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

"One of the main causes of bus delays, both in the CBD and along the entry roads", Mr Miles said, "is the time wasted by people buying single tickets from the driver." "And they usually don't have their money ready anyway", he added.

"Customers who use prepaid TravelTens and TravelPasses should be rewarded with faster services", Mr Miles said.

Mr Miles was commenting on a new Route 297 PrePay-only bus service to start on Monday 16 April, operating through the new Lane Cove Tunnel. "It will be an Epping Road bus", he said, "express from Pittwater Road to the city, and express from the city to Blenheim Road. The route will operate in peak hours only, Monday to Friday." Mr Miles said that no tickets will be sold on the bus. "People without tickets will have to use the alternative route 286 buses", he said.

"Over the past year", Mr Miles said, "State Transit has done much to encourage use of prepaid tickets." He said that the most spectacular was the launch last October of the route 333 from Bondi Beach to the city, with dedicated bendy buses. "Other steps have been on a smaller scale", he said, "such as signing up more ticket agents, selling Pensioner Excursion Tickets (PETs) and single-ride tickets from agents, the off-bus ticket sales at bus stops at Neutral Bay and Druitt Street and the whole co-ordinated PrePay campaign, with its distinctive signage and colours."

Mr Miles said that passengers who pay cash now get a personal alert. "As well as showing the ticket price", Mr Miles said, "the ticket says what it would have cost with a TravelTen . For instance, a $1.60 ticket carries the message 'With a TravelTen this trip costs $1.28'"

Mr Miles said that the Ministry of Transport is putting the campaign at risk by asking for TravelTen discounts to be reduced to 15% from the current 20%. He said that the discount is necessary to encourage people to outlay the money in advance.

"Instead of trying to claw back a few cents", Mr Miles said, "the Ministry should be looking at extending the scheme to the private buses, where the current discount on multi-trip tickets is generally zero." "Despite the recommendations for fare equality in the Parry Report (December 2003) and the Unsworth Report (March 2004)", he said, "some bus passengers are obviously still more equal than others."

Mr Miles said that the PrePay campaign would be compatible with the proposed Tcard if it ever gets going. "The benefits of Tcard lie not with its electronic wizardry", Mr Miles said, "but with the number of people that use one." However, Mr Miles fears that, unless current discounts on multi-ride trips are maintained, the take-up rate would be small. "After six years or more", Mr Miles said, "customers still have no assurance that the Tcard will not charge them the full price for every single ride."

Mr Miles said that State Transit (and other operators) should set a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) for the percentage of prepaid fares to total boardings. "The current STA level is about 20-25%", Mr Miles said, "but could be much higher."

Contact:   Allan Miles   9516-1906