Fairer Fares leading to jump in patronage

Public transport patronage in South East Queensland is on the rise thanks the Palaszczuk Government’s investment in transport infrastructure and the introduction of Fairer Fares.

Transport Minister Mark Bailey said more than 182 million trips were taken across South East Queensland’s public transport network last financial year.

“Since the introduction of this government’s Fairer Fares in late 2016, which lowered the average adult fare by about 13.5 per cent compared to January 2014 fares, we have seen a steady rise in public transport use, leading to the increases we saw last financial year,” Minister Bailey said.

“Fairer Fares has not only got more people to give public transport a go, it has saved everyday families more than $104 million.

“These patronage figures are even more encouraging when you take into account the free public transport provided for major events, including the Commonwealth Games, other sporting events and concerts, which are not captured in these figures.

“With the Australian Automobile Association report today into the cost of commuting in Brisbane, the positive impact of our Fairer Fares and the Palaszczuk Government’s record investment in roads and transport infrastructure cannot not be understated.

“Our number one infrastructure project Cross River Rail will revolutionise how Queenslanders travel in the South East by reducing commute times, unclogging the bottleneck on our rail network, and attracting even more people to jump on public transport and leave their cars at home.

Overall, there were an extra 5.41 million trips compared with 2016-17, with all modes showing an increase.

Minister Bailey said the government has introduced other measures to encourage public transport use such as a number of concession and discount schemes for asylum seekers, job seekers and veterans’ concessions as well as frequent travel incentives and off-peak discounts.

“Future projects including the recently announced new ticketing system, with more payment options, will also make public transport more convenient and easier to use.”

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Media: Dom Geiger 0447 355 565