Heard this on the radio this morning. Free public transport on Monday 3rd Nov following the repeal of the carbon tax. The free day of travel will be offered to further compensate passengers for the four month period between the carbon tax repeal on July 1 and the fare change on November 1.
Also, some fares will be reduced between 10 cents and 30 cents from Nov 1.
I'd like to add that people shouldn't sit in the priority seats just because they're fat and/or middle aged.
I sit in them if no-one else is sitting in them, but I get up if someone needs it.
It's just a waste of a seat otherwise.
That's fine, if you actually get up without being asked. 99% of people I see don't do it.
are you my cranky old grandma?
Oh, oh, oh. And I loooooooove when you board and look for your transperth card. Yes, keep looking! You know you will use it when you know you're hopping on the bus. Yes, take your time standing there because our time is not important. Oh, it's not in your wallet now, so you will rummage through your bag. Yes! Yes! Keep looking because our time is not important. What's that you found it, AT LAST! Congrats! Oh, oh, oh. You're not yet done, you are getting off the bus now but you're rummaging through your bag again, there at the door, when you know you're getting off. Yes, yes, our time is not important. FU!
You forgot to mention if you choose to stare at your smart phone or tablet dont sit on the sunny side of the bus and shine sunlight in my face.
to further compensate passengers
How ridiculous.
If it is to compensate passengers, they should be able to choose which day they travel for free.
People who don't work on Mondays will not receive any compensation.
People can and do use public transport for reasons other than the daily commute
other than the daily commute
you mean they pay to sit in stationary transport vehicles ?
regardless of whether they are going to work, or using transport for leisure, people should be able to use the free day, when they want to… they shouldn't be forced to use it on that day.
Too bloody hard to implement that's why - consider the ruckus (and cost) of getting the enter transperth userbase to select a free day of travel. How would they do it without implementing a whole other system (ie mods to the Smartrider website or an extra app on the phone) around it?
How would they know when you're first day of travel is if you don't have a Smartrider?
@jelko: If you don't have a Smartrider then it's unlikely that you've been impacted by the unfairly high fares since the removal of the carbon tax so you don't really deserve a free day's travel.
If it is to compensate passengers, they should be able to choose which day they travel for free.
Gift horse, mouth.
It'd be impossible to manage arbitrary free days, even people without a MultiRider will travel for free, and even then some :-) would whinge that there's a closing date.
It's not really a gift…
Prices of public transport went up, partly due to the carbon tax.
The Government couldn't/wouldn't lower prices upon repeal of the carbon tax… So they are 'compensating' rather than gifting.
I won't be working that Monday, so I miss out :(
whatever happened to good old bread and circuses?
So they are 'compensating' rather than gifting.
Sure, but they didn't have to, claiming the fare reduction was enough.
There were 4 months where a fare reduction SHOULD have been in place, but wasn't.
My understanding is the fare reduction from 1 November is to remove the 'carbon tax' aspect from 1 Nov onwards, not the 4 months it should have been removed.
and I was going to pull a sickie that day!
So now you can take a lazy day in Mandurah :-)
Shouldn't they reduce the cost between 20 cents and 60 cents from Nov 1 for 4 months…
How do you go from 1.5% carbon tax to 60 cents (9%)? The public transport cost increased only 10 cents per ticket. "The tax component increased most fares by about 10 cents." https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/25270266/tax-gone-from-t…
$2 parking still in place though for that day?
Garbage offer from the gov, "Also, a free day of travel will be offered on November 3 to compensate for fares already charged".
Reimburse my SmartRider, I'll probably be working out of town on that day and won't be able take advantage of the offer. Just another kick in the ballz from Col!
Waah, waah. So you're missing out on a few bucks. Big deal.
Its the principle that counts! The carbon tax was repealed months ago and 4 months later many people affected 'might' get a free day travel.
Quick to hike fares, slow to return them…
Another handout by the government. Save that money and invest it in the infrastructure rather than just giving it away. I'm sure it would amount to a decent sum over the whole day.
I just don't get it. The government collects taxes to spend on Transport, Education, Health etc but then just gives it back to select groups without using it on Transport, Education, Health and so on.
Sorry… rant over.
Thanks for the post though OP!
There would be outrage if the government decided to keep the money. People (politicians and talk back) on the radio (6PR) this morning were complaining that the amount given back by the free day of travel is only worth HALF of what was collected during the same time period.
..and people wonder why we hate politicians.
Yeah that's true. People wouldn't be happy about it.
There are so many complaints about this free day of travel that I don't think it is going feel like compensation to everyone. As it shouldn't. I just think that for lack of a better option, handouts are used as a quick fix.
At the very least, give people who used transport regularly during that period a free day.
Did they say the amount that the carbon tax collected was worth?
All that said… as an Ozbargainer I've gotta like the post.
Going to ride from end to end of each line just to make the most of it. Thanks OP.
Butler to Mandurah or Fremantle to Midland?
I would recommend North/South route, less scum along that way.
He did say "each" line.
that's the true ozb spirit.
I am just going to pack a lunch box and a drink bottle for the kids and wack them on the circle route.
4 1/2 hrs later they will be back!!
Thank god we got rid of Julia Gillard!
My public transport is already free, I love living in the Free Trasit Zone :-)
Sweet, bike on train to Mandurah, ride home
Public transport runs at a decent loss anyway, so it's not like a "profit" has been made.
Compensation is a bonus IMO.
It depends how you define a government utility running a 'loss'.
If the government built freeway lanes and additional road lanes to offset not having a train (around 60,000 boardings/ day on the Mandurah line alone), then the train would run a massive profit!
Yes more cost effective, not profitable though.
Simple answer - it costs more to run a public transport network than the revenue it generates. So fares are not reflective of the cost of the service; they're heavily subsidised anyway. My point was really, every day you are getting a bargain/discount anyway.
And I am not saying public transport should be profitable. It's a fantastic investment for government!
How does it run at a loss? The entire thing is tax payer funded to start with. You think they build train stations and lines from the fares they collect? That's just a bonus.
Ummm, I don't really get what you're saying. Taxes aren't profit. I'm saying money paid directly for the service (i.e fares) is less than money paid out to run the service. So yes, obviously it's subsidised by the government because it isn't self funding.
They'd never do this in Adelaide.
Sadly no Cockburn in SA to travel to :-(
Ding dong, the witch is dead!
I laughed, because you have so many downvotes for this irrelevant phrase!
Free public transperth?!
no offence..but does anyone really use public transport in WA? You could say almost 80% of ppl dont …sad reality due to incompetent government
I guess you haven't been on a train during peak hours - those things are running every few minutes and are full.
well don't that happen in every big city during peak hours anyway? Actually, I've been on train A LOT during uni times, and funny thing in WA is you need a car to take train anyway most of the time. Just look at our railway infrastructure compared to the east or other, it's embarrassing! Plus how many people really got train station near their suburbs..i could go on and on…but I'm sure most non-CBD working class in WA would agree ouR train system sucks big time!
Its a catch-22, the public transport system sucks because Perth is so spread (bigger in geographic size than LA) and yet far less population to pay for great public transport. Without good public transport we rely on cars and that enables us to live in far away suburbs and the cycle goes on.
With the gov's infill program I think things continue to get better, but a century of 1/4 acre blocks won't disappear overnight.
My fellow passengers please don't use your sound leaking earphones in the train, don't put your legs on the seat to occupy 3 seats, don't block the door please move along the passage, if you want to block the door please don't play with your iPhone there till not letting others to press the door button. 50 cent ticket suppose to stand though some of you may forget, and school kids you are not adult so stop throwing those rude words and share your sex life with other commuters. For my beloved transperth, I don't know where you get the statistic of how puncture and on time you are, indeed you really need to conduct a more comprehensive survey and perhaps taking larger sample size?