The Translink Ripoff
Today Translink will implement changes
to Brisbane bus services after protracted consultations and
redesigns. These changes come amid an unprecedented public transport
affordability crisis in South East Queensland. We anticipate there
will be a lot of angry bus users, who will be even angrier when they
are slugged with yet another 7.5% fare increase in January 2014.
Consultation with the people of
Brisbane around changes to bus services has been a minimal
afterthought. The Brisbane City Council provided a nine question
survey, virtually identical to the one used by Translink in their
limited consultation. Translink user satisfaction surveys are
designed to minimise criticism by skirting or ignoring the real
issues, namely, that public transport in SEQ is sub-standard and far
too expensive.
If bus service reforms are to be
effective they must involve genuine engagement with the people who
use them.
The people of Brisbane used their
democratic rights as ratepayers and citizens to reject the original
Translink reforms. They did this in a climate of plummeting
affordability. It was a last ditch effort to protect the little
service quality that could be relied upon from a public transport
system with profound problems that leave most users disillusioned.
We believe the public transport system
is in need of total reform if Brisbane is to become a truly
international city with affordable, reliable, fast and regular
service.
This Thursday, October 17 we will
celebrate our 2nd birthday as The Translink Ripoff. During the last
two years we have provided a responsive sounding board and a place
for righteous anger for disillusioned Brisbane public transport users
who feel they have nowhere else to go. It is the thoughtful
criticisms from public transport users and our willingness to listen
and respond that has seen our blog included in the Queensland
Government funded Pandora Archive. Our blog The Translink Ripoff is
regarded by the team at the State Library of Queensland as having
“lasting significance” and will continue to be archived.
Ends
Media contact:
Page Manager - The Translink Ripoff
Michael Swifte
0449 180 465
Links.
'Why the bus cuts fell to pieces' from
The Translink Ripoff blog
Pandora Web Archive – Translink
Ripoff
The Translink Ripoff – Facebook page
Creative Craft Activism by Donna from
Toussaint Trading
