Free goCard for people with a QLD address

[medhead]

People are only getting a discount with the card because Anna Blight jacked up Public Transport fares for paper tickets.

And, fares are set to keep rising over the next few years too... Of course because the excellent fares I mentioned above still exist, paper tickets are being withdrawn too.

In a few years, people will never realise just how cheap public transport once was.

Oh is Anna Bligh running the BCC now as well. I hadn't heard that she was elected mayor. Last time I checked the council determined the prices on it's buses. So I have no idea how Anna could have jacked up those prices.

You know what fares had already been rising over the last 20 years as well. Even under newman and sally-ann. They have a name for this it is called inflation.

As for the negatives listed of the go card. Aren't they really reasons why a regular commuter would buy a ticket designed for a regular commuter instead for a ticket that is obviously designed for a casual traveller? All of the weekly, monthly and annual tickets already give faster more efficient travel.

 

[Mal]

Last time I checked the council determined the prices on it's buses. So I have no idea how Anna could have jacked up those prices.

You know what fares had already been rising over the last 20 years as well. Even under newman and sally-ann. They have a name for this it is called inflation.

Aaah medhead, have a good read of the TransLink | integrated public transport for South East Queensland website, and note that the QLD Govt took over Public Transport fares, scheduling etc etc for South-East Queensland. BCC do nothing more than run bus services now.

Yep, prices have gone up quite a bit - and some of the better tickets removed - for example, the removal of "10-trip savers" that used to be available for buses, the removal of tertiary semester/yearly tickets. And Blight is pushing up fares significantly higher in the next 4 or so years:Here's the table. http://www.translink.com.au/fares2011_14.php You can't tell me those rises will match inflation...

As for the negatives listed of the go card. Aren't they really reasons why a regular commuter would buy a ticket designed for a regular commuter instead for a ticket that is obviously designed for a casual traveller? All of the weekly, monthly and annual tickets already give faster more efficient travel.

And they are being removed, forcing regular commuters onto the go Card...

 

[medhead]

I'll have to look when I have non work Internet those links aren't so good on iPhone

My point still stands however. The premier is not involved in setting public transport fares. Given the quality of public transport up there I can't see why there is anything to complain about. Of course I see have to look at the ticket price stuff

You also shouldn't feel special, that cough is happening everywhere. I have first hand knowledge of another state government instructing departments to put up fees etc by 10 to 20%, across the board and/or slash spending. A very puzzling situation as the spending was being cut and more money (beside the fee increases) was coming in but the government was still crying poor.

Edit: i read it now, having entered my logon to access the website what i see is
Translink is an authority. What is the structure? Statutroy authorities generally are fairly autonomous and hence I'm not sure how the premier has any control.
go card prices will be set at 2007 levels and in 5 years will be a small bit higher than current paper ticket prices.
More then ten trips a week gets a 50% discount
Loss of unlimited weekly travel is no biggie as very few people would do more than 10 trips a week and the price is still less than a weekly ticket doing 13 trips for zone 2 at least.
Students actually get a concession now. The yearly cards were only of limited use for those students rich enough to stump up hundreds of dollars at the start of the year. Now the concession is available to all students. When I was a post grad I had to pay full fare, under this system it's half price or less as I usually travelled off peak.

I also read you criticism as being a list of things the go card doesn't do. When really the criticism is that the fare structure removes those ticket options, which is a failure of the fare structure not the go card. Have you used the feedback system to voice these concerns?

As for comparison try Adelaide transport $4.60 to step on any bus regardless of journey length.

 

[Flashback]

People are only getting a discount with the card because Anna Blight jacked up Public Transport fares for paper tickets.

And, fares are set to keep rising over the next few years too... Of course because the excellent fares I mentioned above still exist, paper tickets are being withdrawn too.

In a few years, people will never realise just how cheap public transport once was.

This is the same with the Perth Smartrider. Depending on how you choose to top-up your card you can either get a good discount, or a better discount. The automated direct debit (for an amount that you can specify) gets the best discount.

Let's see. So what is wrong with the go Card vs a paper ticket?

• You can buy an off-peak (or peak) daily paper ticket, which if you travel on several services (over the course of the day) can save you money. There is no daily cap on goCard.
• You can buy weekly and monthly paper tickets, there is no equivalent on goCard.
• Some organisations have a scheme where staff can buy discounted yearly train passes and have the cost debited each pay period. This is not replicated on goCard.
• If a goCard reader is faulty you can be charged a penalty fare. It can be hard work getting it reversed (although TL have improved by adding a web option).

In short, there are some passengers who don't get value out of a Go Card based on their travel patterns.

Agree with this. In Perth, you can still work out better buying a paper "all day" ticket, depending on how many zones you want to travel and if you'll be doing a return trip all in the one day.

They've also limited the train stations in the FTZ (Free Transit Zone, basically you can jump on any bus/train within the FTZ and it won't cost you ; ANY bus, not just the CAT bus), that you must use a Smartrider, otherwise you need to buy a 50c ticket. Still, cheaper than Sydney where to go from Circular Quay to the next station is much, much more than 50c

 

[SeaWolf]

Agree with this. In Perth, you can still work out better buying a paper "all day" ticket, depending on how many zones you want to travel and if you'll be doing a return trip all in the one day.

Even then, the Perth SmartRider still works out better than the paper ticket. You just keep using SmartRider and once you hit the discounted cost of a DayRider (SmartRider discount off the paper cost) it caps at that price. No matter what you do the discounted DayRider is the most you'll ever pay on a SmartRider card, so it's always the cheapest option.

http://www.transperth.wa.gov.au/TicketsandFares/SmartRider/SmartRiderFaresandRules/tabid/103/Default.aspx
SmartRider will always calculate the lowest fare available to you.
For example, if your fare would normally exceed the cost of your discounted DayRider fare, SmartRider will automatically cap your fare at the DayRider rate provided you meet the DayRider time of travel requirements.

 

[Katie]

Thanks markis10! I got my free GoCard today.

 

[markis10]

Thanks markis10! I got my free GoCard today.

Got to say there is a lot of discussion about a free $10 , glad it helped someone .

 

[medhead]

Big thank you from me as well. The families cards turned up today as well. Just need to go to brisbane to use them.

 

[QF WP]

I got my card via a flyer in the local Northside News, logged on and got one for me, my wife and my parents. Gave the flyer to my brother who snagged one as well.

They turned up a couple of days ago and now we need to have a family outing on a RiverCat to use.