9 September 2024

Labor hopes fare-free Fridays are just the ticket to get more Canberrans on public transport

| James Coleman
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Bus at bus stop

To pay or not to pay? Photo: Michelle Kroll.

ACT Labor is promising to save Canberrans “hundreds of dollars on their travel costs” if re-elected next month with a fare-free Friday across all light-rail and bus services.

Under the plan, there’ll be no need to tap on and off buses with your MyWay or debit card between 5:30 am and 11 pm every Friday, and light rail between 6 am and 1 am on Friday and into Saturday morning.

Transport Minister Chris Steel said the move would be important cost of living relief for commuters but also an encouragement for Canberrans to use public transport and become familiar with the new MyWay+ ticketing system.

It would initially be a 12-month trial starting from the end of the six-week fare-free period in November, but Labor says over that time, it would save a family of two adults and two children about $1000.

Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the trial would cost a little under $6 million spread across two financial years.

Mr Barr said Friday was chosen because it was also a day people undertook recreation activities.

“So this will assist people to get to and from work if you’re working, and if you’re having a night out in one of our town centres or in the city.”

It would also help casual workers in retail for late night shopping and in hospitality.

Mr Steel said MyWay+ would be able to track patronage and provide important data that could guide other public transport incentives.

“This trial is going to be really useful to look at ways that we can incentivise people to use public transport in the future, and then we can look at how we build in those incentives over the long term,” Mr Steel said.

Mr Steel said public transport patronage was back to where it was pre-pandemic but more people were working from home and the pattern of travel was different.

“And so in certain days of the week we see less patronage on public transport,” he said.

“It tends to bump up during the middle of the week, and part of this initiative is looking at if there is a way of actually incentivising people to come back into the city onto public transport on certain days of the week.”

Mr Steel said if patronage rose on Fridays, that would mean looking at what other incentives could be provided.

“That’s not just to say that it could be provided just on Monday, but other tweaks to pricing that might see an incentive for particular users or at particular times of day,” he said.

Property Council ACT Executive Director Ashlee Berry said the move would boost property sector and broader business community hopes of bringing the CBD back to life and called on other parties to back the pledge.

“We asked for free or subsidised transport and parking on Mondays and Fridays to bring vibrancy back to the CBD and business hubs, and this is a fantastic first step – free public transport Fridays will help revitalise business hubs across Canberra,” Ms Berry said.

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The Canberra Liberals have promised to a establish “free travel zone” in the city, and fares would be capped at $25 a week for adults for an estimated saving of between $5.50 and $19.70 a week for a regular commuter.

The ACT Greens have pledged that everyone under the age of 18, seniors and concession card holders will ride free across the public transport system in they formed government.

But Mr Steel said Labor’s policy would mean free public transport on Fridays for all users at all times of the day.

The current MyWay system upgrades to MyWay+ from 20 September, and there’ll be a fare-free period for all bus and light-rail services through to November as it makes the switch.

Under the new system, passengers can either tap on and off with a new MyWay+ card or a standard bank card. The same 90-minute transfer period will remain either way.

Canberrans are urged to register their current MyWay card online to avoid losing any existing balance.

The ACT election will be held on 19 October, with postal voting opening on 30 September and early voting on 8 October.

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Leon Arundell2:42 pm 16 Sep 24

This “free” public transport will be paid for by Canberra’s ratepayers and their tenants. Its main beneficiaries will be (A) organisations that have chosen to locate in the CBD and the Parliamentary Triangle, rather than closer to their employees and their clients, and (B) people who have chosen to live beyond cycling distance of where they work or study.

Leon Arundell2:36 pm 16 Sep 24

Any party will commit $billions to walking and cycling infrastructure, and $20 million per year towards bicycle operating costs, if it cares as much about pollution and health as it does about public transport. Walking & cycling provide healthy exercise & cause no pollution. Travel on the ACT’s public transport causes as much emissions as equivalent car travel. We walk 2/5 as far as we travel by public transport, and we cycle a quarter as far. The government has committed $2 billion to public transport infrastructure between Gungahlin and Commonwealth Park, and expects to spend another $billion between there and Woden. It subsidises public transport operating costs by $80 million per year.

Free public transport helps people who already have good access to public transport.

Chris Steel should be using his funds to improve buses in the routes and locations where his government made bus travel much worse in a few years ago.

That’s what will make public transport in Canberra better. Not short term election stunts.

In 90-95% of cases, Canberra’s public transport is a pathetic waste of time. Instead of wasting money on public transport, improving the current transport infrastructure is better. For example, underground passages for pedestrians should be built on the main roads.

If someone did the numbers based on making all buses free, and halted any further spending on the 19th century tech train, how many years could the buses run for free before incurring the same expenditure?
What are ticket revenues annually in comparison to train capital expenditure?
How much would it cost to transition buses to electric?

Labor desperate to do anything for votes.
Next they will come out saying you don’t have to pay your rates in October if you vote for us.
Labor care nothing for the record levels of debt they have created, at this pace the ACT will be complelty broke by 2030, and will be begging the federal government to bail us out.
We are nothing but a large cou try town that wants to play government.

Marco Prevost8:29 pm 09 Sep 24

Reckless, costly, gimmick politics. Can’t we just stick to the real issues?

GrumpyGrandpa7:49 pm 09 Sep 24

What a pathetic attempt to grab some votes.

Free public transport on Fridays, but the government can only provide limited services on the weekend!

FREE public transport would be first cab off the rank for a government which believed what scientists are telling us about the coming climate crisis, and who knew the facts on the effects of cars, even those which produce no CO2 in actual use – building roads, cars and electricity infrastructure releases plenty

A pathetic gimmick presumably to appease the Property Council. The cost of public transport for the user is not just the fare, but also their time. The most effective way to increase patronage is to improve frequencies across the network to reduce the time cost involved.

Incidental Tourist11:59 am 09 Sep 24

Ya-hoo! Free stuff ! Right..? And who will pay for free rides? (YOU pay double through your rates)

If they want to get people on public transport have they thought of providing an efficient public transport system? When it takes over an hour to get to my home in Gungahlin to the Canberra Centre or I could spend 20 mins or less in my car you know something is wrong. They could pay me and I still wouldn’t use it the system is that bad.

It’s not the cost. It’s the other clientele, and complete inconvenience.

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