News & Discussion: Public Transport Contracts, Service & Policy

[claybro]

This has been trailed in several cities overseas, with varying success. The cost of PT in Australia is almost criminal, but Adelaides system would not cope with removing the charge, as even a small rapid increase in patronage would bring the system to s standstill. Also once the service is free the amount to fund it would more than double, given the expansion required. That being said, I don't think any of the services in Adelaide, except maybe the Obahn and tram are decent value for money. Maybe put s levy on private car rego to help fund upgrades, and modernise the system to make it worth the fare.

[PeFe]

Free public transport....nothing is free.....it just means someone else is paying.
The tax payers and businesses of South Australia would be slugged more by denying people the responsibility of contributing directly to the cost of their transportation.

And not being a big fan of Stephen Knoll, I have to say I actually agree with him on the removal of the "2 section" tickets.....an easy rort of the system that needs to go.

If people want a distance based fare system then the entire base algorithm and equipment of Metrocard would need to changed to handle this......and this aint gonna happen.

The 28 day pass is fantastic value (cheapest in Australia, compared to the other major cities) and more people should consider this.
Maybe its time for the government to do another marketing campaign extolling its virtues.

And here's my wishlist for Metrocard (should anybody from the DPTI......or the new SAPTA) be listening...

Get rid of paper day tickets, make it a daily cap on Metrocard (so people dont have to think whether they need to buy a paper day ticket or use their Metrocard as is the case today)

Get rid of the 14 day pass and replace it with a 7 day pass, better for tourists..

Encourage bus travellers to get a Metrocard, explaining how slow it makes bus travel by people getting on, fumbling around with their purses/wallets, then buying a ticket, then working out how to validate..........

Melbourne has card only travel, Sydney is heading down that path (the NSW government just lacks a bit of political will to take that last step and make all Sydney public transport card only)

[Goodsy]

Free public transport....nothing is free.....it just means someone else is paying.

road users would be the ones paying, to get other road users off the road and onto public transport

[SBD]

Free public transport....nothing is free.....it just means someone else is paying.

road users would be the ones paying, to get other road users off the road and onto public transport

The ticket cost is already less than the cost of driving to the city and parking instead of at the local railway station. Surely people who are commuting to the city centre use public transport now and reducing the ticket price will not make much difference to those people.

The reasons not to use public transport are convenience, not cost-driven. A single bus/train does not go from where I am to where I want to go, the service is not at the time I want, or too infrequent to risk missing one, timetables don't connect or are difficult to work out when and where they do connect. I want to go to three different places. I want to smoke on the way to work. I don't feel safe after dark waiting for public transport. These are the kinds of things that keep people in cars instead of trains, trams and buses.

[HeapsGood]

How about allowing payment of fare on buses by paywave.

I don't blame people for choosing driving. There are too many disruptions and transport takes too long to get into the city.

I however, am used to the 50 minute commute each way, every day.

[[Shuz]]

They really should allow payment for single-trip journeys via eftpos at a standard metrocard ticket machine. This small convinience, which I'm sure wouldn't cost too much to retrofit, would see patronage increase by a bit.

[NTRabbit]

The ticket cost is already less than the cost of driving to the city and parking instead of at the local railway station. Surely people who are commuting to the city centre use public transport now and reducing the ticket price will not make much difference to those people.

It's barely cheaper. Plus, the rate at which developers want to stack more multilevels in the CBD, and even turn every available empty lot into a quick single story cash machine, surely suggests that things are trending the wrong way.

[SBD]

The ticket cost is already less than the cost of driving to the city and parking instead of at the local railway station. Surely people who are commuting to the city centre use public transport now and reducing the ticket price will not make much difference to those people.

It's barely cheaper. Plus, the rate at which developers want to stack more multilevels in the CBD, and even turn every available empty lot into a quick single story cash machine, surely suggests that things are trending the wrong way.

Perhaps we agree that the cost of public transport should be related to the distance of travel. I'm not sure how far I can go on the to-be-deleted section tickets, but it seems odd that one stop more than that threshold (and soon just one stop) costs as much as Gawler Central to Seaford. I imagine that it is only software changes to support tap-on-tap-off, plus the cost of adding machines to any doors that don't presently have them (some bus centre doors). That would provide both much better information about the journeys people actually make, and the ability to charge them for the how far they went. MetroCards could be charged by distance, single-trip tickets continue to provide Seaford-to-Gawler, and be priced to match.

[ChillyPhilly]

I'm not against distance-based pricing for fares.

I will raise this as a discussion point. Is it fair, however, for those living in Gawler or Seaford to pay more than someone living in Kilburn or Park Holme? Why should they be paying more just because they live further?

The single price Metrocard fare is the fairest way of charging for public transport. Perhaps the differences between e.g. Gawler and Kilburn should be marginal.

[PeFe]

My quick costing : car v public transport in Adelaide.

Car : new car every 5 years at average cost of $25,000 per car = $5000 per year.........$1000 rego/insurance......$60 per week on petrol = $3120
repairs/maintenance $2000........parking $200

Total for car : $11,320

Public transport : 12 times $99, 28 day Metrocard pass = $1,188

Total for public transport : $1,188

[Waewick]

My quick costing : car v public transport in Adelaide.

Car : new car every 5 years at average cost of $25,000 per car = $5000 per year.........$1000 rego/insurance......$60 per week on petrol = $3120
repairs/maintenance $2000........parking $200

Total for car : $11,320

Public transport : 12 times $99, 28 day Metrocard pass = $1,188

Total for public transport : $1,188

Thats if you just buy a car for driving to work (which people may).

A ticket on the bus for me is 3.60 so $7.20 for the day.

I can get early bird for $13. That becomes the daily thought.

[Nathan]

My quick costing : car v public transport in Adelaide.

Car : new car every 5 years at average cost of $25,000 per car = $5000 per year.........$1000 rego/insurance......$60 per week on petrol = $3120
repairs/maintenance $2000........parking $200

Total for car : $11,320

Public transport : 12 times $99, 28 day Metrocard pass = $1,188

Total for public transport : $1,188

Thats if you just buy a car for driving to work (which people may).

A ticket on the bus for me is 3.60 so $7.20 for the day.

I can get early bird for $13. That becomes the daily thought.

That's still $5.80 more per day, which assuming full time 48wks a year, makes a $1,392 difference per year.

[rev]

They really should allow payment for single-trip journeys via eftpos at a standard metrocard ticket machine. This small convinience, which I'm sure wouldn't cost too much to retrofit, would see patronage increase by a bit.

I haven't used PT for a long time, the last time I did we still had those paper tickets. Do they really not allow you to buy a single trip ticket anymore? So if I wanted to get on a bus or train for a quick journey into the CBD, what would I buy?
Surely there's an option to buy a single trip...

[Eurostar]

Metrocard should have a daily cap

When a friend of mine visited from overseas i found his best option for the week was two 3 daytrip visitor metrocards, maybe the gov should introduce a week visitor metrocard

[Norman]

They really should allow payment for single-trip journeys via eftpos at a standard metrocard ticket machine. This small convinience, which I'm sure wouldn't cost too much to retrofit, would see patronage increase by a bit.

I haven't used PT for a long time, the last time I did we still had those paper tickets. Do they really not allow you to buy a single trip ticket anymore? So if I wanted to get on a bus or train for a quick journey into the CBD, what would I buy?
Surely there's an option to buy a single trip...

Single trip tickets are still available, but cost almost double the Metrocard price.