Fare and Zone Comparison Table: April 2016

Following from the increase in transfers on Sydney's Opal Card system which was being exploited by Opal Runners doing something very similar to the 'notching up' we were seeing here a few years back. Opal Card  transfers have increased from 3 to 7. A few more transfers would give some SEQ commuters blessed relief, but Translink (under LNP and ALP) wont hear of any changes to number of transfers or transfer window length.

Here is our updated fare and zone comparison table.

Translink Facebook page launch a total failure.

On or around the 26th of February 2014 the Translink Facebook page went live. Information about the Facebook page launch was unavailable until the 4th of March when the Department of Transport and Main Roads issued this statement. 

At the time of writing no other announcement or promotion of the Facebook page has been issued. The minister Scott Emerson has made no statement through his website or on Twitter, the Translink website has no media releases and contains no mention or links to the Facebook page, and the Twitter handle @translinkseq has made no mention of the Facebook page.

On March the 6th this article appeared in The Courier Mail (online) titled "TransLink launches Facebook page and probably regrets it already". In it seasoned reporter Robyn Ironside outlines the wave of complaints and disparaging statements that followed the discovery of the page by residents of South East Queensland. These complaints have continued to pour in and a series of accusations of political bias and censorship have been received. We were active on the Translink page during this time and were subsequently banned from the page due to the repetitive nature of our posting. We also garnered more than 100 new followers. While we were one of the prominent posters of disparaging remarks Robyn Ironside and her editors were careful not to mention us or our name.

The vast majority of posts to the Translink Facebook page are from unhappy customers. Many have been very unsatisfied with the response of the page moderators to their complaints. One of the most poignant criticisms is that Translink's approach to community engagement through social media is typical of their style of engagement overall. Translink Facebook page moderators have been accused of being disingenuous gatekeepers with no real concern for attending to needs of customers.

To sum it up. No promotion and the absolute bare minimum of notice given to the public who actually use the services offered. One media story that highlights the extreme levels of public anger and frustration at Translink.

Oh the shame of it!

How embarrassing for South East Queensland that we have the dubious honour of being the most expensive city in the developed world for catching public transport. The January 6 fare hike has well and truly established this fact.

How strange that Lonely Planet should award Brisbane their 'hippest city in Australia' award when the public transport is not only extremely expensive, but confusing and infrequent.

Here is our table of shame for January 2014. It shows just how badly Translink compares to the other state capitals. Feel free to print it out and put it on the work fridge or notice board.

MEDIA RELEASE: Bus service cuts and the public transport affordability crisis, Brisbane

October 14, 2013

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

mgswifte@yahoo.com.au

Links.

'Why the bus cuts fell to pieces' from The Translink Ripoff blog

http://ttripoff.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/why-bus-cuts-fell-to-pieces.html

Pandora Web Archive – Translink Ripoff

http://nla.gov.au/nla.arc-142752

The Translink Ripoff – Facebook page

http://www.facebook.com/TTRipoff

Creative Craft Activism by Donna from Toussaint Trading

http://youtu.be/a3YmE9UL0b4

What happens when transit authorities lose the plot?

Yesterday Translink brought in the fourth consecutive annual fare rise. The fare rise which makes an overall 72.5% rise in fares since 2008 has been advertised as half the rise that was scheduled by the previous government - this is irrelevant and ludicrous.

Other state premiers have had to fight for even a 2% rise while here we are expected to accept the assertion that a fare rise will make catching public transport more affordable?

Below is the latest update of our ever popular national comparison table. All fares listed are for peak times.

National comparison table

We prepared this table using info gathered from the transit websites for each city. Feel free to print it out.

Notching up with the 9 journey cap

The current government said they were going to do something about cost of living. They've said they would do something to make public transport more affordable. Tomorrow they deliver the one thing that will make fares lower until the next fare rise in 6 months time. Changing the 10 journey cap to a 9 journey cap is a tiny tweak to an existing fare saving opportunity that is targeted at those who commute to work full time.

So make the most of this tiny tweak. It's now even cheaper to notch up your go-card. 

Here's how our notching up service works. 

• I provide the service to people who work in or around the Brisbane CBD on Monday mornings so as to optimize the benefits for the rest of the week. Ideally you will have notched one journey getting to work. 
• You need to provide me with an unregistered go-card as this protects both of us from infringement of Translink rules as anyone can be the bearer of an unregistered go-card.
• I charge $1 per notch and the go-card needs to be charged with enough credit to cover the cost of 8-1 zone (off peak) journeys $19.52 or the cost of 9-1 zone (off peak) journeys $21.96 if you have not notched up a journey that morning.
• Text me your workplace address or a meeting place, I'll meet you around 9am, grab your go-card and $8 or $9, and return it before you finish work. 

The cost of each journey will be $3.44 which is a significant saving! I am eager to get as many go-cards as I can as I have a new strategy that will allow me to notch up go-cards in bulk. This may interest your co-workers?

Michael Swifte

0449 180 465

Ladies and gentlemen, The REAL Zone 1. We rode the boundaries of Zone 1 on our push bikes in order to plot out it's true shape (a bunyip?). Please take the time to observe that it is in no way circular as indicated on the Translink maps. We have discovered that the shifting of zones has occurred all over the Brisbane Metro area. It would be very interesting to see a true map of all zones.

Top 3 Go Card loopholes

We have been interrogating the Go Card system and have found it to be incredibly complex. We put this complexity down to attempting to integrate the ancient no-returns rule that has existed on Brisbane Transport buses since they begun 46 years ago. It is also a product of the enormous size of the Translink network and the need to accommodate very long and short trips under the same system of transfer rules.

After speaking with a wide range of Translink users we have discovered some of the loopholes that are being exploited by ordinary people trying to make public transport more affordable. They involve choosing when and where it is better to ignore the advice from Translink on when touch on or touch off at un-gated train stations, and how the no-returns rule is not enforced through the Go Card system. These loopholes are not being policed by Translink in any way and it is next to impossible to be caught using them.

1. The return journey to the shops
   Bus drivers and QR ticket inspectors are instructed to enforce the ancient no-returns rules on paper tickets but the Go Card system does not recognise a return journey. This is great news for those on a budget who have only one bus route in their area. If you are able to touch on for your return trip within an hour of touching off you can affect a return journey. If you follow the instructions on the Translink website you would be charged twice. If you had a paper ticket you may be asked to buy another ticket.
   
   
2. The half day journey (this loophole has been closed)
   Every time you touch off with your Go Card the clock starts ticking and after an hour your journey will expire. The Translink website specifies that all journeys on the Go Card are to be one way but allows up to 6 hours from when you first touch on to complete your journey . Because the Go Card system does not police return journeys, by using the train you can make a return journey of up to 6 hours simply by touching on again before leaving the station after your first trip (does not apply at gated stations). Under the Go Card transfer rules you must touch on for your last trip within 3.5 hours of first touching on, so if your first trip has taken 30 minutes, simply touch back on, leave the station and return in time to touch off at your final destination before the 6 hours has expired.
   
   
3. The trip stretch
   This is similar to the half day journey except it involves delaying touching off at non-gated stations. If you have an appointment that will last more than an hour, then by simply not touching off when you exit the station and then touching off when you return to the station you can delay the start of the 1 hour transfer window. After you have touched off you then touch on for your return trip. The Go Card system thinks your first trip has been longer than it actually was and you save yourself from being charged twice. 
   
   
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New government, same Translink! So we're ramping up our notching up service!

The LNP is in! They made the least promises and who knows if they're going to keep any of them. Translink is still shabby and unaffordable. So we're ramping up our notching up service. It's the same idea that we launched our campaign with back in January, except we've got some new strategies to notch up in bulk!   

Here's how our notching up service works. 

• I provide the service to people who work in or around the Brisbane CBD on Monday mornings so as to optimize the benefits for the rest of the week. Ideally you will have notched one journey getting to work. 
• You need to provide me with an unregistered go-card as this protects both of us from infringement of Translink rules as anyone can be the bearer of an unregistered go-card.
• I charge $1 per notch and the go-card needs to be charged with enough credit to cover the cost of 9-1 zone (off peak) journeys $21.96 or the cost of 10-1 zone (off peak) journeys $24.40 if you have not notched up a journey that morning.
• Text me your workplace address or a meeting place, I'll meet you around 9am, grab your go-card and $9 or $10, and return it before you finish work. 

The cost of each journey will be $3.44 which is a significant saving! I am eager to get as many go-cards as I can as I have a new strategy that will allow me to notch up go-cards in bulk. This may interest your co-workers?

Michael Swifte

0414 215 288

Table of Shame.

This table uses information freely available on transit authority websites for each city.    

TABLE 1: Comparison of public transport fares, zones, and ticketing in Australian cities

	Brisbane	Melbourne	Sydney	Adelaide	Perth
Zone 1 Single trip	$3.90 ($2.65 with Go Card)	$3.80 (valid for 2 hrs of use)	$3.20	$2.80	$2.60
Radius of Zone 1 from GPO	2.5km	10km	10km	N/A	8km
Concession fares for health care card holders	NO	YES	YES	YES	YES
Availability of return ticket	NO	YES	YES	YES	YES
Availability of daily ticket	NO	YES	YES	YES	YES
Availability of weekly ticket	NO	YES	YES	NO	YES