PRE-PAID TRIAL A SUCCESS
Published Wednesday, 31 October, 2007 at 01:00 PM
Minister for Transport, Trade, Employment and Industrial Relations
The Honourable John Mickel
TransLink's pre-paid ticket trial at the Cultural Centre Busway Station has been declared a success with significant improvements in passenger boarding and bus flows at the station.
Minister for Transport, Trade, Employment and Industrial Relations John Mickel said the data was still being collated, but it was clear that the amount of time buses spent waiting at the station had been dramatically reduced.
"We're still waiting for the final figures, but it appears the trial has been a great success," he said.
"Buses were able to move through the station very quickly which meant there was only very limited queuing onto the Victoria Bridge.
"In fact, bus movements through the Cultural Centre Station were so efficient during the trial we found some additional queuing was occurring at stations further along the busway.
"Feedback from passengers has also been very positive with reports that pre-paid ticketing and better coordination made catching a bus at the Cultural Centre much easier."
Minister Mickel said TransLink would wait until all the data from the trial was compiled before making any recommendations about whether pre-paid busway stations should be implemented permanently.
"Clearly the anecdotal evidence has been very positive, but we will wait to see the actual results from the data before we decide whether or not to make the Cultural Centre Busway Station pre-paid only on a permanent basis," he said.
"If the data does support the introduction of a pre-paid environment at Cultural Centre there is the possibility that ticket sellers could also be introduced at other major busway stations."
The pre-paid trial was originally scheduled to run for two weeks from 15 October 2007 to 26 October 2007, however it has been extended to also include Monday's afternoon peak.
Ticket sellers were in place from 3.30pm to 6.30pm on the overpass leading in to the outbound platform.
During the trial the normal process of drivers pulling up to the front of the platform was replaced with allocated stops. Marshals were on duty to ensure buses pulled up at the correct stop.
A staff member announced the arrival of each bus over a public address system.
Media contact: Chris Brown (07) 3237 1944 or Elouise Campion (07) 3237 1125.
October 31, 2007
Minister for Transport, Trade, Employment and Industrial Relations John Mickel said the data was still being collated, but it was clear that the amount of time buses spent waiting at the station had been dramatically reduced.
"We're still waiting for the final figures, but it appears the trial has been a great success," he said.
"Buses were able to move through the station very quickly which meant there was only very limited queuing onto the Victoria Bridge.
"In fact, bus movements through the Cultural Centre Station were so efficient during the trial we found some additional queuing was occurring at stations further along the busway.
"Feedback from passengers has also been very positive with reports that pre-paid ticketing and better coordination made catching a bus at the Cultural Centre much easier."
Minister Mickel said TransLink would wait until all the data from the trial was compiled before making any recommendations about whether pre-paid busway stations should be implemented permanently.
"Clearly the anecdotal evidence has been very positive, but we will wait to see the actual results from the data before we decide whether or not to make the Cultural Centre Busway Station pre-paid only on a permanent basis," he said.
"If the data does support the introduction of a pre-paid environment at Cultural Centre there is the possibility that ticket sellers could also be introduced at other major busway stations."
The pre-paid trial was originally scheduled to run for two weeks from 15 October 2007 to 26 October 2007, however it has been extended to also include Monday's afternoon peak.
Ticket sellers were in place from 3.30pm to 6.30pm on the overpass leading in to the outbound platform.
During the trial the normal process of drivers pulling up to the front of the platform was replaced with allocated stops. Marshals were on duty to ensure buses pulled up at the correct stop.
A staff member announced the arrival of each bus over a public address system.
Media contact: Chris Brown (07) 3237 1944 or Elouise Campion (07) 3237 1125.
October 31, 2007