Thread: Cost of public transport - UNREASONABLE!

We started driving in 18 months ago now. Train from out our way is more expensive (even with the swipe card) than parking + fuel (Golf tdi, and both of us are in the city for work) – not to mention the reliability of the Cleveland Line, I’d had a gutful of 4 hour trips home.

I’m a big fan of public transport and up until 2 years ago I was on the train everyday (have been for the previous 12 years), takes 6 mins to walk to our station! But the cost in SE QLD is out of control, they have announced a 50% increase by 2014.

I could make the obvious political statements....

In Los Angeles it is $2.50 a trip and you use a TAP card which you get topped up at all sorts of places, pawn shops, supermarkets, etc. You tap on and that is it, no need to tap off. Transfers within a reasonable time are counted as part of the one trip. Special commuter peak express services are a bit different. They use a different card which you can get for a month or a year. If you use a commuter service with the TAP card you have to put $1.25 in the drivers bin. No change given.

NYC, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Washington DC all have good & reasonably priced public transport systems. Except the cable cars in SF at $6 a trip, but they are really a tourist service. In Salt Lake City, public transport within the square mile of the CBD is free. I was told that nowhere in San Francisco is more than 200 yards from public transport. They have two Metro rail systems, BART & Caltrain serving different areas, trams & light rail, buses, trolley buses.

LA, Sacramento, Salt Lake all run full size trains ( 6-8 car sets) up the middle of the streets. LA Blue Line runs on the streets both ends, LA and Long Beach. Station platforms are in the centre and people walk across the street and onto the platform.

Our public transport experts in Brisbane are totally opposed to the return of trams/light rail to the streets holding to the view that this would adversely affect motor vehicle traffic. Well, they don't in LA or the other mentioned cities. Motorists soon learn to keep out of the way of trains.

Here our systems still have buses parallelling train services. Buses should be taking people into transit centres where they get on fast trains.

Here are some photos of Sacramento & Salt Lake City trains on the streets.

You will see that Sacramento trains load/unload onto the footpath, whereas Salt Lake uses centre platforms.

A lot of the acceptability of trams depends on the street width. Melbourne, with mostly wide streets has hardly ever reduced their tram service in the last century, and in the last twenty years has expanded it. But follow a tramline into the narrower streets of Melbourne and you quickly see why some places don't want them. I should point out that I was based in Brisbane when the trams disappeared (from memory they burnt down the depot with most of the trams and then bought buses with the money received for scrap metal from the wiring and rails - I don't know if the cause of the fire was ever satisfactorily established).

John

For comparison sake - in Melbourne:
That same trip would cost $2.90 for a City Saver ticket - one way one trip or $3.80 for a 2hr ticket which starts at the next full hr mark I think so you can usually get a good 2.5hrs out of it.

Myki is a little cheaper than 'normal' metcard tickets - i.e. Myki money would be $3.02 for 2hrs.

I work at the bottom end of Flinders St near Wurundjeri Way and travel to head office in Spring St via tram...always a good quick run and appropriate for inner city. Occasionally I catch a train to work from home (Hurstbridge or Epping Lines) at a cost of $11 a day...its an average service, slow etc.
Given the urban sprawl, I would like to see end stations being enormous in size, guarded, serviced and more frequent city direct express services.

Before they stopped the Sydney trams in 1960, Sydney had the largest network anywhere in the World. Now they have a private light rail that uses parts of the Darling harbour goods line. The kids cant use their School Transport card so must pay the commercial fare.

They are also attempting to get a new light rail line out to the Uni of NSW. Where until the last few years the tram corridor from Paddinghurst to Coogee and also out to La perouse still existed, now it has been sold off in parts for residential housing and used for council car parks.

Perth is really easy and cheap to get around,even a numpty like me can get where I need to go. Pat

Perth seems to be reasonably priced. Buses caught within the "city" zone are free. Outside of the CBD tickets are based on zones and how many you travel through:
Tickets and Fares