Go card fare structure - clean slate, what would you do?

[somebody]

Now that a fare structure review has been announced, I say that we should:
1) remove anomalies bus/rail.  So Indro rail zone 2/3, Toowong zone 2.  Milton zone 1/2 for bus and rail?  What about Boggo Rd?  Currently zone 1/2 rail, zone 2 bus.  EDIT: Add Windsor: rail zone 1, bus zone 2. /EDIT
2) Increase off peak discount.  I would question whether 50% without FUD would be enough.  It's a lower discount than the 2010 idea of 50% FUD + 15% off peak.  Perhaps a 55% off peak discount?
3) Should we do something about the much larger distances between zones on the Gold Coast?  Varsity Lakes rail to Tugun is about 14km but only 2 zones.  Compared to City-Indro which is about 6-7km and 2 zones.
4) what about the bug that through town trips on rail don't charge for zone 1?

[Stillwater]

We should do nothing until the terms of reference have been announced or a draft structure announced, or a consultative structure put in place or the government otherwise reveals its methodology for engaging with the public.  The issue of zones has been resolved.  The minister has spoken.  Hold off the speculation, because we are beyond that point.

[somebody]

I don't agree.

The issue of zones has been resolved.  The minister has spoken. 

What are you referring to here?  I don't think he's said anything on the matter.

[ozbob]

No review of zones as such, reported BT over the weekend.  Agree with that.  Zone anomalies can be sorted though I would have thought.

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[somebody]

Fair enough.  I guess that removes points 1 & 3.

[ozbob]

I don't really see any issues with people discussing what they would like to see with regard to fares, prices, structure, what ever.

Will we ever see a review like what was conducted in Auckland?  Who knows, but certainly it should be attempted.

I have always tried to suggest improvements that can be implemented on the system as is.  I think they should do that now, immediately, stop the rorting, start to preserve the fare box and stop the slide.  And then conduct a full review with public consultation.

[STB]

I'm personally not a fan of distance based fares.  Too confusing I think as you'd mentally would need to work out how far you have physically travelled, rather than simply remembering which zones you are passing through.  I think Sydney has a sector based fares for the buses??  Which to me just confuzzles me, probably because I just find a zonal system easier to remember and process. 

Yes, it may be perceived to be unfair for some passengers living near a zone boundary, but I think that's the least of our worries. 

Every type of system is always going to have a negative, no matter how much you patch up those negatives, there will always be at least one or two losers of the system.

[Gazza]

When you make a phone call you dont preplan how much it will cost.

I think just having an online calculator and an app is fine.

[SurfRail]

The current zonal system disadvantages virtually nobody except for the little eddies and grandfathered bits where rail stations are artificially in a zone in which they are not geographically located. 

People going from north of Brisbane to south through the CBD?  Doesn't bother me.  This kind of travel pattern means they are occupying counter-peak services for part of their journey which would otherwise be empty.

Local travel on the Gold Coast or Sunshine Coast?  People travelling east to west have an advantage which off-sets the disadvantage of travelling north-south.

The issue, the REAL issue, is the pricing and products.  The fare zones are in my view fine, or not worth the effort changing - same thing in practical terms.

[SurfRail]

The issue, the REAL issue, is the pricing and products.  The fare zones are in my view fine, or not worth the effort changing - same thing in practical terms.

Topic was clean slate

Doesn't matter, I don't think there is a real issue.  Designing the fare system again, I would still have graduated zones basically the same as present.

Possibly you would review where the boundaries sit and make it closer to Perth with "wider" zones - maybe Gympie would be in Zone 16 or something like that. 

[somebody]

Local travel on the Gold Coast or Sunshine Coast?  People travelling east to west have an advantage which off-sets the disadvantage of travelling north-south.

Not sure what you mean by the disadvantage of travelling north south?  You might cross  a zone boundary?  But less often than you would doing a radial journey in Brisbane.

[SurfRail]

Local travel on the Gold Coast or Sunshine Coast?  People travelling east to west have an advantage which off-sets the disadvantage of travelling north-south.

Not sure what you mean by the disadvantage of travelling north south?  You might cross  a zone boundary?  But less often than you would doing a radial journey in Brisbane.

It's really only an issue when compared with via CBD travel.

Chermside to Upper Mt Gravatt - 3 zones, 5 geographic zones (or cheaper if using the GCL)

Burleigh Heads to Griffith Uni - 5 zones, 5 geographic zones

As I say it's basically a non-issue.

[Gazza]

Possibly you would review where the boundaries sit and make it closer to Perth with "wider" zones - maybe Gympie would be in Zone 16 or something like that.

Agreed, I reckon the zones are mostly right, with the exception that Z1 is too small....A trip from Fortitude Valley to New Farm should not be 2 zones.

Personally I'd amalgamate Z1&Z2, and leave it at that.

[somebody]

Agreed, I reckon the zones are mostly right, with the exception that Z1 is too small....A trip from Fortitude Valley to New Farm should not be 2 zones.

I reckon it's fair enough to pay 2 zones to get to the city.  Perhaps Milton and South Bank, but only because enough people are getting off in the AM at those places as there is really just air that they are squeezing out.  I don't agree with 1 zone from Auchenflower to the CBD by train.  Or Windsor.

[Gazza]

But Perth has a decent sized zone 1.
Certainly wouldn't advocate something as big as Melbourne, but Brisbanes is way too tight for what it is.

[somebody]

But Perth has a decent sized zone 1.
Certainly wouldn't advocate something as big as Melbourne, but Brisbanes is way too tight for what it is.

I'd make it tighter.

Charges an appropriate surcharge for coming into the CBD.  Melbourne's approach is to have a higher charge for Zone 1 than Zone 2.  That's more complicated than the Brisbane approach of a small zone CBD zone.

[Gazza]

But Perth has a decent sized zone 1.
Certainly wouldn't advocate something as big as Melbourne, but Brisbanes is way too tight for what it is.

I'd make it tighter.

Charges an appropriate surcharge for coming into the CBD.  Melbourne's approach is to have a higher charge for Zone 1 than Zone 2.  That's more complicated than the Brisbane approach of a small zone CBD zone.

I think having the CBD zone just makes it annoying for those living in the inner city suburbs trying to get around.
And why are we trying to discourage people from going to the CBD? Maybe if the CBD surcharge was funding cross town routes that allowed you to avoid it, but presently they are for the most part poor.

[somebody]

I think higher fares into the CBD because:
a) Services are better there
b) Demand is higher there
c) Alternatives are worse
d) Infrastructure is expensive to provide there

If you want to take an alternate view, then why charge anything?