Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Fare petitions, empty road tunnels, and more TransLink incompetence

Last updated 05/10/2012 13:50pm.

This weeks blog post contains quite a few short blog items on a fare petition, another under-used road tunnel, and yet more TransLink incompetence.

Fare petition

Brisbane's well known public transport lobby group - Rail Back on Track, have release a petition for an improved public transport fare structure in SE Queensland. The petition is here:
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/fare-review-for-translink-south-east-queensland-now.html
As BrizCommuter has blogged on many an occasion, SE Queensland's fare structure needs a serious rethink. 5-10km fares are the 3rd highest in the world, bizarrely penalising those who live closer to work. The only "weekly" option - the 9 journey then free cap, is easily and legally abused by longer distance commuters. There are a lack of options for tourists, and lack of health card concessions as in other states. Quite frankly it's a mess, and the current LNP government will have quite a job of digging themselves out of the previous ALP government's hole.

Empty road tunnels (again)

Yet another Brisbane toll road tunnel failure is looming. It has been reported in this Courier Mail article that Airport Link averaged 74,567 vehicles per day, miles below the unrealistic expectation of 135,000 cars per day. With tolls being introduced in a few weeks, expect to see patronage to plummet. Interestingly, there are many rail systems that can carry more passengers (past one point) in one hour than Airport Link can currently manage in one day! Yet Brisbane's vital Cross River Rail is still lacking funding, with the latest cut price plans further minimising it's effectiveness.

More TransLink (and QR) incompetence

From the time of this blog post, there are just 2 working days left until the Ferny Grove Line's 15 minute off-peak service is introduced.

Are the new timetables available at Ferny Grove Line train stations?
No. (Update 05/10/2012 - with less than 1 working day to go, the paper timetables are still not available at some Ferny Grove Line stations!)

Are there any advertising posters at Ferny Grove Line trains stations?
No. (Update 04/10/2012 - an A4 size information poster was spotted this morning, but proper advertising is required)

Do TransLink have a dedicated web page?
No, the link from TransLink's home page only details service changes on other lines.

Whilst the journey planner and online timetables have been updated, it is very disappointing that yet again TransLink and QR are miserably failing at informing passengers about service changes.

2 comments:

  1. I did hear something over the speaker this morning travelling from Buranda to Central. However, the announcement was from the driver, and quite muffled. The only thing I got out of it was to check timetables to adjoining services.
    But since I just turn up at the station and hope for the best, I just assume that the frequencies won't be getting worse and will jump on the next train going my way.

    ReplyDelete
  2. So as of Monday 8th October, services will be better from 9am to 3pm off peak than after 3:30pm on the FG line. Hmm.

    And I can confirm that there is not one piece of information or timetabling informing the customers (remember we are not passengers anymore) at the FG train stations what the times of the 15 min services are.

    You have to refer to the translink website and go to the FG line link on the right side of the home page to see the new timetable.

    ReplyDelete

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