The Queensland government has announced a six-month trial of charging just 50c for all public transport trips in the state, regardless of trip length, in an ambitious move aimed at getting more commuters off roads and giving cost-of-living relief before the October state election.
On Sunday, the premier, Steven Miles, said the initiative had been something he had wanted to do for a long time before becoming premier, and had arrived on the 50c figure because it was “virtually free” but would still require users to tap on, which was required to collect data on the trial to determine if it was successful and should be continued.
The 50c trip trial will come into effect from 5 August, and apply to all Translink public transport services around the state, with the government claiming some regular commuters will stand to save thousands a year in costs.
The government estimates the trial will cost $150m.
Customers will still need to tap on and off for their journey using Smart Ticketing, a go card, or by buying a paper ticket, in order to access the reduced fare, the government said.
“These days you can’t get much for 50c, but soon you’ll be able to go anywhere on our public transport network,” Miles said at a press conference while holding up a 50c piece. “This is all about getting cars off the road, easing congestion, making it easier to get around the south-east as well as our provincial cities and addressing the cost of living.
“For people who already catch public transport, this could save them thousands, but for people who don’t and decide to catch public transport, it could save them even more. Think of all of those savings on petrol, on car parking, on time stuck in the car when you could instead be reading a book or listening to a podcast.”
Miles noted that public transport ridership remains about 13% below pre-Covid levels and hoped the trial would help restore patronage. He also touted a disinflationary effect, as he said it would help to lower both transport CPI and inflation in Queensland through the second half of the year.
Miles gave the example of someone catching the train to work in Brisbane from Mango Hill, where he made the announcement on Sunday. He said it costs up to $96 a week currently, but from August, “that same trip from Mango Hill to the City and back would only cost $5 for the whole week – that’s nearly $90 back in your pocket every week”.
“And if you drive to work, you’re stuck in peak hour traffic every day and paying a lot more than that,” Miles said.
“This is use it or lose it,” Miles added.
“If this is effective, if this reduces congestion and sees lots of people get back on public transport then obviously we’ll consider making it permanent.”
The transport minister, Bart Mellish, said that for someone in his portfolio “this is like winning state of origin, winning a grand final and winning a grand slam all in the same day”.
Transport experts have said the reduced fares will overwhelmingly benefit people who already catch public transport, who are more likely to live in wealthier areas with better transport services.
The chair of Queensland’s Transport Academic Partnership, Prof Mark Hickman, said the trial was a great opportunity to find out how sensitive commuters really were to fares and if lower prices would get people out of cars.
“It’s been well known that south-east Queensland has some of the highest public transport fares relatively in the world,” he said.
But he questioned whether the trial was the best use of Queensland’s money instead of providing more extensive services in other parts of the network.
Geoffrey Clinton, a transport academic at the University of Sydney, welcomed the trial but said people needed good quality services. “Just reducing the fares isn’t going to change people’s minds if they don’t use public transport because it doesn’t get them where they need to go.”
Terry Lee-Williams, a transport planning veteran and the director of future transport at Aurecon, said Brisbane had a “very low” patronage on public transport and he wasn’t sure the plan would get many people to switch from driving.
“Have they [the Queensland government] done the research to show it’s the price and not the service that is driving the behaviour that they’re seeking?” he said. “Public transport actually needs more money so that it can provide better services.”
Independent transport expert Marion Terrill said reduced fares were a good way to encourage people to try public transport and reduce congestion on roads.
But she said fares generally only covered about 25% of a public transport network’s operating costs. “Nothing is actually free,” she said. “Someone has to pay. Taxpayers are subsidising travellers.”
Climate advocates have backed the announcement, with the Climate Council’s head of advocacy, Dr Jen Rayner, saying: “supporting people to use public transport more often is one of the best opportunities to slash climate pollution quickly while cutting household costs and congestion, and making our streets more pleasant.”
