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

Bus users' concerns about proposals to slash discounts on TravelTen tickets have been supported by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART), according to the consumer group, Action for Public Transport.

A spokesman for APT, Allan Miles, said that in submissions to the recent IPART hearings, the Ministry of Transport wanted to reduce discounts on TravelTens to a standard 15% over two years. Current discounts range from 13% to 30%, Mr Miles said.

"APT and other groups argued that a 15% discount was far too low," Mr Miles said. "There is no evidence to say it is reasonable, as claimed by the Ministry, or in line with other cities."

The official report released today says that IPART "has not been persuaded by the Ministry's argument that the discount on all TravelTen tickets should be standardised at 15 percent within two years. The Tribunal requests the Ministry to consider this issue further before next year's fare determination."

The report says, "Taking all this information into account, the Tribunal considers that a 15 per cent discount is neither representative of interstate practice nor consistent with public perceptions."

In fact, Mr Miles said, the figures quoted by the Ministry from other cities to support its case were very selective.

Regarding interstate fares, the IPART report says, "The four capital cities not mentioned in the Unsworth Report have discounts of 20 per cent or more on their 10-trip tickets."

The TravelTen increases from 4th January 2005 will reduce discounts to around 20%, the minimum acceptable level, according to Mr Miles. "The Ministry wants to further cut discounts to 15% in 2006," Mr Miles said, "But that will be vigorously opposed."

There will be no increases in TravelPasses in 2005. DayTripper remains at $15, and BusTripper, if you can find one, remains at $10.90.

Mr Miles urged regular bus users to stock up on TravelTens at the current price. "Tickets can be used at any time in the future," he said, "so stock up now and get the current higher discounts."

Contact: Allan Miles 9516-1906