Bus fares going up up up

bikhet said :

Does this mean the public subsidy of ACTION is going down? Hahahahahahaha!

Suck it and make the buses free. We already pay $100M of their $120M cost. Yes, I know there’s an argument that people don’t value things they don’t pay for, but:

a) we pay for ACTION anyway, just indirectly; and

b) most people don’t seem to value Action anyway.

Agreed. Make it free.

Show us the environmental savings that the buses are making on a quarterly reporting basis too whilst you are at it (ie. number of car trips saved, co2 etc.) versus the fuel usage and emissions of buses; to justify the environmental impact.

And set up a park and ride system for schools for gods sake. You may find more people catching the bus if people left the car at school when dropping off the kids and could get an express bus to the interchange from there.

rigseismic67 said :

Incidentally it is one of the only government owned bus networks left in Australia, Hobart is another.

and Sydney
and Newcastle
and Brisbane
and Darwin

not forgetting that every other capital cities bus services are run under contract for the respective government. ACTION’s farebox recovery is 17% and Melbourne’s is 22% given the relative economies of scale I’m not sure that these are too far apart.

Sorry what was your point again?

Madam Cholet said :

In our neck of the woods a new park and ride has been established right outside of the Calwell Club. From what I can ascertain, just going on what I can see from my vantage point and the general lack of other patrons keeping me company at the closest bus stop, the main users of this new area are….wait for it…yes, you guessed it, the patrons of the Calwell Club – on a Friday and Saturday night.

Ahhh yes.

That would seem to be the great extension to the Calwell Club car parking funded by the tax payer. The Calwell club must love that.

Taxpayer subsidy of ACTION is now over $100,000,000 pa, that’s 100 million dollars. Canberra has a population of around 360,000.
So ACTION is costing every one of us $27.77 per year.
Money well spent? Personally I would like my $27.77 returned to me.
Incidentally it is one of the only government owned bus networks left in Australia, Hobart is another.

In Melbourne, the one tram that’s free is the one on a loop around the edge of the CBD. Ostensibly this is to help tourists get around but it’s also handy for students and small business hanging out on the North fringes of the Hoddle Grid who need to get to the financial district or top end lawyers on short notice (or for shopping trips if your investors actually give you enough cash to pay yourself a wage above the poverty line).

If you were to make one Canberra bus service free that could clear up congestion and make a big difference, what would it be? I’m thinking the single digit services are pretty important because inner suburbs dwellers know that driving into the city is a hassle and the pressure to produce the right change or an up to date card might be all a young doofus professional needs to say “dammit I’ll just drive.” I know because I’ve been that useless yuppie. I liked the bus to chill out and read a book but it was hard to get in the habit.

Great! More money wasted on a two-bit operation that couldn’t organise themselves if their lives depended on it.
In regards to these ‘new bus shelters’. Who’s idea was it to make them out of glass? Sure they look great for the first few days, until the increasing degenerate society among us decide its funny to smash them. The stop near my place has been smashed at least 4-5 times in about 8 months its been there. Now I know where Canberra’s increased bus fares are going. Thanks!

Are they only increasing prices where there are increased services/ new free shelters/ decimated bus lanes?

We have none of those and get a shifty reduction in service. The cut in services in Kambah pushes the bus travel time out to 2 hours, each way.

I take this is going to be a regular increase in fares, everyone else has to pay for Gungahlin’s magical gold railway.

I wonder why no one wants to move their business to Canberra surely the benefits of free buses would recoup the 10million.

Watch the parking go up now too.

When’s the next election?

I think it’s a tough balancing act for them.
They lose money on ACTION, but would like to lose less.
Meanwhile, they make a lot more $$ from pay parking. So, the balance is to keep the car parks full, while trying to minimise the loss on the buses.
If they make buses actually useful for too many people, they might lose parking revenue! 🙂

bikhet said :

Does this mean the public subsidy of ACTION is going down? Hahahahahahaha!

Suck it and make the buses free. We already pay $100M of their $120M cost. Yes, I know there’s an argument that people don’t value things they don’t pay for, but:

a) we pay for ACTION anyway, just indirectly; and

b) most people don’t seem to value Action anyway.

I agree with this. If those number are accurate, ditch the fares completely and make the buses free.

Before the price increase in February, I was paying $63 per month. After this next increase, I’ll be paying $86 per month. That is a 27% increase in 11 months. Still paying significantly less than other cities but still a massive jump.

To be fair to ACTION, services have improved immensely for me. If we had a decent weekend service, I wouldn’t complain about a fare increase one bit.

I suppose we have to pay for our white elephant light rail somehow.

Does this mean the public subsidy of ACTION is going down? Hahahahahahaha!

Suck it and make the buses free. We already pay $100M of their $120M cost. Yes, I know there’s an argument that people don’t value things they don’t pay for, but:

a) we pay for ACTION anyway, just indirectly; and

b) most people don’t seem to value Action anyway.

Reprobate said :

Loving the “social equity” of Mayor Rattenbury’s government, where party goers who choose to go out to clubs and pubs in the City at night get free bus rides but workers, students and others who need to use public transport to earn or learn cop two price hikes in a year.
,

I’m going to take a guess & say those party goers are also, workers, students & others…

I think we’d all much rather free buses than drink drivers.

Hmmm. And this is on the back also of a two week go slow because according to Action, no one needs to get to work because we are all on holiday.

In our neck of the woods a new park and ride has been established right outside of the Calwell Club. From what I can ascertain, just going on what I can see from my vantage point and the general lack of other patrons keeping me company at the closest bus stop, the main users of this new area are….wait for it…yes, you guessed it, the patrons of the Calwell Club – on a Friday and Saturday night.

Smackbang said :

“The fare increase reflects continuing improvements to ACTION’s service, including new bus shelters…”

The new bus shelters are being constructed under the contract with Adshel, in which (by my understanding) the cost of the new shelters is borne by Adshel. In return Adshel gets the revenue from the advertising that now features in our bus shelters.

So can anyone explain what the fare increase has to do with new bus shelters?

Not all of the new shelters are Adhsel. Many older ones have been improved to make it easier for mobility impaired users to get to the bus. I’ve seen some of the older concrete shelters relocated to bus stops that used to have nothing.

Maybe ACTION are trying to make up the deficit from the free Nightrider buses.

“The fare increase reflects continuing improvements to ACTION’s service, including new bus shelters…”

The new bus shelters are being constructed under the contract with Adshel, in which (by my understanding) the cost of the new shelters is borne by Adshel. In return Adshel gets the revenue from the advertising that now features in our bus shelters.

So can anyone explain what the fare increase has to do with new bus shelters?

“From 4 January 2014, ACTION bus fares will increase by 7.5 percent. This is just the second time fares have increased since July 2010,” Mr Rattenbury said.

…and the second rise in under 12 months, with the last 5% increase applied from February 2013.

Loving the “social equity” of Mayor Rattenbury’s government, where party goers who choose to go out to clubs and pubs in the City at night get free bus rides but workers, students and others who need to use public transport to earn or learn cop two price hikes in a year.

“The fare increase reflects continuing improvements to ACTION’s service, including new bus shelters, upgraded bus stops to comply with disability standards…” Blame the crips, nice!
,

The 7.5% is a bit of a hike, but works out about an extra $1.90 a week for a work day commuter.

Did they factor the increase into this article ??

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/canberrans-urged-to-save-money-by-catching-public-transport-rather-than-drive-to-work-20131211-2z6qn.html

Great so now I’m expected to pay more for a worse service. The new plans for the Kambah to Civic peak commute are pathetic. It already takes nearly 50 minutes when I catch one bus now how long is it going to take when I have to take 2 buses?

Conveniently timed around this… http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/no-more-free-parking-for-canberra-public-servants-20131215-2zfgn.html

Way to make an opportunity out of it Shane.