a loophole.

[Arnz]

I disagree and wouldn't care if said poll came out 99 to 1.  It's like saying that the "Living away from home allowance" - a tax concession - isn't a loophole.

Don't they already have to provide proof of residence/rent certificates/etc to get this allowance? (no documents, no living away from home allowance).

[somebody]

I disagree and wouldn't care if said poll came out 99 to 1.  It's like saying that the "Living away from home allowance" - a tax concession - isn't a loophole.

Don't they already have to provide proof of residence/rent certificates/etc to get this allowance? (no documents, no living away from home allowance).

A lease and a declaration on your usual place of residence claims the full rent out of before tax free income + about $180/week for a food allowance.

[Arnz]

I disagree and wouldn't care if said poll came out 99 to 1.  It's like saying that the "Living away from home allowance" - a tax concession - isn't a loophole.

Don't they already have to provide proof of residence/rent certificates/etc to get this allowance? (no documents, no living away from home allowance).

A lease and a declaration on your usual place of residence claims the full rent out of before tax free income + about $180/week for a food allowance.

IIRC that doesn't "qualify" for "living away from home" as that matches your given address to the CL authorities.   Unless if I'm missing something that's been changed by CL recently.

If they gave a different address out and they were found out to be living at the home address given to the authorities, then that's another story (not to mention it means getting caught and having to pay the money back).

[Fares_Fair]

Article: The quirky world of Go Card
   by: Sherine Conyers, Maroochy Journal
   From: Quest Newspapers (online)
   January 12, 2012 2:03PM ?
   Story Updated

Go Card loophole saves $1500 a year (online story updated today)

A few cheeky go card swipes to try and save some money on public transport have revealed some unusual quirks.

Palmwoods resident and commuter advocate Jeff Addison, in an attempt to accrue 10 journeys to gain free travel, hopped on a bus service on Tuesday afternoon to take a short trip.

Mr Addison said he swiped his go card on the card reader at the front of the bus and at the next stop swiped it off again on the same reader.

Later, he said he checked his go card log online only to find the trip had not been registered.

But after a story appeared online yesterday about how Sunshine Coast commuters could save around $1500 per year by taking short trips in the city each week, the trip appeared on his go card log.

"I understand from the (Translink) website that bus changes can take up to 24 hours to appear on logs.

"The failed trip, which did not show to date, and had the longer beep when I egressed at the front of the bus, has suddenly changed to a valid trip today.

"I am positively certain that this change occurred after the 24 hour period was up," he said.

At the time of the trip Mr Addison had been trying to see how quickly he could gain a 'journey' to help him cut costs on his annual travel bill.

The trip took him under three minutes, went one bus stop, and cost him $3.05.

Mr Addison said he was initially frustrated the trip had not been recorded because it didn't count towards his 10 journeys for the week.

But the trip has now been recorded and, after his commute home last night, he qualified to travel for the rest of the week for free.

"Due to the go card history correction yesterday, I will pay just $87.41 this week. A significant weekly saving of $40.99

"I'm certainly very grateful for the correction, but it shows an unusual Translink officiousness to do so," he said.

"If only they were this proactive on other commuter fare corrections.''

A Translink spokesman said trip was registered in the system which was working correctly.

"Most transactions appear within 24 hours but some transactions can take up to 48 hours.

"Train journeys are automatically registered in the system while bus trips can take longer due to the go card data being downloaded at the end of their runs.

"A customer's go card always has their travel information on it and customers can always see their most recent transactions at ticketing machines at stations or at retailers such as newsagents and convenience stores," he said.

Note:
Mr Addison stated the time period of 24 hours was exceeded.
TransLink state on the Go card website 'up to 24 hours'.
Now today after Mr Addison's statement, they say the time for changes can take from 24 to 48 hours to appear.

Tell me dwb, (rhetorical question) who is shifting the goal posts, and why?
It seems clear to me that TransLink changed Mr Addisons' go card history after reading of the event he described in the original story of the bus trip touch on and off that did not show.

Regards,
Fares_Fair.