Thursday, January 2, 2014

TransLink's 2014 Fares - The Awful Facts

Only a few days until another round of Faremaggedon forces even more public transport users back to driving. BrizCommuter has produced a slide, listing just a few of the reasons with what is wrong with TransLink's fares for Brisbane and SE Queensland.

The slide is public domain, so is free to spread the word. You can download (.png file), email, Facebook, Google+, Tweet, Reddit, hand out to others, or even send by pigeon (which might be faster than the route 522 bus). The message needs to get across that the extortionate public transport fare increases in SE Queensland just cannot continue!

Part 1 of BrizCommuter 2014 fare comparison takes a look at bus fares, daily fares, and weekly fare options:
http://brizcommuter.blogspot.com.au/2013/12/2014-world-fare-comparison-part-1.html
Part 2 of BrizCommuter 2014 fare comparison takes a look at bus fares, daily fares, and weekly fare options:
http://brizcommuter.blogspot.com.au/2013/12/2014-world-fare-comparison-part-2.html
Part 3 of the BrizCommuter 2014 fare comparison takes a look at public transport fares vs average income:
http://brizcommuter.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/2014-world-fare-comparison-part-3.html
A change.org petition to lower public transport fares:
https://www.change.org/en-AU/petitions/scott-emerson-minister-for-transport-and-main-roads-reduce-translink-fares

13 comments:

  1. So, just to check, as your blog name is on the bottom of it. Where do we not have permission not to put it up? I would not mind putting it up at a few train stations to see how long it lasts before being removed.

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  2. I would be very careful about placing the poster anywhere. If you do so, use common sense. Last year someone stuck a campaign poster in front of a safety message on a train, and not surprisingly QR were a bit annoyed.

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  3. Hope you don't mind, I just put it up on Facebook.

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  4. L Paff - that is not a problem, spread the word as much as you like!

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  5. I had no intention of putting it over safety signs :) that is silly and the person who did that deserves the serve they got.

    But I do remember seeing those SOS (save our service) signs on the buses. So have no problem going around in my travels and putting up a whole heap of these on bus stations, train stations etc. But not on the buses or trains themselves.

    Mainly in areas of high traffic and maximum effect :)

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  6. The Newman government must think we are all stupid by going on about cutting the cost of living by halving labour's fare rises. The fares are still going up!!!

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  7. The fare rise is a disgrace. I might as well just drive to work!

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  8. I realised one item is missing. A number and address to write to complain. Not translink haha.

    Add that information and distribution will begin.

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  9. Is Translink ripping off it's paper ticket customers by illegally overcharging? After the recent fare increases I noticed a notation on the paper ticket fares which stated "Paper ticket fares are rounded up to the next 10 cents"
    Isn't this illegal? With the abolition of 1 and 2 cent coins in the early 1990s the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission rules are that prices for cash purchases must be rounded to the nearest 5 cents i.e. transactions ending in 1, 2 6 and 7 are rounded down while transactions ending in 3,4,8 and 9 are rounded up.
    According to the ACCC, illegal rounding is a serious matter which can be investigated. Consumers have a right to lodge complaints against retailers if they feel they have not been dealt with fairly.
    If the ACCC find the practice of unnecessary rounding up in a particular business is endemic, the business may well find themselves in some hot water, and having to answer to the ACCC.
    Isn’t Translink subject to Commonwealth law? Perhaps they are just ignorant of the legislation or perhaps they just thought nobody would notice. It certainly isn’t within the spirit of the ACCC guidelines. With up to 9 cents per paper ticket being illegally charged they could be making hundreds of thousands of dollars per year from the practice if not millions.

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  10. Anonymous - so have you put a complaint into the ACCC?

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  11. Anon- Jan 17 2:33pm.

    I was all keen to see a complaint to the ACCC, anything to see Translink, the state Gov and QR nailed for anything in regards to public transport is fine by me, but then I went to the current fares: http://translink.com.au/tickets-and-fares/fares/current-fares

    Can you give some more information on what you are talking about in terms of the paper tickets? The prices for paper tickets seem separate to me, so I am a little confused, as in they have not been rounded.

    I am thinking that line of rounding might have 'just' been a throwback to the days when everything was paper tickets and so rounding was how things were done, unlike today when it is almost all go card with exact currency and value.

    I might just be showing that I have not used a paper ticket since go card has come in.

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  12. Still awaiting your permission BzC :) is it given? Yes or No?

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  13. I am taking Translink to task over buses arriving late and to add insult to injury repeatedly being charged Peak Rates instead of Off Peak. How many others catching a bus in off peak hours are unaware that they are being slugged?

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All comments are reviewed before being published, and it may take a few days for comments to appear. If comments do not add to the conversation, or are just plain stupid, they will not be published.