Australasian Bus & Coach Issue 335

In Melbourne, the statistics are good. More than 1 million public transport tickets are reportedly being checked each month by authorised officers, helping reduce the estimated $50 million-plus that is lost in revenue each year, according to the Public Transport Victoria (PTV) website. More than 600 officers patrol the city’s public transport network, offering customer support and generally keeping an eye on things. Earlier this year, on-the-spot penalty fares were also introduced, which has also attributed to a decrease in fare evasion. “Over the six months from August 2014 to February 2015, authorised officers in the metropolitan area checked 6,743,300 tickets across Victoria,” a statement from earlier this year says. “In total, 103,229 reports of noncompliance and 41,001 on-the-spot penalty fares were issued.” The statistics are good. As the editor…

Nine people have been charged with fraud-related offences in relation to a $2.3 million contract awarded for bus-shelter installation. The charges come after an Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) investigation dubbed ‘Operation Fitzroy’, during which individuals and their phone conversations were monitored for more than five years. IBAC announced that the nine individuals were charged on Friday, June 12. Prior to this, only two individuals had been accused of offences relating to this $2.3 million contract, among other tenders won by companies that the accused were allegedly connected with. More than 100 charges are among the alleged offences, and include conspiracy to cheat and defraud, obtaining financial advantage by deception, misconduct in public office, giving and receiving secret commissions and furnishing false information. One of the individuals involved used to…

Older members of the community who hold a seniors card will be entitled to free bus fares after 7pm in Western Australia. Seniors SmartRider cardholders were previously eligible for free off-peak travel between 9am and 3:30pm on weekdays and all day on weekends and public holidays. WA seniors and volunteering minister Tony Simpson says expanded free travel during off-peak times was great news, as it was likely to encourage seniors to remain involved in the community, by making it cheaper and easier for them to get around. “Public transport is a vital service for Western Australian seniors, providing a safe, accessible, comfortable and affordable way to travel throughout Perth and regional areas,” he says. “Seniors make a significant contribution to creating vibrant communities in many ways, whether it is through…

More park and ride facilities will be established at a key public transport hub on Sydney’s southern fringe. The new multi-storey car park in Sutherland has a capacity of 388 and opened on July 6. NSW minister for transport and infrastructure Andrew Constance says the addition will make public transport an option for hundreds more of those needing to commute a considerable distance into Sydney’s CBD and inner suburbs. The car park will provide almost 50 more commuter spaces than what was initially planned. Miranda Shire MP Eleni Petinos says so many people work in the Sydney city limits and rely heavily on public transport services to get them to their jobs, but faced a logistical nightmare in finding somewhere to park to connect with these services. The car park…

A lack of appropriate infrastructure is holding Australia back from meeting its public transport potential. Parliamentary Friendship Group for Better Cities had its national survey launch on Australians’ attitudes to active transport in Canberra recently. Griffith University associate professor and fellow of the Urban Research Program Matthew Burke was the guest speaker and the event was attended by about 100 people. The National Heart Foundation of Australia and the Cycling Promotion Fund conducted the online survey of more than 1,000 Australians aged 25 to 59 earlier this year. The 2015 Investment in Active Transport Survey gauged views on cycling, walking, public transport and the barriers against greater use. The results revealed at the event showed close to two in three children are driven to and from school with safety concerns…

Western Australia’s Integrity Coach Lines is celebrating a successful first year of its Tom Price timetable. The service, which travels between Perth and Broome, stopping in at Tom Price once a week has been running successfully since its launch one year ago. The service was launched with the aim of providing more travel options for the locals of Tom Price and surrounds. It has proved popular not only with locals but also with visitors to Western Australia using their Hop-on Hop-off pass to travel to Karijini National Park with Integrity’s touring partner, The Flying Sandgroper.…