Qld 50c fares

The Labor Government has promised to keep the 50c public transport fares indefinitely if reelected, announced Sunday, while today, Monday, the LNP Opposition has decided to follow suit, a decision which goes against all their principles of spending a minimum on public transport and balancing the books no matter what. 

From the graph on the right, it is obvious that the Gold Coast trams have seen the biggest increase. In fact even before the fare cut a month ago, casual observations were that tram patronage, at least in the morning peak, was going up somewhat anyway. Also of note is that the mere 20km tram line is carrying 1/5th the passengers of the somewhat larger suburban train network. Bus patronage is as high as it is because much of Brisbane has no better transport mode. 

Neither party has committed to extending the tram to the airport and state border although the LNP says they will investigate ‘all options’, bound to be that existing buses are adequate. 

Richard