matthewg wrote:
I'd love to know the justification for NOT increasing the transfer discount inline with the other fare increases. Less than a year into this version of the system, the value of the discount is already being eroded.
I was too lazy to write a letter to the minister's office at the time, mostly because I expected some sort of nonsical spin in reply.
My guess is the transfer rebate will continue to get eroded over time, taking the system back to treasuries preferred options of slugging everyone a flag-fall for every trip. We can only dream of a system that allows transfers between modes with out penality.
It was already eroded when it was announced what was going to be introduced, back in May. IPART said the transfer discount should be set at the lowest possible fare, which was in their proposal, $2 = lowest off peak train fare. So a transfer to a train WOULD have been free, if off peak, and you travelled under 10km. THAT sounds like a good deal - only a year later, for the same criteria, you pay 41c. Snort. And don't even get me started on peak hour.
I agree with Simon, the transfer discount is also horrendous for bus trips. It starts out at 12c for a short 3km trip, which is really short (eg, just for fun, North Sydney Station -> Town Hall Station on M20 is actually already over 3km), but then a 4km trip will blow that all the way out to $1.79. Or, you could take the train to Wynyard, L90 to Palm Beach and for travelling 44km, all you'll pay is $2.60, whereas someone, Central -> Leichardt will pay $1.79. It's broken and hideously unbalanced.
Thats the problem with IPART reports and recommendations. Because the Government will just choose and pick the bits that they like, leaving out others, even if those others were crucial to working with other things. I forgot IPART's report by now, but I would be quite annoyed if they said in there the transfer discount SHOULD increase in line with other fare increases - and quietly, they just (deliberately) ignored that.
I wonder if Andrew even read the rest of the report. Or was it just essentially, he saw what he wanted (Free Trips after 8 = bye!!!), according to a news reporter, he always wanted to see the end of that for a while coming, and then thats it. Oh and yea why not, lets also throw in what the news was talking about (transfer discount) just to offset some of the sting. Remember - nothing else was changed in September 2016, when a lot could have. Bus fare bands, Sunday Cap, more. Something a bit suspect/rushed here.