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

Allan Miles, secretary of Action for Public Transport, said that hidden in the "average 4.7% rise" are some single, weekly and TravelPass tickets that will increase by as much as 7 and 8 per cent.

Mr Miles said that people may be surprised by the rail fare increases. "There has been no discussion about them during the year," he said, "because a four-year pricing path was set in December 2008".

Mr Miles said that an announcement on bus fare rises is expected within a few days. "It is fortunate that ferry fares have stood still while the Government dithers with the sale or no-sale question," he said, "otherwise the TravelPass rises would have been worse."

Mr Miles said that IPART is more concerned with whether its actions will drive away existing passengers rather than finding a price structure that will attract new ones.

"The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) has stuck doggedly to its cost accountant's approach," Mr Miles said, "and has ignored or over-ruled calls for a broader approach to pricing public transport."

This point was made by Mr Les Wielinga, Director-General of NSW Transport and Infrastructure, in a recent submission to the IPART Bus Fares review. He said, "Fares policy must achieve a sustainable outcome that balances appropriate cost recovery with the impact on commuters and the desire to make public transport an attractive alternative to private vehicle."

Mr Miles said that while IPART rigidly segregates the finances for buses, trains and ferries, Sydney remains chained to a nineteenth century fares system. "Most comparable cities in Australia and overseas enjoy a twenty-first century system," Mr Miles said, "and have done so for some years."

"Of course, the separate operators must supervise their own finances," Mr Miles said, "but their ledgers must not be the foundations for setting fares. The public transport system must be seen as a whole."

"From 1st January 2010," Mr Miles said, "Sydney will be the only capital in Australia where you can still buy a train ticket for suburban travel. Everywhere else," he said, "passengers just buy a zone ticket for use on any tram, train, bus or ferry."

Mr Miles said that a simple zone or time based fare system is essential for the success of a smartcard system. "Separate distance-based fare scales for bus, rail and ferry travel will stymie the second attempt at a smartcard as they did the first," he said.

Mr Miles said that the above-average increases in TravelPasses result from IPART's flawed attempt to calculate a value for every Joe and Zoe Commuter's travel patterns. "A few train trips here, "he said, "a few bus rides there, and a little bit of ferry thrown in for good measure. Add it all up and presto, that's the ticket price."

Mr Miles said that users of weekly TravelPasses can still make savings by stocking up now. "The price of these tickets does not increase until 3rd January," he said, "but undated tickets bought now can be used at any time in the future".

Contact:	Allan Miles	9516-1906
	Kevin Eadie	9819-6052

Approved Increases:

TRAVELPASSES (weekly - various combinations of bus/train/ferry)

Blue	$34.00 to $35.00 (3.0%)
Red	$38.00 to $41.00 (7.9%) *
Green	$46.00 to $48.00 (4.3%) *
Yellow	$50.00 to $52.00 (4.0%) *
Pink	$53.00 to $57.00 (7.5%) *
Purple	$60.00 to $64.00 (6.7%) *
Orange	$43.00 to $44.00 (2.3%)
Pittwater	$58.00 to $60.00 (3.4%)
2 Zone	$34.00 to $35.00 (3.0%)

* The largest increases are for those tickets which include rail travel.

DAYTRIPPER: All day train, bus and ferry $17.00 to $18.20 (7.1%)

RAIL SINGLES (**)

0-5 km	no change (***)
5-30 km	increase 20 cents (4.2% to 5.9%)
30-45 km	increase 40 cents (7.1% to 8.0%)
45-65 km	increase 20 cents (2.8% to 3.0%)
65+ km	no change

RAIL WEEKLIES (**)

0-5 km	increase $1.00 (4.2%)
5-30 km	increase $2.00 (5.3% to 7.4%)
30+ km	increase $3.00 (3.7% to 7.5%)

(**) Note that these are not distances from Central, but from any point A to B.

(***) No increase this year because of rounding. Will probably be an increase in 2011.