Action for Public Transport (N.S.W.) Inc.

A spokesman for APT, Allan Miles, said that it has asked the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) to reject the attempt by the Ministry of Transport (MoT) to reduce the discount on TravelTen bus tickets from 20% to 15%. Mr Miles said that discounts on ten-trip tickets in Brisbane, Adelaide and Tasmania are 20% or more, and Perth's MultiRider 40 tickets have a discount of 25% off the single fare.

Mr Miles said that a small rise in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is acceptable for all bus and ferry fares, including TravelTens, FerryTens and TravelPasses. "However, the current discounts should be kept by maintaining the relativity between the single and multi-ride fares," Mr Miles said. "Discounts on Green and Orange TravelTens are already below 20%," Mr Miles said, "and these should be adjusted."

"Rail fares will not increase," said Mr Miles, "because the former premier, Mr Carr, wisely put the lid on them last year."

Mr Miles said that a new, unified approach to the administration and marketing of all ferries on the harbour and Parramatta River is required. "There would be one network map, one web site, and one ticketing system," Mr Miles said. "The service provided to passengers would be seamless, regardless of the operator". Mr Miles said this would be similar to the new contracts being introduced Sydney-wide for buses. "Pleasure cruises would not be affected," he said.

"TravelPasses are a major concern," said Mr Miles. "The Ministry will not confirm that TravelPasses are part of their plan for the future. They raise all sorts of objections to the continuation of TravelPasses in their current form." Mr Miles said that TravelPasses give unlimited travel on government transport within specified zones, and are an extremely useful ticket for passengers. "Instead of saying that TravelPasses don't fit the new contract regime and legislation," Mr Miles said, "the Ministry should be looking at ways to transform the TravelPass so that it does suit the new era, and extend it into the private bus and ferry areas."

Mr Miles said that the new TransLink ticket covering all of South East Queensland has seen public transport patronage jump by 9.5% in the first twelve months. "Passengers don't have to worry about the details of their journey," he said. "They just buy one ticket, and away they go. Sydney is falling behind by failing to provide such a ticket."

More details can be seen in APT's several submissions on the IPART web site http://www.ipart.nsw.gov.au/ or the APT web site.

Contact:

(buses)	Allan Miles 9516-1906;
(ferries)	Graeme Taylor 9909-1260 (H), 9248-1235 (W).