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

Private Buses Weekly Tickets Commence

posted Monday 6 October 2008

Starting 1st October 2008, most of the larger private bus companies in Sydney now issue weekly tickets. The 131500 web site says: "From today weekly bus tickets will start to become available on Sydney's private bus services in areas including Hurstville, Sutherland, Miranda, Liverpool, Bankstown, Parramatta, Penrith, Richmond, Blacktown, Bonnyrigg, Riverwood and Punchbowl. Initially, those companies selling the tickets will be Veolia, Westbus, Hillsbus, Busways, Forest Coaches and Punchbowl Buses, with others to follow progressively. Passengers will be able to purchase a seven day ticket from the bus driver that costs the equivalent of eight single tickets, similar to CityRail weekly tickets."

Although some companies had issued weekly or multi-trip tickets in the past, the practice had generally been abandoned in recent years. However, in its 2007 review of bus fares, the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal of NSW (IPART) said: "For a number of years now IPART has suggested that passengers on private metropolitan buses should have access to the same pre-paid multi-trip discount tickets as passengers of Sydney Buses. In its fare proposal, the Ministry of Transport noted that the Government's integrated ticketing project (T-Card) will enable these passengers to have access to discount and pre-paid tickets. However, in the light of recent reports of further delays in the introduction of the T-Card, IPART considers that the Ministry of Transport should again consider introducing interim measures to ensure that private bus passengers have access to these tickets."

In the months since that report, Action for Public Transport has followed up the progress of these interim tickets with the Ministry, and is pleased to report their introduction this week.

Characteristics of the ticket as stated on the brochure, include:

can be bought on any day of the week
can be used for seven consecutive days from date of issue and valid until midnight on the day of expiry
is valid for travel to and from the origin and destination for the bus route printed on the ticket
is purchased from the driver and presented at each boarding
is priced at a 20% discount compared with the cost of 10 single trips
available in adult and concession versions

Tickets are issued for the five different price bands - 1-2 sections, 3-5 sections, etc.

While the price of the ticket is based on the value of ten trips, it appears that the ticket can be used an unlimited number of times during the week, but only on the route and for the number of sections specified.

There is no mention of if or when the tickets might be sold at agencies.

APTNSW welcomes the introduction of these interim tickets, and is pleased to note that the impossible can be done when some prodding is applied. We look forward to further improvements towards a future when a passenger can use the one standard multi-trip ticket anywhere, without having to know who owns or runs the bus.

Action for Public Transport home page