Australia Needs Free Public Transport

Free buses good for business

2012-01-21T01:17:00.000+11:00

The Chronicle: TOOWOOMBA businesses are set for a major boost this Easter after Bus Queensland and Easterfest combined to provide free public transport through the city.
It is the first time the Toowoomba bus network will be operating during the Easter weekend.
Easterfest city coordinator Drew Vallejos said the decision follows the success of last year's loop service when more than 2500 people travelled between Queens Park and Grand Central shopping centre.
"We have an opportunity to expand that service so the local economy can benefit," Mr Vallejos said.

2012-01-13T19:21:00.001+11:00

Tallinn Offers Free Public Transportation to All Residents

Estonian Public Broadcasting. Published: 11.01.2012

Tallinn Mayor Edgar Savisaar ( Photo: Postimees/Scanpix )

Tallinn Mayor Edgar Savisaar said the city is willing to make public transportation free for its residents in 2013, if taxpayers support the idea in a poll from March 19 to 25.

Currently, pensioners and children of families with financial difficulties are granted free bus rides in Tallinn, reported Õhtuleht. "Free fares would be useful for others in economic hardship, who could instead use the ticket money for a better meal," said Savisaar.

A three-member family could save up 650 euros per year, the mayor said.

The reform would also popularize travel by bus and reduce the number of cars, congestion and traffic accidents, he added.

Ingrid Teesalu

[Tallinn is a major city in Estonia. Pop 416,144]

Sunshine Coast - Fortnight of free public #transport

2011-12-24T06:01:00.000+11:00

Cr Griffin used Tuesday's Noosa Junction launch of the Coast's free holiday bus service from December 26 to January 8 to suggest that our bus system, which already takes surfboards onboard, has to become even more user-friendly.
The council's integrated transport systems spokeswoman believes such cycle-friendly travel would further boost the Coast's credentials as a progressive force in traffic snarl busting - especially at the Christmas peak.
In fact Cr Griffin believes we may already boast the world's only fortnightly block of free public transport.

2011-11-15T12:17:00.001+11:00

Free train travel pushed to tackle peak-hour overcrowding

Jacob Saulwick November 15, 2011

Sydney business leaders are backing a proposal by Infrastructure NSW for the government to offer free train travel before 7am.

The proposal, pushed by the Infrastructure NSW chief executive, Paul Broad, would aim to lessen crowding on peak-hour trains by making it more attractive to travel before the peak period.

At a transport forum last month, an Infrastructure NSW board member, Max Moore-Wilton, said the state government should be looking at introducing congestion charging across all modes of transport.

"Why on earth is it just for cars?" Mr Moore-Wilton said.

"Why don't we look at it for State Rail and State Transit? We all know that the people that come in in peak hour should principally be those people that are going to work. They have the capacity to pay," he said.

"Whenever we go and talk about that, the first thing the politicians do is what I call 'Labor disease', which has now become general," Mr Moore-Wilton said at the event, hosted by the Tourism and Transport Forum.

"They say, 'Well we don't want the average punter to pay differentially, we don't want the pensioners to pay deferentially,' and it's left to the merchant bankers to pay. Well they're not the great bulk of the people.

"You've got to tell the people, if we are going to improve peak-hour congestion, those people that need to come for their work should be prepared to pay more. Those people that don't should be encouraged, and I use the word encouraged, through lower pricing."

Mr Broad has raised the idea of free train travel before 7am with the state government. It is unclear if Infrastructure NSW has also raised the idea of higher fares for peak-hour commuters.

The acting Premier, Andrew Stoner, said this morning: "We're all interested in innovative ways to get cars off Sydney's main roads, to get more people on to public transport and Infrastructure NSW is a body that will advise the government on infrastructure, including public transport.

"So that's a proposal we'll think about. It has been trialled in part by a previous government with fairly limited success but we'll have a look at it."

Patricia Forsyth, the executive director of the Sydney Business Chamber, backed the use of more so-called demand management measures

"The cost of increasing capacity on the road and rail network throughout Sydney is becoming so prohibitively expensive that we need to start looking at using what we already have in a more intelligent and efficient way," Ms Forsythe said this morning.

"Business supports the move by Infrastructure NSW to incorporate a transport demand strategy into its 20-year infrastructure plan. That is a victory for common sense and transport planning," she said.

A recent study by researchers from Southern Cross University and Douglas Economics, presented to the Australasian Transport Research Forum, found some willingness among Sydney commuters to change their travel times if offered attractive pricing.

While most commuters could not change their travel times because of work, the study, which analysed results of a 2010 survey, showed that, for a 30 per cent discount, 15 per cent of peak-hour passengers would be willing to travel 30 minutes earlier, while 4 per cent of commuters would be willing to travel an hour earlier.

Industry experts say that previous trials of free off-peak train travel have thrown up numerous problems.

One problem is that commuters tend to rush for the last train in the free period. This would mean, for example, there would be little patronage growth on a train leaving at 6.30am but huge overcrowding on a train leaving at 6.55am.

Another issue is that free early morning travel would attract to the train system people who do not currently use it. While this would be a good thing, it would also mean more people would need to pack on to crowded afternoon return trains.

Jacob Saulwick is the Herald's Transport Reporter

2011-11-07T20:14:00.001+11:00

What if transit were free?

Urban Compass by Colin Fast

METRO WINNIPEG, CANADA

November 07, 2011

As sure as the arrival of the ice and snow, this time of year always brings unpleasant news about how much the city plans to jack up bus fares.

This year, Winnipeg Transit is asking for a five-cent increase to the basic fare, taking it up to $2.45 for a one-way trip. Passes and tickets will go up accordingly.

If approved, this will mean that fares have gone up about 36 per cent since Mayor Katz took office in 2004, or about two and a half times the rate of inflation over that period.

Amazingly, ridership has actually increased despite the rate hikes. While transit officials credit service improvements, it’s far more likely that rising fuel costs, rising awareness of environmental issues and changing commuting patterns are really the cause. And even with several years of growth, ridership is just now back up to what it was 20 years ago.

Politicians and policy makers like to roll out expensive plans to build rapid transit to attract even more riders, but I have to wonder why no one is talking about the one surefire way to boost transit use.

What if it were free?

Now, I can already hear drivers howling in outrage about the idea of transit users getting a “free ride.” But the reality is that drivers have been getting their own free ride for years.

This city spends tens of millions on planning, building and maintaining roads every year, primarily for the benefit of private automobile owners.

The new Transportation Master Plan calls for $2.1 billion in new roads and bridges to be built over the next 20 years. Billions more will be needed to maintain our existing crumbling streets.

But we could potentially save much of that expense if we could simply get more people out of their cars and on to transit.

It wouldn’t be cheap; we’d need more buses, more drivers and more public-operating subsidies. But the benefits are clear. It would reduce traffic congestion, speed up everyone’s commute and eliminate the need for more road capacity. It would benefit the environment, encourage more compact development and enhance mobility for people who can’t drive or afford a car.

Sure, this might be a bold (or crazy) idea, but it would be nice to see a few more of those from city hall rather than just a nickel-and-dime approach to running essential services.

– Colin Fast is a corporate communicator who blogs about life in Winnipeg at policyfrog.com.

Australia parties compete over who can provide the most free public transport

2011-11-05T11:43:00.000+11:00

Transport on track despite $7m fare revenue cut: "Ms Palaszczuk said the government was able to offer the $6.7 million free travel benefit “through budgeting and planning” and there was no reduction in the planned rollout of new seats on network services."

'via Blog this'

Free public transport today - Industry News - Australasian Bus News - Trader Business Media

2011-10-28T17:41:00.000+11:00

Free public transport today - Industry News - Australasian Bus News - Trader Business Media: "To assist with people movement around Perth this weekend, all Transperth bus, train and ferry services will be free today – Friday October 28 – and again on Saturday October 29.

“I urge people to take advantage of the free public transport,” Buswell says.

“Leave your car at home and travel into the city to enjoy the Big Aussie Barbecue with Her Majesty The Queen, or one of the many other family-friendly activities.”"

'via Blog this'

2011-09-26T15:19:00.001+10:00

Wacky-Named "Pirate" Party Gains Power in Germany, Calls for Free Public Transportation

by Christine Lepisto, Berlin on 09.25.11

Image: Pirate Party/Susanne Graf

As the rest of the world was celebrating talk like a pirate day, the Pirate Party won its first seats in the Berlin state elections.

In Germany, any party winning more than 5% of the votes is entitled to a share in government. With 8.9%, the Pirate party lands 15 seats in the state government, among them 19-year-old Susanne Graf (pictured above), who will be the youngest representative when session opens in October. Is this the beginning of a new kind of politics? Is the Pirate party walking a green plank?

First and foremost, the Pirate Party campaign program (pdf, German) promises transparency and to give citizens more voice in government.

As a young, technologically oriented party, this could auger a change (which some believe is inevitable) in the way we govern ourselves, a move away from representative government to net-based referendums. While not itself green, many believe this strategy could help take big money out of government, bringing balance back to the human aspect of decision making.

Although the word "pirate" has come to be associated with, well let us just say, the uncompensated use of certain digital properties, the official program of the Pirate Party focuses on equal access to information that is in the public domain, and equal opportunity use of internet technology as well as improved educational opportunity for the youth.

The greenest angle on this approach to equal access in public domains is the call to keep natural areas available for everyone, such as maintaining open access to river banks. Ironically, the debate stirs already over the lack of female presence in the party. Susanne is the only female sitting with 14 males.

The Greenest Planks of the Pirate Party Platform:
Probably the greenest plank proposed in the Pirate program calls for free public transport, and activates against expanding highways through the city. Free public transport speaks for itself as a green platform. Thoughts on how to suppress highway construction projects rest on the main Pirate plank: make the contracts transparent, so the big money cannot win behind closed doors, and give people a direct vote on whether such projects should proceed.

Of course, the Pirates advocate nuclear-free power as well. And the campaign program explicitly calls for "sustainable, ecological economic policy."

Pirates Walking Other Planks
The Pirate program offers much more than "open access." It turns the clock back on post-9/11 state controls, fighting against surveillance of citizens and demanding improvements in accountability for police forces.

The platform contains planks designed to open borders, fighting on several fronts against anti-immigrant feelings. Perhaps most controversially, the Pirate platform also demands a change from drug abuse penalization to educational and social supports designed to reduce dependence on harmful drugs. Walking this plank includes the legalization of marijuana, on the grounds that illegal cannabis handlers pose a health risk by selling contaminated products.

Nations around the globe are finding politics as usual unsatisfying in the face of global economic crisis. Sustainability fans know that things cannot go on as they are. The question that now arises in Berlin is: will this youth movement earn respect for a new path forward, a post-capitalist, post-industrial, social-network based politics? Can politics survive transparency? And can it work for a party named "Pirates"?

National Transport Commission suggests fare-free transport fund

2011-09-20T10:41:00.000+10:00

Roads tax has drivers' support | thetelegraph.com.au: "A TRANSPORT levy similar to Medicare could fund an $85 billion infrastructure program across Australia, a government-backed advisory group has proposed.

The National Transport Commission - an independent statutory body funded by federal and state governments - has suggested public transport could be made free for people who paid the levy through a means-tested scheme.

It could potentially scrap the need for ticket administration and also help combat fare evasion. The money raised would be used for priority transport and infrastructure projects."

'via Blog this'

Free public transport could solve Adelaide congestion

2011-09-16T19:25:00.000+10:00

Glut of inner-city spaces hampers traffic reform | Adelaide Now: "Mr Yarwood said the real issue was peak-hour congestion. Greens MP Mark Parnell said he first floated the idea of a levy on car parking in the '90s. "The money would fund free public transport around the city and I think that idea still has merit," he said."

'via Blog this'

Public transport's a safe investment - Opinion - Editorial - General - The Canberra Times

2011-09-15T18:01:00.000+10:00

Public transport's a safe investment - Opinion - Editorial - General - The Canberra Times: "The widespread use of cars comes with growing direct and indirect costs to taxpayers. Governments must continually build new roads and maintain existing ones as they deteriorate. Valuable real estate must be set aside for car parks, rather than be put to more productive uses. Traffic gridlock costs businesses through lost productivity and, in some industries, significantly higher prices; the federal Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics estimates congestion losses in Australia will amount to more than $20 billion a year by 2020. And every year that the bureau has examined the social costs of road crashes - health-care expenses, infrastructure damage, legal bills and policing and emergency services - it has found the amount dwarfs the revenue raised through rego fees, fuel excises and all other motoring-related taxes. Cars are a far costlier habit than most of us realise, because we never see a bill that lists their true price."

'via Blog this'

Free bus rides may aid weight loss - Local News - News - General - The Canberra Times

2011-09-14T11:32:00.000+10:00

Free bus rides may aid weight loss - Local News - News - General - The Canberra Times: "British researchers studied the health implications of the 2006 introduction in England of free off-peak local bus transport for people aged 60 years and over.

The study found that use of buses by older people increased after the policy was introduced and that those who took advantage of free bus passes were less likely to become overweight or obese."

'via Blog this'

Australia's climate scientists expose shock-jock distortion tactics | Stephan Lewandowsky | Environment | guardian.co.uk

2011-09-03T23:42:00.000+10:00

Australia's climate scientists expose shock-jock distortion tactics | Stephan Lewandowsky | Environment | guardian.co.uk: "Australia has unwittingly become a social experiment. A ruthless experiment on the fate of a society when a single media conglomerate, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, owns 167 newspapers and controls around 70% of the printed media market."

'via Blog this'

2011-09-01T14:22:00.000+10:00

Man's Greatest Mistake

Man's Greatest Mistake: "It is an issue that cuts across many aspects of modern society, it costs billions, it kills millions and maims millions more, it is a key factor behind the obesity epidemic, it criminalises hundreds of thousands of citizens, it eats up vast tracts of land, it is an anti-social menace that blights communities, particularly poorer communities, and it is deeply socially divisive. It is so resource hungry that it pushes up the price of food and other world commodities, it even causes developed nations to go to war."

'via Blog this'

Event horizon: the black hole in The Australian's climate change coverage

2011-09-01T11:52:00.000+10:00

Event horizon: the black hole in The Australian's climate change coverage: "Excuse my bluntness, but it is past time to acknowledge that the science underpinning anthropogenic climate change is rock solid. The sceptics have had the time and opportunity to come with up a convincing case, but their best efforts read like arguments that NASA faked the moon landing."

'via Blog this'

Labor Promises Free Off-Peak Travel For Brisbane Seniors

2011-08-19T11:15:00.000+10:00

Brisbane seniors will get free off-peak travel on public transport under a Labor Brisbane City Council. Photo: Michelle Smith
Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/labor-promises-free-offpeak-travel-for-seniors-20110819-1j0xh.html#ixzz1VQuvQKhtLabor Promises Free Off-Peak Travel For Brisbane Seniors: Brisbane's seniors will get free "off peak" travel on Brisbane's public transport if Labor wins the next Brisbane City Council elections, mayoral labor candidate Ray Smith promised this morning.

Mr Smith is unveiling details of his first major promise for the 2012 council elections this morning at Morningside.

Nature Studies by Michael McCarthy: Wet summers conceal a terrible surprise - Nature Studies, Nature - The Independent

2011-08-10T16:54:00.000+10:00

Nature Studies by Michael McCarthy: Wet summers conceal a terrible surprise - Nature Studies, Nature - The Independent: "Go outside. Look up into the sky. Ask yourself, where's all this global warming, then? The answer is, you're being shielded from it, at the moment, by Chinese sulphur.

It has not gone away. It is building up steadily, behind a Chinese pollution screen, and when that screen disappears, we are going to get a terrible surprise."

Public transport fares are for rationing -- not revenue

2011-07-27T16:45:00.000+10:00

Reducing crowds on public transport - Government - News - Inner West Courier: "THERE may finally be a solution to reduce crowding on public transport.

Prof Corinne Mulley, Sydney University’s chair of public transport, says the state government should restrict non-workers’ concession fare use to off-peak hours."

Mount Druitt Commuters Improvement Group: Male Commuter Calls For All Free Public Transport!

2011-07-27T09:23:00.000+10:00

Mount Druitt Commuters Improvement Group: Male Commuter Calls For All Free Public Transport!: "A male Mount Druitt senior commuter is calling for complete public trans, which will bring all cars off the road, less pollution better, more efficient organised transport infrastructure. I do meet different people every day who are quite open to talk to me ,with quite ease. Each person has their own quality of life."

2011-07-25T12:06:00.001+10:00

Lifehacker’s Free Public Transport Guide, 2011 Edition

By Angus Kidman on July 25, 2011 at 11:30 am

If you’re in the middle of a capital city, chances are you’re not too far from a free public transport service. Find one near you with Lifehacker’s comprehensive guide to free public transport in Australia.

Picture by Graham Lees

This is an updated version of our guide from last year, reflecting the changes that have happened since then and incorporating additional reader suggestions. Most of the free options are heavily geared towards tourists, which often means limited hours in the evening and, in some cases, weekends. Even if you’re a local, free services can be useful when the weather turns nasty.

If you combine this list with our guide to cheap airport transfers, you can enjoy a visit to any of Australia’s major cities without spending a fortune. The links to each service provide detailed timetable information. (Double-check if you’re planning to use one on a public holiday, as many don’t operate then.)

Sydney

The 555 bus runs in a loop in both directions between Circular Quay and Central Station. The frequency is pretty good — once every 10 minutes. On weekdays, it runs from 9:30am to 3:30pm (extended to 9:00pm on Thursdays). On weekends, it operates from 9:30am to 6:00pm.

Outside the CBD, there are also free shuttle services in Kogarah, Parramatta and Ryde .

Melbourne

The City Circle Tram is Melbourne’s most prominent free option, running every 12 minutes around the outer edge of the Melbourne CBD (both clockwise and anti-clockwise). It runs between 10:00am and 6:00pm Sunday to Wednesday, and 10:00am to 9:00pm Thursday to Saturday. The City Tourist Shuttle bus offers more access to tourist destinations, but is less frequent and slower. It runs every 30 minutes, takes 90 minutes to do a full loop, and operates between 9:30am and 4:30pm daily.

If you’re an early riser, trains in Melbourne are free prior to 7am. However, you’ll need an Early Bird metcard, which is only available from premium stations, and your journey must finish before 7am.

Brisbane

Brisbane offers a pair of loop buses, one for the CBD covering the main area of the city and one for Spring Hill. The CBD loop runs 07:00am to 6:00pm , with departures every 15 minutes. Spring Hill runs from 06:52am to 6:00pm, with departures every 10 minutes. Annoyingly, neither service runs on weekends or public holidays.

Perth

Perth has by far the broadest range of free options for any city. With the Free Transit Zone (which essentially covers the CBD, as you can see on the map, you can catch any bus or train for free. Note that the entire journey has to be within the free zone, and that if you want to use a train you’ll need a SmartRider card (since Perth has stations with electronic gates).

There are also three free CAT bus services which operate entirely within the free CBD area: the east-west Red and Yellow services, and the North-South Blue service. Services generally operate from around 06:00am to 07:00pm on weekdays, with frequencies of roughly once every seven minutes. Weekends have later starting times and lower frequencies. Outside the city, there are free CAT buses which operate in Fremantle and Joondalup (though the latter don’t run on weekends). Full details for all the services are handily collected on the CAT information page.

Adelaide

Adelaide’s iconic Glenelg tram is free between South Terrace within the city and the Entertainment Centre, and along Jetty Road within Glenelg. It runs every 7 or so minutes between 8:00am and 6:00pm Monday to Friday, every 15 minutes between 09:00am and 6:00pm Saturdays and Sundays, and every 20 minutes at other times.

On the bus, the 99C runs a loop across the northern half of the CBD from 08:00am to 09:00pm, with services every 15 minutes until 06:00pm and additional services on Friday nights. Weekend services run every 30 minutes. The Adelaide Metro site captures both these options on a single page. Additionally, Adelaide City Council runs the Adelaide Connector service, which covers a wider area (incorporating North Adelaide as well) but with only one bus an hour.

Newcastle

The Fare Free Bus scheme allows free travel on any government bus in the city centre between 07:30am and 6:00pm every day.

Wollongong

The Gong Shuttle runs from Wollongong Station to Wollongong University and back. It operates every 10-20 minutes between 7:00am and 10:00pm Monday to Friday, and every 20 minutes between 8:00am and 6:00pm on weekends.

Know of a free transport option we’ve missed? Tell us about it in the comments. (We’re aware of the various tricks to get extra time on tickets, such as buying after 3pm for a weekly in Sydney to get an extra day, but we want to focus on purely free options here.)

Lifehacker Australia editor Angus Kidman hasn’t used all of these options, but he’s working on it. His Road Worrier column, looking at technology and organising tips for travellers, appears each week on Lifehacker.

Comments

Sam

July 25, 2011 at 11:42 am

For anyone visiting Launceston, the Tiger Bus service currently operates 7 days a week across the city centre.

Full info at: http://www.launceston.tas.gov.au/upfiles/lcc/cont/publications/brochures_and_booklets/7595_tiger_bus_brochure_update_2.pdf

Permalink Reply
Hugh

July 25, 2011 at 11:45 am

The Willoughby council runs a loop service around Artarmon (runs Monday to Friday – see http://bit.ly/oRLuUh) and others around the Chatswood area on different days (see http://bit.ly/nmjLgD).

Permalink Reply

2011-07-25T08:53:00.002+10:00

Give up your car, get free public transportation

Would you ever surrender your car? We don't mean to trade in your gas-guzzler for a high mileage vehicle, or swap your Toyota Prius for a Nissan Leaf, or even agree to trundling around in a G-Wiz. In this case, we're talking going automotive cold turkey. What would it take for you to make that jump? Would a lifetime of free public transportation do it for you?

Well, this is what the city of Murcia, Spain is offering. The city is trying to lure residents into a unique trade-in offer: turn over your car, and you get an unlimited pass to the city's new public transportation system.

Like many cities in Europe, Murcia has become a constant traffic jam. Car owners are also finding it harder and harder to find a place to park. City planners in the U.S. might prescribe construction of additional parking lots and new highway lanes as the solution, but Murcia is taking this other route. Sound like a deal?

[See story below for more info: Ed]

Autoblog Green

2011-07-19T08:44:00.001+10:00

Trade Your Car For A Free Lifetime Bus Pass (If You Live In Murcia)

BY Morgan ClendanielTue Jul 12, 2011

A Spanish city, in a bid to end congestion, has made its citizens an offer: Give up your car and ride our trolley for free, forever.

People love their cars. They're willing to maintain a car even when it's expensive and difficult. In the Spanish city of Murcia, which had become crowded with vehicles, the government decided to try to pry people's hands off the wheels by offering a little economic incentive. Not only would you not have the inconvenience of trying to park, you could ride the city's public transit for free for the rest of your life.

To promote the campaign, the city made a series of adorable advertisements showing how unpleasant it is to be stuck in traffic and looking for parking all the time.

And just in case some Murcia residents hadn't noticed how annoying it was to have a car in the city, they also started leaving cars in impossible parking spots, like this one, where the car is forced to sit on two other cars to find a space.

Seeing that, a lifetime trolley pass looks quite enticing. While many cities have campaigns to encourage public transit use, and a few use congestion pricing to help limit the number of cars in the city centers, this is an impressive use of city funds to directly influence how people get around the city. A lifetime trolley pass is probably a minimal cost for the city (though most transit systems are already bleeding money without giving away free fares), but with enough given away, could make a drastic difference in the livability of the city.

[Images: Mejor en Tranvia]

[Hat tip: Springwise]

Follow @fastcompany.

Ten dollars a week too much for privilege of planet earth?

2011-07-14T23:29:00.000+10:00

Perversely, part of me wants to see what would happen if the sea levels rise a couple of metres, the coastal cities get swamped, the rainfall dries up, the power goes out, the militias take to the streets. Part of me would love to see these squawking indignant right-to-luxury dickwipes learning how to live in the dust, scraping out dried plants from the earth and hoarding their remnants from the Beforetime. It’ll be a sight if it happens. Dirty red skies will rise up from the ground each morning like a curse. The only creatures that seem to thrive, the cockroaches and carrion birds, will swarm black against the sand and the sunset, rasping dry songs with their throats and with their legs. The water will be gone. The world will not remember ice floes. And for her sins, for ten dollars a week from each and every one of us, Julia Gillard will hang from the garret at the gates of Troy.

Read the whole post on HeathenScripture

On course to suffer global warming of four degrees

2011-07-11T23:19:00.000+10:00

On course to suffer global warming of four degrees: "We have already warmed the planet by 1 degree, relative to pre-industrial times, and are almost certainly experiencing an associated increase in costly, extreme weather events to say the least. In Australia, while it is impossible to be definitive about the cause of any single weather event, a list of prime suspects includes last decade's crippling drought, Victoria's Black Saturday bushfires of 2009 and this year's devastating floods.

Not scary enough for some, but as our chief climate change adviser, Ross Garnaut, warned earlier this year, ''if we are seeing an intensification of weather events now, you ain't seen nothing yet''."

2011-07-11T07:43:00.000+10:00

TheDigitel

By Ken Hawkins

MUSC, College of Charleston students and staff to keep getting free CARTA bus fare

The Charleston Area Regional Transportation Authority (CARTA) has struck a deal to continue its transportation agreements with the Medical University of South Carolina and College of Charleston.

This is the sixth year that MUSC has had a partnership with CARTA and the eighth year for CofC of offering students, faculty and staff of both institutions unlimited rides with their organization identification card.

The result is free bus service to these riders, with costs covered by MUSC and College of Charleston.

Learn more about CARTA and its services on our topic page.

“Our constant focus is to encourage use of public transit throughout the Charleston area,” said Christine Wilkinson, interim executive director for CARTA. “These two partnerships further our continual pursuit of that goal. We encourage other Charleston area businesses to consider how CARTA can help their employees and staff.”

CARTA also has ongoing partnerships with the City of Charleston, Charleston County School District and Roper St. Francis Hospital.

On average, as many as 65,000 trips per month are taken by MUSC and CofC ID holders. In addition, more than 30,000 riders take the Express routes each month, which are heavily utilized by MUSC and CofC.

“Continuing this important partnership is not only a benefit for our students, faculty and staff, but an investment in the community,” said John Runyon, director of business services at Medical University of South Carolina.

The partnerships offer a number of other benefits, which include:

Reduce traffic and congestion in the Charleston area
Reduce need for additional parking on campus
Accommodating to students and faculty – provides safe travel as well as bike racks for transportation around their respective campus
Brings the benefit to staff, faculty and students while increasing ridership and encouraging public transit
Increase in ridership enables CARTA to acquire additional federal funding for equipment and upgrades
Continuing a strong relationship with two valuable partners and involvement in regular events such as MUSC Green Fairs and CofC Orientation
Provides a valuable service to a diverse community

Cars make it hard to keep in touch

2011-06-27T03:47:00.000+10:00

Human Transit: the car vs. personal technology (quote of the week): "'They can stay connected on a bus or a train. They can bring the office with them. They can bring their study with them. They can bring their friends with them. They can't if they're driving.'"

Oil apocalypse is here and now

2011-05-26T08:18:00.002+10:00

Free Public Transport Term Paper

2011-05-18T15:14:00.000+10:00

Sunshine Coast Queensland -- free public transport for pensioners

2011-05-17T11:35:00.000+10:00

Payroll Tax & Public Transport Reform at Centre of PolicyLaunch | Sunshine Coast Queensland: The Queensland Party will also work with councils across Queensland to implement a program of free public transport for pensioners between the 9am and 2pm. This will assist those in our community who often find it too expensive or difficult to travel,” added Mr McLindon.
...The revenue loss for such a policy is minor compared to the benefits of increased mobility and the associated economic activity of Queensland’s older generations. This measure will also assist to reduce the number of cars on the roads and the beauty of it is that when pensioners can travel in off-peak periods.”

2011-04-28T13:06:00.002+10:00

Arguments for Free Public Transportation

2011-04-04T11:42:00.000+10:00

Capitalism’s war on the planet

GreenLeft Weekly: Sunday, April 3, 2011

Climate change is often called the greatest environment threat facing humanity.

The threat is very real. Unless we cut carbon pollution fast, runaway climate change will worsen existing environmental and social problems, and create new ones of its own.

But it’s no longer enough to simply refer to the climate crisis. Climate change is one part of a broader ecological disaster, brought about by an economic system that relies on constant growth, endless accumulation and ever-deepening human alienation.

A 2010 study published in Nature revealed some of the extent of this ecological crisis.

The study, which was led by Sweden’s Johan Rockstrom and included US climate scientist James Hansen, identified nine “planetary boundaries” that are critical for human life on the planet.

Along with climate change, these boundaries are: global freshwater use, chemical pollution, ocean acidification, land use change, biodiversity (the extinction rate), ozone levels in the stratosphere, aerosol (or small particle) levels in the atmosphere and the nitrogen and phosphorus cycles that regulate soil fertility (and hence food production).

The study said three of these critical planetary boundaries — climate, the nitrogen cycle and biodiversity loss — had already been crossed.

A further four — land use change, the phosphorus cycle, ocean acidification and freshwater use — are emerging problems. The scientists said these boundaries had not yet been breached, but could be soon if nothing is done.

The state of the ozone layer, which regulates the ultraviolet radiation from the sun hitting the Earth, was the only good news. A global treaty to phase out ozone depleting gasses, such as chlorofluorocarbons, seems to have made a difference.

The study’s authors said they didn’t yet know enough to measure the planetary boundaries for chemical pollution and aerosol levels.

In their 2010 book, The Ecological Rift, US Marxists John Bellamy Foster, Brett Clark and Richard York remark on this study: “The mapping out of planetary boundaries in this way gives us a better sense of the real threat to the Earth system.

“Although in recent years the environmental threat has come to be seen by many as simply a question of climate change, protecting the planet requires that we attend to all of these planetary boundaries, and others not yet determined.

“The essential problem is the unavoidable fact that an expanding economic system is placing additional burdens on a fixed earth system to the point of planetary overload … Business as usual projections point to a state in which the ecological footprint of humanity will be equivalent to the regenerative capacity of two planets by 2030.”

Capitalism, a grow-or-die system, must ignore the planet’s boundaries. But we cannot afford to: not if we are to secure a safe planet that can sustain human civilization.

As Foster, Clark and York conclude: “No solution to the world’s ecological problem can be arrived at that does not take the surmounting of capitalism, as an imperialist world system, as its object.

“It is time to take the planet back for sustainable human development.”

Free public transport to reduce traffic: Mick Gallagher - Elections - News - Hornsby & Upper North Shore Advocate

2011-03-17T20:16:00.000+11:00

Free public transport to reduce traffic: Mick Gallagher - Elections - News - Hornsby & Upper North Shore Advocate: "PUBLIC transport should be free to encourage residents to leave their cars at home, independent candidate for Hornsby Mick Gallagher said.

The former Hornsby mayor said free public transport would reduce traffic congestion, fuel consumption, noise and stress."

2011-02-24T16:31:00.001+11:00

TRAFFIC AIR POLLUTION DANGER TO HEART

Traffic: Analysis shows 7.4 per cent of heart attacks were down to air pollution

AIR pollution causes more heart attacks than alcohol, drugs or physical exertion, according to a new study.

Despite the popular belief that eating and drinking are the worst triggers, travelling by car or bus are greater culprits.

Analysis shows 7.4 per cent of heart attacks were down to air pollution.

This was higher than the 6.2 per cent caused by physical exertion and the five per cent caused by both alcohol and coffee.

The study, published in The Lancet, shows that air pollution triggers more heart attacks than even anger and lung infections.

The authors say their findings are important as many people are not aware pollution plays a role in heart attacks.

The research was led by Dr Tim Nawrot from Hasselt University, Belgium.

He said that, of the “triggers” studied, taking cocaine was most likely to cause a heart attack in an individual – but traffic affected more of the population as many more people are exposed to it than take the drug.

Express.co.uk 23/02/2011

2011-02-21T15:57:00.001+11:00

Wifi on public transport if Labor elected

21 Feb 11. Sydney, Australia.

WIFI will be free for commuters if the Labor Party is re-elected next month.

It will be available on a bus, ferry or train for commuters to check their emails, read the news or do their banking.

The free wifi will be installed by the end of 2011 on all metrobuses and Sydney Ferries, with the rest of the bus fleet and CityRail trains to follow.

The Government has also announced that by the end of this month, all Sydney Buses commuters will be able to send a text message and receive up-to-the-minute information about when their next bus will arrive.

If is re-elected, the Labor Party will extend the next bus SMS service to every bus in the metropolitan network, including private operators.

What a great idea! Yes, there needs to be an all-out effort to make public transport user-friendly and attract the bulk of commuters - including:

free Wifi connections,
space for wheel chairs, push chairs, shopping & even bikes
comfortable seating
on-board 'ambassadors' to offer directions, assistance & to deter anti-social behaviour,
priority lanes & traffic signals for buses
more bike & walking facilities
easy transfers & links
colour coded routes & vehicles
very frequent services
24 hour operation
passenger shelters that actually protect people from the elements
modern no-emission buses & electric trains & trams & ferries

.... the list goes on - but the central ingredient to really get commuters onto decent public transport & slash car-dependency, pollution & oil consumption big time: make it free to use and frequent with easy access - no waiting, no tickets, no money handling, no cash box robberies, no parking woes, no traffic gridlock, reduce road accidents & resulting medical treatment... modern, civilised stress-free mobility for people.

FareFreeNZ Editor

Time for public investment to fight climate change | Green Left Weekly

2011-02-21T14:20:00.000+11:00

Time for public investment to fight climate change | Green Left Weekly: "3. Boost investment in public transport, suburban, regional and inter-regional services, high-speed intercity rail and rail freight.

The Socialist Alliance would cut passenger fares and transition to a free public transport system. We must do this to radically shift away from our dependence on cars.

Most people would respond that this is going to cost a lot. Yes, it will. But it won’t cost nearly as much as it will cost our society if we don’t respond effectively to the climate change crisis."

A timely review of Melbourne’s transport options: on obscenely uneconomical choices and underperforming assets.

2011-02-18T18:56:00.000+11:00

Opinion@theage.com.au

Frank Fisher*, 17.02.2011.

If anything needs the critical light of review it is urban transport. In the light of a possible Baillieu/Mulder review of urban commuting, here are a few thoughts on cars an public transport.

1 The majority transport or DODO: Driver Only Driver

Owned urban commuter car.

Other than public transport ticketing, which i address below, there are few things as uneconomic as the DODO. Currently DODOs work at less than 1% efficiency. For every 100 litre of petrol less than one litre actually shifts the driver; 99litres+ moves the car and enables its necessary infrastructure. The average engine converts petrol to motion at something like 15%. But no one drives engines, we drive cars. Cars are roughly 15 times heavier than the average driver, so a driver-in-a-car moves at 1% efficiency. However, a car takes a lot of energy to make, deliver to its driver and maintain over its life, some say as much as half the energy in the fuel it uses in its life! Further, it takes energy to scrap and recycle cars and a vast amount to build and maintain the infrastructures that enable cars to move where we want them to. These are roads, government and private support organisations ranging from registration departments to taxation offices, police, insurances, breakdown clubs, hospitals, more insurances, automobile chambers of commerce and so on. So the car’s real efficiency is actually much less than 1% … but no-one cares because a) we’ve paid a lot for our car [Driver Owned] and for putting it on the road and keeping it there and b) petrol’s cheaper than bottled water!

The craziness of this equation doesn’t end there. Owning our private “gutter decoration” [the DODO’s primary occupation] means that we spend many weeks of each year engaged in earning the money to pay for the privilege. Add this time to that actually spent in driving, parking and maintaining your DODO then divide that total into the number of kilometres travelled annually and you’ll find that the average speed attained is much less than that achieved by a combination of bicycle and public transport.

As if this inefficiency were not bad enough Americans and Brazilians compound it by feeding DODOs with biofuels made from human foodstuffs such as corn and sugar. So in addition to using less than 1% of these foods to move drivers, biofuels are themselves produced inefficiently in terms of the fuels etc. required for the farming and refining processes that make them!

Given all this, why one would bother to own one’s own car beats me. Once one’s disowned that generalised vehicle-for-all-purposes one can easily afford to rent the appropriate vehicle for the task and, for urban commuting, the appropriate vehicles are shoes, bicycles and public transport. These three being appropriate for our own health, our city’s health, the planet’s health and the health of our public and private purses. Moreover, there are currently a billion cars on Earth. Most Australians believe that all people deserve the right to live as we do. That means 9 billion cars driving some 20,000 km/year by the time human population tops out. So even if we all switched to little Indian Nanos, three times more efficient than our current auto-fleet we’ll be three times worse off than today – a totally unsustainable option.

2. Ticketless Public Transport.

Even with the prospect of myki working “glitchlessly”, it is not hard to demonstrate that ticketing will not pay for itself for a long time let alone make any contribution to public transport itself. Aside from the fabulous cost of myki and its predecessor [$B3] there are many hidden costs involved with having the public pay public transport fares. I list some of these below but here i’d like to draw attention to some quite unrecognised costs that arise from the deliberate exclusion of our railways’ extensive real-estate assets from the public domain as a result of the necessity to exclude the “in-valid” [those who haven’t paid a fare] from our stations. In addition to the costs of vandalism control and damage restitution, site insecurity for passengers leads to reduced patronage, especially at night. But the most serious losses arise from the site rents foregone by excluding commerce and community activity from nearly all of our metropolitan area’s two hundred railway stations.

Tickets, as the old “Metcard” warning stressed, require public transport users to be “validated” before entering the system. To viscerally impress this requirement upon passengers, we surround our stations with high fences, excluding them from commercial and community use. Unstaffed buildings, often quite handsome, are locked and vandal-proofed. And, as if to say “no station is sacred”, the very open friendliness of pre-myki Southern Cross is now ruined by fences and barriers erected where never intended. Staffed stations themselves are under-utilised; Flinders St. Station being the most notorious example. The associated losses are not simply directly financial, they also manifest as losses to community and personal amenity. Instead of being friendly islands of community, stations have become isolated black holes literally avoided as such by late-night travellers.

Failing totally “free” public transport, an enlivening alternative to the present vacuous, destructive, fare-collection-related employment scheme called myki, is the public transport levy [PTL].

By collecting an annual Medicare-like PTL from all urban wage-earners, we’d know we’d paid something toward our urban public transport and then be able to use it free of demeaning encumbrances like barriers and ticket inspection. Where machines do the inspection, the demeanment is of concern. To argue against the veracity of machines takes determination and our tacit permission to be tracked financially, and more worryingly spatially, raises questions about the openness of our democracy.

Here is what it could mean:

· public transport free at point of access with all the liberation that would imply.

· shedding some of the taxes that are currently used to pay for public transport.

· public transport free to rural visitors and tourists, just like water. Along with fast and regular rural rail, this would provide an incentive to use rural public transport to commute to the cities.

· a built-in incentive for urban residents to use public transport – annual payment would remind us that we’d paid and therefore that we may as well use what we’d paid for.

· an improvement in the status of travel on “The Met”. It would no longer be seen as the DODO’s “poor cousin”.

· a dramatic decline in the deaths and injuries from crashes and the many diseases directly attributable to DODO-commuting (in Melbourne some 600 deaths annually).

· a friendly, welcoming system where the stresses associated with requiring a ticket, along with the threats associated with not being able to produce one, were removed.

· removal of favours to those wealthy enough to afford congestion taxes such as city parking fees [usually paid for by others] and fines. Thereby, avoidance of the resentment such favours generate.

· the usual Medicare-like support for people for whom the levy would be an excessive burden.

· removal of barriers to the poor to use public transport.

· the “disarming” of the public transport system [as already outlined] with transit assistants replacing “fare police” and the return of the space & vacant buildings around railway platforms to commerce and the community.

· a welcoming and attractive system, partly arising from the greater density of users that a ticketless system would bring!

· removal of the threat to monitor citizens’ movements by tracking us through myki.

· enhanced participation rates. These would provide the political constituency for dramatically improving the current carrying capacities of our metropolitan transit. Relieving rail-congestion is, at least in the long run, so much cheaper and healthier than relieving road-congestion. Consider the neglected costs of making good the planetary damage caused by global warming and the many other negative pollution and land degradation effects of DODO commuting. Currently these are not priced and go unpaid by present generations.

· a more open and equitable system in which payment for the system was overt rather than covert as at present where real payment of public transport comes from consolidated revenues. An annual PTL bill could indicate the proportion of the total cost of metro-transit that the levy actually covered.

For all this it must be recognised that dramatically increasing the capacity of our urban rail systems is no small feat. It will cost billions, take time and create substantial public disruption. Indeed, an argument against the PTL is precisely the government’s fear of overloading the current system! For all that, we live in a representative democracy and the government requires constituency before it acts, so overloading the system is in a sense the only language it can hear.

One of the most valuable implications of a PTL and a dramatic improvement in public transport availability would be the support that it would give to Melbourne’s best kept secret: the effectiveness of the bicycle-rail collaboration. Long ago, Alan Parker pointed out that the fastest, cheapest, healthiest and most sustainable way to get around much of the Melbourne Metro Area was [and today still is] a combination of bicycle and rail. I.e. bicycle to and from rail. It requires improved bike parking facilities at stations and an improved capacity to carry bikes on trains. With bike-rail, Melbourne becomes translucent. No peak hour traffic jams, no parking problems, no need for fuel and maintenance, no depreciation on the car, no speeding fines and, most of all, two to three times faster than the DODO because there’s no time wasted earning the money to pay for it, to park it or to service it!

* Professor, Faculty of Design & National Centre for

Sustainability, Swinburne University of Technology.

Penrith to get free shuttle bus

2011-02-18T00:29:00.001+11:00

PENRITH’S major attractions will be more easily accessible from next month when the city’s new free shuttle bus service begins.

State Transport Minister John Robertson announced the new service on Tuesday night, a week after a report appeared in the Press questioning why Penrith had been overlooked.

Mr Robertson said the bright green shuttle buses - which begin operation on March 14 - would provide services for up to 9500 people a week in Penrith. PenrithPress

Free buses a huge success - service expanding

2011-02-16T20:16:00.000+11:00

Metro taken for a ride Tasmania News - The Mercury - The Voice of Tasmania: "FREE bus services in Hobart were so popular over the weekend that Metro had to add an extra 20 runs to its Hobart timetable.

Metro's 'Have a weekend on us' campaign encouraged hundreds of locals and tourists to take advantage of free public transport in Hobart, Launceston and Burnie.

Metro chief executive Heather Haselgrove said it was too early to give exact numbers, but a contingency plan to roll out more buses if needed was applied on Saturday with the company adding 20 extra services in Hobart.

The first-time initiative was launched as a way of encouraging people who had not used public transport for many years to get back on buses."

Return of the Living Dead

2011-02-11T11:07:00.001+11:00

Watch this video, it'd be hilarious if it wasn't so serious

Return of the Living Dead

Mother Nature is talking. Is anyone listening?

2011-02-07T20:37:00.002+11:00

Fare-free weekend buses in Tasmania

2011-02-03T16:23:00.006+11:00

Tasmanian government minister launches fare-free buses in the weekends to "reduce traffic and parking congestion" and to "encourage more people to use public transport." Great! - but aren't these valid & compelling reasons to make it free every day?

Editor, FareFreeNZ

Fare Free Weekend on the Buses

Metro is offering free travel on its buses on the weekend commencing February 12.

Launching Metro’s “Have a Weekend on us” campaign today, the Minister for Sustainable Transport and Alternative Energy, Nick McKim, said the fare free weekend aimed to encourage more people to use public transport.

Mr McKim said by offering a weekend of free travel on regular services and routes, Metro was giving Tasmanians a chance to experience bus travel.

He said the free service would also reduce traffic and parking congestion on what was one of the busiest weekends of the year.

“This particular weekend is packed with major events and travelling on Metro buses provides a safe, convenient and enjoyable alternative to taking your own car,” Mr McKim said.

Events over the weekend include Festivale in Launceston, the Hobart Regatta, Hobart Cup, the Wooden Boat Festival and a Sheffield Shield cricket match at Bellerive Oval.

Metro Chief Executive Officer Heather Haselgrove said the “Have a Weekend on Us” campaign sought to encourage people who did not generally ride on buses to consider switching to Metro for future travel.

“Our aim is to increase public transport patronage in Tasmania and the fare free weekend gives people, especially those who haven’t ridden a bus in many years, the opportunity to see what it is like,” Ms Haselgrove said.

“We’re encouraging people to use buses not just to go to and from major events on this weekend, but to use regular services between other destinations – to see family and friends, go to the beach, go to shopping centres and so on.

“We believe that by showing people how easy and convenient it is, they will be more likely to see buses as a sensible alternative for daily commuting.”

Mr McKim said increasing the use of public transport had enormous long-term environmental and road safety benefits for the community and in the long-run would save people money.

The availability of the free fare services varies from region to region. In Hobart where there is a public holiday on Monday 14 February, it includes Saturday, Sunday and Monday; in Launceston the free services operate Saturday and Sunday and in Burnie the free services will run on Saturday.

For people attending Festivale on the evening of Friday 11 February, there will be free bus services on major routes from City Park (Cimitiere St before Tamar St) from 11.05pm to get people home from the event.

Tasmanian Government Media Release
Nick McKim MP
Minister for Sustainable Transport & Alternative Energy.
3 February 2011.

2011-02-02T12:14:00.002+11:00

Free Shuttle Buses in Liverpool City Centre

by StreetCorner Staff
02/02/2011

The State Government will be operating free daily shuttle services in Liverpool City Centre as of Monday 31 January 2011.

The new buses will be provided in line with the NSW Government’s $50.2 billion Metropolitan Transport Plan and signifies a $1 million investment in free public transport, on top of more than $3.4 million already invested in free shuttle buses in Sydney and Wollongong.

Coloured a distinctive green in order to make them easily identifiable, the new buses provide families and shoppers with more public transport links between key destinations such as train stations, shopping centres, hospitals and other community hubs. Each bus is air conditioned and low to the floor – providing easy to use public transport for parents with prams, the elderly and people with disabilities.

The free ‘999’ Liverpool Shuttle will make travel around the Liverpool city centre faster and simpler, and will run as a continuous one way loop connecting locations including Liverpool Station, Liverpool Hospital, Liverpool CBD Library, medical centres, Westfield and the post office.

Services will operate during the following times:

+ Monday to Friday between 9am and 2.30pm, every 20 minutes.

+ Saturday and Sunday between 9am to 5.45pm, every 20 minutes.

While the free bus service is considered a positive step in improving transport options available in Liverpool, the bus operates outside of peak hours and as such does not serve the needs of commuters and school children and is mainly targeted at shoppers. In terms of the bus route, Council notes that there is no bus stop at the Lachlan St portion of the loop or at Council’s offices at 33 Moore St, and will be providing feedback to the State Government on the route once the service is operational.

For your information, a route map and brochure for the Liverpool Free 999 Shuttle Bus is attached to this memo. More information on this service can be accessed on the Transport Infoline website at www.131500.com.au.

Should you require any further information on this matter, please do not hesitate to contact Milan Marecic, Acting Director Strategic Planning and Development, on 9821 9

Canada political candidate advocates removing fares from public transport

2011-02-01T17:42:00.018+11:00

Larsen as premier would let you ride transit for free

By Ian Austin, The Province January 31, 2011

Photograph by: Glenn Baglo, PNG

Dana Larsen wants you to ride the SkyTrain for free.
Larsen, who’s running for the leadership of the NDP, floated the free-ride concept Monday, comparing the SkyTrain line to the highway system.
“As premier, I would designate the SkyTrain as part of B.C.’s highway system, and then get rid of fares for users,” said Larsen. “We don’t charge a tariff to use the road, and we shouldn’t charge a tariff to use the SkyTrain.”
While cutting fares for SkyTrain would put a giant hole in the transit budget – 2010 TransLink estimates for SkyTrain fares collected are $155 million - Larsen maintains it’s similar to the subsidy now enjoyed by drivers.
“BC spends hundreds of millions of dollars subsidizing a free road system for car drivers, meanwhile SkyTrain has a fare, and a lot of that money is spent on the fare-collection system,” said Larsen.
“Why should we selectively subsidize car travel, but not SkyTrain?
“We don’t have a toll on our roads – why should we have a toll on the SkyTrain?”
Larsen credits, in part, the research of environmental consultant Dave Olsen, who has studied free transit services as far away as Hasselt, Belgium and as close as Whidbey Island, just south of the border in Washington state.
“We’re paying people to drive, but we’re not paying them people to take transit,” said Olsen, who has a masters in environmental studies from York University. “A simple way is to make transit fare-free.”
Olsen said transit police on SkyTrain cost $13 million per year, and the government is spending millions to install barriers at SkyTrain stations and on advertising campaigns to get people to take transit.
“Instead, they can just stop charging fares,” said Olsen. “In Hasselt, transit ridership went up 1200 per cent when they made it fare-free.”
While Larsen is considered a long shot to become NDP leader – let alone premier – he’s happy that his idea has started a fresh debate on fares.
“I see a lot of discussion on the Internet – people are Tweeting about it,” he said.
“People are really interested in this.”
iaustin@theprovince.com
twitter.com/ianaustin7

2011-02-01T06:16:00.001+11:00

Make ALL public transport frequent & free

** MEDIA RELEASE **

Monday January 31, 2011 - Local state election candidates for the Socialist Alliance have welcomed the news that passenger numbers on the free CBD shuttle bus are increasing. They have repeated calls to expand the shuttle service to other areas in NSW and to make all public transport frequent and free.

Paola Harvey, Socialist Alliance candidate for Keira, said: 'The news that nearly 5 million passengers have used the free shuttle service really vindicates our position that if you make public transport frequent and free, people will make the switch. The CBD shuttle initiative has been a wonderful departure from Labor's decades long neglect of our public transport system, particularly our rail.

'Dramatically improving public transport would give people the option of leaving the car at home. It's a socially just response to the chronic problems of traffic congestion, lack of parking and lack of mobility faced by poorer sections of the community. It would also reduce greenhouse-gas emissions from the transport sector, which contribute roughly 14% of Australia's total emissions', Harvey said.

Jess Moore, long-time public transport campaigner and Socialist Alliance candidate for the Legislative Council, said: 'We campaigned for frequent and free public transport during the 2007 NSW election campaign. Given the social and environmental benefits of public transport use, all public transport in NSW should be made frequent and free.

'In the Begian city of Hasselt, within a year of introducing free and frequent public transport, patronage increased by 870%. And their government found they saved money overall, given subsequent savings on health, road maintenance and construction, and also on ticketing.

'We stand for publicly owned public transport, not public handouts to private companies. The current Wollongong CBD shuttle service is publicly funded but privately run. This reduces the number of public sector jobs, and needlessly complicates planning, especially across an entire state.

'Any income generated from the public transport system should immediately be directed back into the system, not into private pockets.' Moore concluded.

Posted by Chris Williams at Monday, January 31, 2011

South Australia braces for scorching heat | Herald Sun

2011-01-31T07:47:00.000+11:00

South Australia braces for scorching heat | Herald Sun: "SOUTH Australians are set to swelter through their third day in a row of extreme heat with the temperature in Adelaide set to hit 42 degrees again.

Adelaide got to 42.5 degrees yesterday, after a 37.7 degree day on Saturday.

With 42 degrees forecast again tody, emergency services are advising people to take care of themselves in the heat.

The State Emergency Service issued an extreme heat warning for the three days, urging South Australians to take appropriate action to ensure their wellbeing during the heat event."

2011-01-24T15:47:00.001+11:00

Free buses for Liverpool, Campbelltown & Gosford residents

NSW Premier Kristina Keneally

by StreetCorner
24/01/2011

NSW Premier Kristina Keneally today announced free new air conditioned shuttle services that will begin operating next Monday (January 31) in Campbelltown, Liverpool and Gosford.

The bright green shuttle buses are a $1 million investment in easy to use public transport for local families, and will provide services for up to 24,500 people a week.

This is a direct investment by Labor in public transport for western Sydney – in stark contrast to the Liberal Party who on Friday night pledged to slash $7 billion and two western Sydney transport projects – the Western Express and the Parramatta to Epping Rail link.

“These new buses will help families in western Sydney and the Central Coast who are feeling the pressure of the cost of living,” Ms Keneally said.

“Today’s announcement is a solid demonstration of Labor’s commitment to improving public transport for families in western Sydney and the Central Coast.”

The new shuttles will provide free transport links between key commuter destinations – including hospitals, transport hubs and shopping centres.

In total, three new buses will provide 400 extra ‘loop services’ per week. They will operate as often as every 20 minutes per day between around:

• 9:00am and 2:30pm on weekdays, and

• 9:00am and 5:30pm on Saturdays and Sundays.

Each bus is air-conditioned and low to the floor – providing easy to use public transport for parents with prams, the elderly and people with disabilities.

The new buses are a significant expansion of the free shuttles already operating in Sydney and Wollongong – which have provided eight million people with free transport since 2008.

The bright green shuttle buses are in line with the NSW Government’s $50.2 billion Metropolitan Transport Plan, announced by the Premier in February 2010.

Under the Metropolitan Transport Plan, the NSW Government will grow the bus fleet by 1000 buses by 2020, providing better transport between people’s homes and workplaces.

Ms Keneally made the announcement today with Minister for Transport, John Robertson, Member for Liverpool, Paul Lynch, and Member for Wollondilly, Phil Costa.

“These new, free buses are a big win for local commuters – providing better public transport between train stations, shopping centres, hospitals and key locations,” Ms Keneally said.

“This is a fantastic initiative that will deliver significant benefits for local residents, local businesses and local communities in western Sydney and the Central Coast. "

Free Public Transport in Brisbane

2011-01-20T08:35:00.004+11:00

Southeast Queensland public transport fares have been waived as the region begins efforts to recover from this week’s flood disaster.

Premier Anna Bligh has said, ".......making the network free for a week will keep unnecessary cars off the road....." This is recognition that fares are an impediment to making public transport the travel mode of choice. Yet once the free fare days are over (22 Jan) Brisbane public transport users will be slugged with 15% fare increases - these were planned prior to the floods. The article goes on to say that the fare increase will "go towards fixing damaged public transport infrastructure" (damaged by the floods). This is a disingenuous and opportunistic statement. One only has to ask the question of "where was the money going to go if there were no floods"?

Is climate science disinformation a crime against humanity? | Donald Brown | Environment | guardian.co.uk

2011-01-14T13:40:00.001+11:00

Is climate science disinformation a crime against humanity? | Donald Brown | Environment | guardian.co.uk: "According the New York Times article, the fossil fuel industry has 'created and lavishly financed institutes to produce anti-global warming studies, paid for rallies and websites to question the science, and generated scores of economic analyses that purport to show that policies to reduce emissions of climate-altering gases will have a devastating effect on jobs and the overall economy.'

Disinformation about the state of climate change science is extraordinarily – if not criminally – irresponsible, because the consensus scientific view is based upon strong evidence that climate change:..."

Fix public transport. Make it frequent and free! - Socialist Alliance Illawarra

2011-01-10T15:05:00.000+11:00

Socialist Alliance Illawarra: "MEDIA RELEASE - Paola Harvey, socialist candidate for Keira, has called for a massive funding boost to public transport in order to fix the system's chronic problems.

'We need to move away from car dependency and encourage more people to use public transport, but the NSW government is doing the opposite. In 2009-10 there were 2.3 million fewer passenger trips on the NSW rail network compared to 2008-09. Poor management and lack of investment over many years has pushed people out of the system. This is unacceptable for social and environmental reasons', said Harvey."

Eventually there will be enough pain. Then, maybe, we will put an end to the private automobile.

2011-01-02T07:30:00.000+11:00

Australian floodwaters rise as bushfire threat looms | World news | guardian.co.uk: "Australia has endured its wettest spring on record, according to the national weather bureau, causing six river systems in Queensland to flood. Swollen rivers in New South Wales have also caused flood damage to wheat crops.

Possibly as much as half the Australian wheat crop, or about 10m tonnes, has been downgraded to less than milling quality because of rain damage. That has tightened global supplies and sent prices up by about 45% this year, the biggest surge since 2007."

Floods and climate chaos, the wages of automobile sin

2010-12-28T02:02:00.000+11:00

Sunshine Coast Free Holiday Buses

2010-12-14T18:55:00.000+11:00

Sunshine Coast Free Holiday Buses: "This Christmas / New Year period, council is providing free public transport on the Sunshine Coast from 26 December 2010 to 9 January 2011.

Council is continuing the initiative following last year's highly successful Free Holiday Buses Program.

This year, in addition to the Noosa services and the Maroochydore to Caloundra route 600, council is extending the program to include the entire Sunshine Coast region."

Alienating Ourselves

2010-12-01T23:01:00.000+11:00

Alienating Ourselves

We alienate ourselves through the language we use; moralistic judgements and denial of responsibility are forms of alienating communication that can result in anger, violence and poor outcomes. If we are to achieve change we must become aware about how the language we use affects those we are trying to convince.

Great thought provoking Video

2010-11-22T09:13:00.000+11:00

If this video doesn't get you thinking then we do have a problem.

Great thought provoking Video

Do not worry -- we will continue the struggle

2010-11-12T00:46:00.000+11:00

'Fed up' NSW Labor MP quits

Mr Gibson says the party can still win the next election if it focuses on public transport.
"It's up to the Labor Party whether they pursue those ideals," he said.
"I've talked about public transport for probably 20 years. Free public transport: it's nothing new, it's in many cities of the world today, it'd be a winner here."
A colleague of Mr Gibson, Wollongong MP Noreen Hay, says he will be missed.
"I think Paul has been a great contribution here in the parliament," she said.
The former rugby league first grade player had been threatening to stand as an independent if pushed to resign.
The Nationals leader Andrew Stoner wants to know why he is apparently going quietly.

abc.net.au

Sunshine Coast - 15 days of Free Public Transport at year-end

2010-11-10T03:14:00.000+11:00

This Christmas / New Year period, council is providing free public transport on the Sunshine Coast from 26 December 2010 to 9 January 2011. Council is continuing the initiative following last year's highly successful Free Holiday Buses program.

This year, in addition to the Noosa services and the Maroochydore to Caloundra route 600, council is extending the program to include the entire Sunshine Coast region.

Bus Australia

Mt Waverley - Candidate for free public transport

2010-11-08T03:07:00.000+11:00

Public safety a concern for Mt Waverley - Election 2010 - News - Waverley Leader: "PUBLIC transport is the most important issue facing Mt Waverley voters, followed by safety, planning, climate change, and the rising cost of living, state election candidates indicate.

All four candidates announced so far named public transport as an issue, with Democratic Labor Party candidate Des Kelly stating his party’s position was for free public transport.

“Public transport should be operated as a service, not a business,” Mr Kelly said."

The Link between Equity and Zero-Fare Public Transport

2010-10-29T22:29:00.000+11:00

The Link between Equity and Zero-Fare Public Transport

Free public transport necessary to ease congestion

2010-10-23T12:40:00.001+11:00

John Stanley - University of Sydney

Sydney, Oct. 22 Xinhua (Xinhua Jiang Yaping) major cities in the face of growing traffic congestion, an Australian expert advice, free public transportation can be taken simultaneously to charge tolls for private cars of measures to alleviate traffic.

University of Sydney, Australia Professor, Institute of Transport and Logistics John Stanley issued a report that a city to improve urban public transport there are many solutions to the situation, including in non-peak free and allowing people to use public transport, as well as private car drivers entering the city levied tolls to subsidize public transportation.

Stanley believes that private car drivers to road use fee is imposed urban traffic congestion management an effective approach. It was rush hour should be higher than the non-peak road fee collection.

According to statistics, every major Australian city growth rate of private cars more than population growth. Australia this year because of traffic jams caused economic losses estimated as high as 100 million Australian dollars (about 9.8 billion U.S. dollars) by 2020 this figure will increase to 200 billion Australian fear (about 19.6 billion U.S. dollars).

Google Translate from:
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2010-10/22/c_13570512.htm

Foreign corporations devastating Papua New Guinea rainforests

2010-10-22T13:31:00.000+11:00

Foreign corporations devastating Papua New Guinea rainforests: "A letter in Nature from seven top scientists warns that Papua New Guinea will lose all of its accessible forest in just ten to twenty years if swift action isn't taken. A potent mix of poor governance, corruption, and corporate disregard is leading to the rapid loss of Papua New Guinea's much-heralded rainforests, home to a vast array of species found no-where else in the world."

Extreme drought across most of Earth by 2060 | COSMOS magazine

2010-10-20T18:56:00.000+11:00

Extreme drought across most of Earth by 2060 | COSMOS magazine: "WASHINGTON: Large swathes of the planet could experience extreme drought within the next 30 years unless greenhouse gas emissions are cut, according to a study released this week."

The limits to energy efficiency | Green Left Weekly

2010-10-18T04:51:00.000+11:00

The limits to energy efficiency | Green Left Weekly: "However, strong evidence has emerged that new energy efficient technologies alone won’t do much to cut emissions.

Indeed, in a capitalist economy, it’s very likely that energy efficiency gains will lead to higher energy use, not less."

This is Jevons' economic principle. "All things equal, making something more efficient means more usage." We need solutions that change the basic economics. Transport is a system. Systems have tipping points. The auto-system is heavily subsidized and very wasteful. If we increase energy supply the auto-system will consume it. We must first reach a tipping point against the auto. Then the auto subsidies will be seen to be burdensome instead of necessary. The way to do it is free public transport.

Facebook (1) | Critical Climate - Making business as usual too expensive.

2010-10-15T10:26:00.000+11:00

Facebook (1) | Critical Climate - Making business as usual too expensive.: "Critical Climate - Making business as usual too expensive. Less than 2% of the $6 billion energy & transport subsidies for big business could replace Adelaide Metro’s fare revenue for an entire year. A bit more could start to seriously improve the system.

Apart from increasing public transport patronage, free public transport would also reduce the cost of living for the poorest people in our society.The government is already taking their money and giving it to corporations. There's no doubt people would prefer that money was used to pay for public services which could help save the planet.

Planet Before Profits! Free, Frequent, Accessible Public Transport Now!
www.CriticalClimate.net"

Free Public Transport � Adam Butler

2010-10-04T03:20:00.001+11:00

Free Public Transport � Adam Butler: "No I’m not mad. Public Transport should be free. For the time being I will concentrate on rail. In NSW, only 22% of the running costs for rail comes from the travelling public. 53% already comes from taxpayers and the rest from other revenue like property rental, interest, access fees etc….On top of this, Railcorp recorded a surplus of $194M in 07/08. So to have free rail transport we only need to find the 22% received from passengers. Here’s how we can do it (and do it easily)."

Do not leave public transport up to the "free" market

2010-09-28T00:05:00.000+10:00

And we build all of this infrastructure with public money (possibly deficit spending) because, for a number of reasons – from the unsustainability of growth on the roads, to the finite nature of the world’s oil supply, to tackling climate change – it’s imperative that we encourage people out of their cars and onto our trains and trams. Public transport is a natural monopoly; it’s not something we can leave up to the wondrous “free market”. As the last thirty years have demonstrated. So we fund it through our taxes, as an important public service.

And there’s no need to punish the poorest Victorians, concession-card holders, in order to do it.

anonymouslefty

Free public transport will save money on roads

2010-09-15T02:32:00.000+10:00

I think we should make public transport free. This has worked wonders in a number of European cities where the use of P/T increased 10 fold and big savings were made on maintaining roads as people were leaving their cars at home. For this idea to work in Canberra, to start with we would need adequate services for commuters to work and school (as a resident of West Belconnen I think the ACTION service is appalling).

How could you pay for this? There would be savings on road maintenance and less necessity for building new roads. Raising rates to cover the shortfall would also be a motivator, as people know that they are already paying for the service.

bytetime commenting on Canberra2030.org.au

Climate deniers are paid killers, people are dying right now from climate change

2010-09-10T11:10:00.000+10:00

Yes, man-made climate change denial is about politics, but it’s more pragmatic than ideological. The politics have been shaped around the demands of industrial lobby groups, which happen, in many cases, to fund those who articulate them. Right-wingers are making monkeys of themselves over climate change not just because their beliefs take precedence over the evidence, but also because their interests take precedence over their beliefs. George Monbiot

Adelaide: New free tram service a success -- will be made permanent.

2010-09-08T23:57:00.000+10:00

TRAM travel between Adelaide's Entertainment Centre and the city will always be free, the South Australian government says.

Premier Mike Rann says the service has been a "terrific success'' since it started carrying passengers in March.

The government had planned to offer free travel for just six months on the $100 million extension, which runs from the western end of the city's North Terrace to the Entertainment Centre.

The new service was inspiring more people to use public transport, the premier said at Sunday's official opening of the route.
AdelaideNow

2010-08-30T05:49:00.001+10:00

Rally 4 Free Public Transport! Planet B4 Profits!

Having free, frequent and accessible public transport will increase the amount of people using it and we already spend way more money than we would need to do it on stupid things like locking up refugees (we're still the only 1st world country that does that), invading Iraq & Afghanistan and supporting the 'War on Terror' or just giving it to big business. Just 2% of the $6 billion energy & transport subsidies for big business could replace Adelaide Metro’s fare revenue for an entire year.

Protest 2pm Sat Oct 30 @ Hindmarsh Square, Adelaide.

Download a PDF of the above leaflet in A4 or A6 and start getting the word out!

Plus, join our Facebook event

Free Public Transport -- to fight hypocrisy!

2010-08-07T08:30:00.000+10:00

NOw if public transport was free, would more people use it? The government should make it free to cut down on pollution and accidents.

For us, with 5 children it costs more to use PT than it does to drive. I think that's rididculous.

Sure the money they make from it will be lost, but so what? We are supposed to be 'saving the world' with all these meetings and crap they do that never seem to reach conclusions and I'm sure cost a fortune to set up and attend.

I am so sick of people driving their petrol fueled cars to electricity sucking shopping centres and buying over packaged, over processed items and then saying 'Oh, no' to a plastic bag like they're doing their bit. It's hypocritical and quite frankly hilarious.

People won't give up their cars, they won't give up all the convenience and ease, we all waste and use and moan about pollution and global warming. But there is just never a big big effort made, a big step forward. Like making PT free or restricitng car use, offering incentives for those who use their cars little. PSAs about car use, the dangers of overcrowded roads and pollution.

Oh well, we will continue on our hypocritical ways forever I am sure, I often wonder how the world will be when fossil fules run out, I imagine it will be a nicer place! autumntree on essentialbaby forum

Govt plans to divert solar money to auto subsidy

2010-07-27T01:55:00.000+10:00

If re-elected, the Government says it will offer owners of pre-1995 vehicles a $2,000 rebate for upgrading to more fuel efficient cars.

But solar energy advocates, the Greens and the Coalition have slammed the proposal, as more than half of the funding for it will be taken from the Government's solar infrastructure program. ABC

Humans extinct in 100 years - Frank Fenner

2010-07-19T22:20:00.000+10:00

Fenner said that climate change is only at its beginning, but is likely to be the cause of our extinction. “We’ll undergo the same fate as the people on Easter Island,” he said. More people means fewer resources, and Fenner predicts “there will be a lot more wars over food.”
Easter Island is famous for its massive stone statues. Polynesian people settled there, in what was then a pristine tropical island, around the middle of the first millennium AD. The population grew slowly at first and then exploded. As the population grew the forests were wiped out and all the tree animals became extinct, both with devastating consequences. After about 1600 the civilization began to collapse, and had virtually disappeared by the mid-19th century. Evolutionary biologist Jared Diamond said the parallels between what happened on Easter Island and what is occurring today on the planet as a whole are “chillingly obvious.”
The Tech Journal

When you are in a hole --- Stop digging!

2010-07-13T11:49:00.001+10:00

Oz turns to oceans for drinking water | World | News | Toronto Sun: "By 2012, when the last plant is scheduled to be up and running, Australia's big cities will get 30% of their water from the oceans, The New York Times reported Sunday.

The government says Australia's latest decade-long drought was largely caused by climate change and one official called the $13-billion desalination programme 'the cost of adapting to climate change.'
But critics of the massive infrastructure scheme say desalination will increase climate change because of the large quantities of energy it requires and other, cheaper measures — such as stricter conservation, a better grid supply system and even more efficient washing machines — can easily make Australia's existing water supplies stretch farther."

2010-07-05T11:48:00.001+10:00

Lifehacker’s Free Public Transport Guide, 2010 Edition

By Angus Kidman on July 5, 2010 at 11:30 AM

Public transport is generally cheaper than jumping in a car, but in capital cities, you can often get around the CBD without paying at all. Here’s the options for free buses and trams across Australia’s major cities.

Free bus services are often designed to appeal to tourists, which explains why they’re largely found in the middle of major cities. However, whether you’re a visitor to town or a seasoned local, they can be a useful option for getting around, especially in inclement weather. The main restriction is that many don’t operate outside of standard business hours; if you’re looking for a late night solution, you’re going to end up paying almost everywhere (except Adelaide and Perth).

We published a similar guide last year; we’ve updated this one to incorporate reader comments and new options. Combined with our airport transfers guide, you can enjoy a visit to any of Australia’s major cities at minimal fiscal and environmental cost. Click on the links for access to the relevant timetables and route information.
Sydney

The 555 bus runs in a loop in both directions between Circular Quay and Central Station. The frequency is pretty good — once every 10 minutes. On weekdays, it runs from 9:30am to 3:30pm (extended to 9:00pm on Thursdays). On weekends, it operates from 9:30am to 6:00pm.
Melbourne

The City Circle Tram is Melbourne’s most visible free option, running every 12 minutes around the outer edge of the Melbourne CBD (both clockwise and anti-clockwise). It runs between 10:00am and 6:00pm Sunday to Wednesday, and 10:00am to 9:00pm Thursday to Saturday. The City Tourist Shuttle bus offers more access to tourist destinations, but is less frequent and slower. It runs every 30 minutes, takes 90 minutes to do a full loop, and operates between 9:30am and 4:30pm daily.
Brisbane

Brisbane offers two loop buses, one for CBD covering the main area of the city and one for Spring Hill. The CBD loop runs 07:00am to 6:00pm , with departures every 15 minutes. Spring Hill runs from 08:16am to 6:00pm, with departures every 10 minutes. Annoyingly, neither service runs on weekends or public holidays.
Perth

Perth remains the champion city for free public transport, with three free loop buses as well as free use of all transit services (trains and buses) within the CBD area bounded by City West and Claisebrook. There’s a map of the Free Transit Zone and a slightly onerous list of conditions on the Transperth site.

If you’re worried about overstepping the boundaries with that option, there are also three free CAT bus services which operate entirely within the free CBD area: the east-west Red and Yellow services, and the North-South Blue service. Services generally operate from around 07:00am to 06:00pm on weekdays, with frequencies of roughly once every seven minutes. Weekends have later starting times and lower frequencies. As well, there are free CAT buses which operate in Freemantle and Joondalup (though the latter don’t run on weekends). Full details for all the services are on the CAT information page
Adelaide

The iconic Glenelg tram is free between North and South Terrace within the city, and along Jetty Road within Glenelg. It runs every 7 or so minutes between 8:00am and 6:00pm Monday to Friday, every 15 minutes between 09:00am and 6:00pm Saturdays and Sundays, and every 20 minutes at other times.

If you’d prefer a bus, the 99C runs a loop across the northern half of the CBD from 08:00am to 09:00pm, with services every 15 minutes until 06:00pm and additional services on Friday nights. Weekend services run every 30 minutes. Adelaide City Council operates the Adelaide Connector service, which covers a wider area (incorporating North Adelaide as well) but with only one bus an hour.
Newcastle

The Fare Free Bus scheme allows free travel on any government bus between 07:30am and 6:00pm every day.

Know of a free transport option we’ve missed? Share it in the comments.

Lifehacker Australia editor Angus Kidman will always take the free bus, thanks. His Road Worrier column, looking at technology and organising tips for travellers, appears each week on Lifehacker.

lifehacker.com.au

Free transport and electricity until December.

2010-07-05T10:14:00.000+10:00

Free transport and electricity until December.: "The Ministry of Finance expects to make a final decision regarding the provision of permanent free public transport before the end of this year."

Expand Free Transit Zone - not free car parks

2010-06-21T05:55:00.002+10:00

We need new public transport initiatives for sustainability and to revitalise our city (Fremantle)

The June 12 Herald newsclips briefly reported on council's decision to explore the possibility of making the whole city a Free Transit Zone. It's worth explaining the thinking behind this.

Everyone agrees that we need to revitalise the heart of Freo and make it a real hub of commercial, social and community life. However we are never going to be able to do this by offering the acres of free parking you find at Garden City. Instead we need to improve public transport and cycling facilities and services.

The problem with the FreoStar was that it was simply too infrequent to be a viable option for the majority of people in the areas it served. Council will never have the resources to be a serious stand alone public transport operator. This is the responsibility of the state government.

However what council can and should do is seek to build on and facilitate better Transperth services. Already we are identifying and prioritising light rail transit corridors in an effort to encourage the state government to commit to a really serious step up in public transport for our region.

The idea with the Free Transit Zone is that all residents in the city be issued with a Transperth 'SmartRider' card programmed to allow free travel within the city. You'd hope this would stimulate more bus travel and in turn the demand for Transperth to improve its services, particularly to our poorly served suburbs such as Samson.

Unlike subsidising services to only particular suburbs, a Free Transit Zone would be a more equitable way for council to spend the money. If for whatever reason this is not possible, new CAT services to suburbs not serviced by the existing routes might also be an option.

Sam Wainwright, Socialist councillor,
Fremantle.
www.freoreport.net

Empire strikes back -- kills free transport plan

2010-06-18T18:40:00.000+10:00

'They'd clog up public transport'
CHALPAT SONTI
June 18, 2010 - 6:47AM
A Liberal Party election promise for free round-the-clock public transport for seniors and the disabled has been shelved, with Premier Colin Barnett saying it would be environmentally unwise.

The government rolled out an off-peak scheme after being elected, which has seen about 7 million trips taken in the first year of operation.... WA Today

Free bus travel on Sundays

2010-06-14T05:51:00.002+10:00

PASSENGERS can now travel free on Bendigo Transit buses on the first Sunday of each month throughout winter.

State Public Transport Minister Martin Pakula said the Car-less Sunday promotion allowed bus users to trial the network, something he hopes they will continue to use after the promotional period.

“Buses provide an essential transport service in Bendigo, providing crucial access to work, school, recreational facilities, healthcare services and retailers,’’ Mr Pakula said.

“There are some two million passenger trips on the Bendigo Transit network each year and we need to ensure we provide bus services that cater to passenger needs.’’

Car-less Sunday is a feature of the Bendigo City Centre TravelSmart Travel Plan, which aims to reduce the number of single-occupant car trips, increase the number of active travel trips and reinforce the city centre as a place to work, shop and visit Bendigo residents and visitors will receive free local bus travel on the first Sunday of the month until November, and on each Sunday in December.

Member for Bendigo East Jacinta Allan said the government had continued to invest in the bus network with 692 weekly services added in the past two years.

”This was the biggest bus service improvement delivered to Bendigo in more than 15 years and is servicing the outer growth areas of Bendigo as well as existing suburbs and the central retail precinct,’’ the member for Bendigo East, Jacinta Allan, said.

“These improvements have resulted in an increase in patronage of 20 per cent, a clear endorsement of the Bendigo Transit system.’’ Mr Pakula said the growth in patronage of the Bendigo bus network would be monitored regularly.

“We’re constantly monitoring how well those services are running and seeing if they can be finetuned,’’ he said.

“That includes reassessing timetables and connections with trains and initiating discussions about service needs.’’

Bendigo Advertiser 14 June 2010

The auto drains valuable resources - Frank Fisher

2010-06-09T18:42:00.001+10:00

...our approaches to resolving Australia’s urban transport difficulties are piecemeal and that what limited success we have (notably in Perth) arose from the remarkable generalising influence of an outsider, environmental scientist, Prof. Peter Newman. So far however, the successes have not involved any large scale inroads into the use of the private urban commuter vehicle, or DODO, as Australia’s primary means for urban commuting let alone into the use of trucks instead of trains for goods transport. The DODO or Driver Only Driver Owned commuter car exercises its seductive hold over urban commutation through its very dedication to a single person. In the first instance it does it by privatising ownership to its (owner-)driver which secures and ensures his/her continuous access to it. The apparent freedoms provided by that dedication, by the widely accessible monetary resources to secure (owner-)dedication and by the equally widespread (if nowadays wilfull) ignorance to the planetary consequences of DODOs, are among the many difficult binds we must unpick in the effort to wean ourselves off default use of DODOs for all transport duties.

Currently the dedication to the DODO accounts for something like a third of all our energy use. In saying this i am including the energy costs of building, maintaining, monitoring and deconstructing the motor car and all its supporting infrastructures. These costs cover such diverse activities as a good proportion of hospital emergency activities, a significant proportion of government bureaucracies, one part of which will be the defence forces dedicated to maintaining oil supply lines and another being provision of foreign relations services to facilitate them. Were we to attempt to cover all the energy costs of the car and its supporting infrastructures, we would need to offset the energy demands of rectifying environment and human health damage inflicted by its many-faceted emissions - only one of which is CO₂! Other emissions from its operation are a variety of noxious gases, particulates, heat, vibration, noise … . Beyond its operational environmental costs are the pollution implications associated with driving its infrastructures, their construction and all their supporting infrastructures in turn. To make good these extensive and comprehensive environmental damages would likely take more energy than we currently use for everything. Taking implications such as these into consideration implies an operational efficiency in moving that Driver very close to zero. On top of this, governments desperate to reduce their fossil fuel dependency are now beginning to support fuelling this process from foodstuffs (corn, sugar, canola …) forcing up the price of foodstuffs. The use of foodstuffs to drive DODOs moves us way beyond the inefficiencies in using grain for feed lot beef because a far smaller proportion of the fuel provided to a car (<1%[ii]) actually goes to move its driver, than goes to “fuel” a grain fed steer’s production of meat! If grain-fed beef is a reprehensible use of grain, how much less acceptable are grain-fed DODOs?...
Read the whole document

Frequent, Free, and Popular

2010-06-05T23:22:00.000+10:00

It’s frequent and it’s free.
Since it began two years ago, more than two million passengers have been using the hugely popular Central Business District (CBD) Shuttle Bus to get them across town. Tourists, elderly people, shoppers, young people and office workers are taking advantage of the free ride.
The New South Wales (NSW) Government’s Free CBD Shuttle Bus has been so popular since it started its route in December 2008 that around 3,500 people a day have been riding the free public transport to travel in and around Sydney’s CBD. AustraliaForum

More Public Transport Waste

2010-05-27T11:09:00.001+10:00

More Public Transport Waste

Posted using ShareThis

We need public transit - not more roads

2010-05-26T18:38:00.000+10:00

Lee Rhiannon NSW Senate Candidate

Commenting on secret government documents released through the NSW Upper House Greens MP and transport spokesperson Lee Rhiannon has called on the NSW government to scrap city motorway upgrade plans and fast track public transport projects. Read more...

You have a choice

2010-05-23T22:31:00.001+10:00

We have another candidate!

2010-05-04T07:11:00.001+10:00

Free Public Transport Advocate Adam Butler in the race for Reid, NSW

I don’t know who said that but I think it sums up many things. “Be the change you want to see” is what Ghandi said. But you can’t do that unless you choose to do it. It’s the same with your choices on election day. If you want to see genuine progress in our community then you need to start making choices that allows genuine progress.

As I see it, the two old political parties have had ample opportunity to move our community toward genuine progress (decades in fact). They have failed. Both the Howard era and now the Rudd era have been a step backwards from genuine progress. By genuine progress I mean improvements in an individual’s health, education and safety. But genuine progress also means including our natural environment. For you see, we live in a society not an economy yet so many of the decisions made in Canberra are made based on financial implications rather than societal ramifications.

Under Howard our homes got bigger (we have the largest homes in the world) and our waistlines got bigger (we are one of the fattest nations in the world). Yet as a society we aren’t any happier. The change to the Rudd government in 2007 was met with great anticipation. The greatest moral and economical challenge of our time (climate change) has now become not so important. In an essay for The Monthly entitled “Faith in Politics”, Kevin Rudd said this about refugees, “The parable of the Good Samaritan is but one of many which deal with the matter of how we should respond to a vulnerable stranger in our midst.” Soon after he said “I make absolutely no apology whatsoever for taking a tough line on asylum seekers.” Aren’t we fed up with this kind of hypocrisy?

The Australia Government continues to spend billions of dollars on the “war on terror” when that money should be used on education, health and public transport. Massive defence spending does not contribute to genuine progress but investing in our people certainly does.

I ask you, what shall it be? More of last century’s thinking by the old parties or a new tact by a young and enthusiastic party wanting a positive and genuinely prosperous future.

When you are standing in that polling booth you will be faced with a choice. It is only when you exercise your right to choose that you can also exercise your right to change. AdamButler

Zero-fare Public Transport - EcoForum

2010-04-21T23:15:00.000+10:00

There are a number of towns and cities across the world which offer free public transport at the time of boarding. This is sometimes called Zero-fare public transport.

Funding for public tranport is instead allocated from taxes. This enables faster, more efficient rides due to the lack of ticketing and allows for more regular services and routes to be added.

Several studies show that the number of people using public transport after it is made free soars, which is great for the environment and for the living standards of our cities, streets, and neighbourhoods.

Because taxes support the system instead, the quality of the public transport is not reduced and because the number of cars on the roads is reduced, the public have clearer, less noisy air and a greater feeling of community.

This is needed in Sydney - where there is the craziest bus system, that certain buses are cashless - no ticket no ride - not too good for tourists visiting the city EcoForum

More Millions to be Wasted on a Ticketing System

2010-04-12T09:10:00.002+10:00

The NSW State Government just doesn't get it. They seem to think that it is OK to spend millions of dollars on a TICKETING SYSTEM. One that will not attract more customers or increase the capacity of the transport network. Read more here....

Relieving the state of the burdens associated with running a user-pays system by having free public transport will see us more forward in leaps and bounds....if only they'd get their hands out of their pockets and open their eyes.

Another Free Public Transport Candidate

2010-04-03T14:21:00.000+11:00

Residents also want a representative who will fight to stop a tunnel and freeways as a solution to the transport chaos every rush-hour. We need free, expanded and integrated public transport to get people out of cars and also to protect the environment. Socialist Party Australia

Carbon trading could lead to forest destruction

2010-03-24T02:47:00.000+11:00

The United Nations guideline only defines trees (as carbon absorbers) based on high, without any detail of the species. Therefore, he argued that the proposal will allow Indonesia to receive more benefits from REDD based on the expansion of green areas.

However, this reason in fact sounds funny. The basic paradigm of REDD is avoiding deforestation. The incentives of this scheme are based on the ability of a country to avoid deforestation from its natural forest. Donors are not stupid and do not facilitate funding for areas that are not naturally forested. It seems to be that the Indonesian government would like to receive double benefits from oil palm: the investment on plantation development as well as REDD compensation from its status as trees. Are they joking?

This is actually the reason why we should not think REDD is identical to carbon trading. If REDD is identical to carbon trade, and forests are only perceived as carbon capturers, this mechanism is dangerous. Forest rehabilitation will not consider forest as integrated ecosystems and the importance of biodiversity will be neglected.... The Jakarta Post Yansen , Queensland Fri, 03/19/2010 11:09 AM Opinion

Australia needs a public transport revolution

2010-03-15T13:08:00.001+11:00

Free Transport for All

2010-02-24T10:21:00.003+11:00

I recently had a "letter to the editor" published in the local newspaper (Inner West Courier) in Sydney. Follow the link in the title if you are unable to read the small font below:

Free Public Transport - Eliminate Congestion

2010-02-19T14:40:00.001+11:00

Free public transport @ Yahoo!7 Video

The Public Transport Bandwagon

2010-02-17T09:26:00.000+11:00

In Sydney, over the last few months, something has been built. It isn’t something you can touch or something you can see, but nevertheless it now exists. It is the Public Transport Bandwagon. More and more influential people are starting to get on board the bandwagon and the media are even starting to look forward (for a change). Read More.

Free Public Transit a solution to crowds and violence

2010-02-15T23:01:00.001+11:00

Providing free public transport for people leaving clubs late at night could help prevent alcohol-related violence, an inquiry has heard.
Clubs Queensland chief executive Doug Flockhart said a common sense approach was needed to stem violence, not new regulations and laws.
Mr Flockhart said governments and councils needed to treat each night of operation in entertainment precincts as a special event.
He said special events such as football matches involved free transport and other amenities....

smh

'Free, Fast & Frequent' public transport

2010-01-29T13:51:00.000+11:00

Zero-Fare Public Transport for Canberra

2010-01-23T12:42:00.004+11:00

This is a proposal for improving public transport in the ACT that will result in a dramatic increase in public transport usage. Canberra could become the largest city in the world demonstrating this approach to environmentally responsible public transport.

The bottom-line cost to the ACT government should be minimal over ten years. There will be some up-front capital cost for larger or additional ACTION buses, to cope with increased patronage, and possibly some redeployment costs for redundant ACTION staff. These up-front capital costs would be much less than the capital cost of a light-rail service and other planned road improvements. ACTION's operating subsidy may need a small increase. However, the bottom-line for the ACT community as a whole would be a real saving.

Only about 20% of ACTION's gross revenue comes from fares (see ACTION's Annual Reports) and a large proportion of this is spent collecting the fares. Taxpayers already contribute about $1m a week to support ACTION. I therefore propose that the payment of all bus fares be eliminated, making public transport fare-free for users. Economists argue that this will result in overuse but the many advantages of this proposal include:

Bus services will operate faster point-to-point and will be on time, because stops (dwell time) would be only momentary (with no time lost in fare collection) and because all doors can be used for entry and exit at every stop. These improvements have been demonstrated in places like inner-Perth, London, Zurich and Geneva, where tickets are not sold onboard the buses.
Safety will improve once the bus driver is not distracted by collecting fares and can give undivided attention to driving the bus.
Drivers can be more physically isolated from the passengers, making bus driving a safer and more attractive occupation, particularly at night. In addition, with no cash on board, there would be no motive for robbery.
ACTION staffing flexibility and efficiency improves once drivers can changeover at any point on the network – once again, because they are not carrying cash.
Potential passengers could no longer (incorrectly) argue that driving to work costs them about the same as catching the bus. Many families would no longer need a second car, a huge saving.
There would be substantial ACTION operating economies without tickets, student passes, ticket validation machines, ticket inspectors, sales outlet commissions, most of ACTION's accounting staff, armoured car services, driver lost time for cash counting and reconciliation, etc. As a result, the ACT government's current subsidy, of $1m a week, should be sufficient to operate the new "free" service at the present patronage level.
Increased patronage would eliminate the need to build more capacity into our road network for at least ten years. These savings would pay for a larger ACTION bus fleet and the retraining of surplus staff to accommodate the increase in passengers.
There would be no need to build new public car parking for about ten years.
Commercial and other vehicles would be less delayed by traffic congestion, reducing their operating costs.
Future bus driver recruits would not need to be trained to handle cash and need not be paid a premium pay rate for this task. This simplified workload would attract more applicants for bus driver jobs.
On trunk routes, the resulting high frequency of buses would make timetables unnecessary, a strategy which has been found in Toronto to greatly increase patronage. The reduced cost of timetables and their associated staffing would be another saving. On trunk routes buses could turn short, jump stops and use other flexibility measures.
All road vehicle accident and injury rates would decrease, reducing insurance rates, a saving to everyone.
By running the buses on CNG instead of diesel (already a recommendation of the ACT Greenhouse Strategy) many more people will travel using this low environmental impact fuel.
The overall reduction in vehicle exhaust pollution would assist our compliance with the Kyoto Convention and also alleviate the smog problem in Tuggeranong valley.
Increase public transport usage will improve the social fabric of Canberra as people meet each other on the buses.
This strategy would greatly assist Canberra to meet the Canberra 2020 Summit target of 50% of travel trips by other than private vehicle by 2020.

Opposition can be expected from petrol companies, motor manufacturers, tyre makers, road builders and other lobby groups with a vested interest in increasing our reliance on our cars.

Some taxpayers may argue they are being forced to pay for something they don't use, however, if they must still use a car they will benefit from the lowered road traffic congestion.

Overuse could be adjusted by making peak-hour bus stops at least half a kilometre apart, with closer spaced, intervening off-peak stops to facilitate access by those with a disability. More bus lanes would be easy to implement once we have lowered congestion. Both of these measures would further speed up peak-hour services.

Light-rail is very expensive to install and inflexible for a place like Canberra. It cannot provide express peak-hour services and if a light-rail vehicle breaks down, it blocks the route. Light-rail really needs its own right-of-way to work successfully. We already have a road infrastructure well suited to buses. A light-rail between Gungahlin and Civic would need either a massive annual operating subsidy or very high fares, as exemplified by the privatised light-rail service in inner Sydney, operating in a much higher population density than Canberra.

This is a great opportunity for Canberra to show the world what can be done in a homogeneous planned environment, with a well-educated population, willing to try such an exciting experiment. Canberra would certainly attract world media and professional transport experts' attention.

Remember how successful "zero-fare" public transport was for the Sydney Olympics and the Melbourne Commonwealth Games!
Sincerely,
Chris Emery, retired Professional Engineer, Reid 2612 [pdf]

Rewards of free transport are so numerous

2010-01-22T02:23:00.000+11:00

...One figure has traffic congestion costing Sydney about $8billion dollars per year in the next few years.

I have argued that to achieve efficiency the most simple way is to make public transport free. No new large infrastructure needs to be built. Roads already exist for freight to move along and with fewer cars on the road freight movements are more “productive”. This requires and investment in more rail lines and substantially more buses and trains of course. The rewards of free public transport are so numerous I believe governments are committing a crime against the populous if they don’t implement a program in the coming years....Adam Butler

Free transport eminently doable

2010-01-12T04:23:00.000+11:00

...So roughly a 1% increase in the state budget would make the trains free. Call it 2% to include busses and ferries. Some of that you get back from savings in ticketing costs. Probably have to spend more to improve the service to cope with increased demand. But then gain more savings on reduced costs in road casualties, health care due to pollution – hey, maybe you could claim carbon credits by getting people off the roads. Mark's comments on An Onymous Lefty

Time for Climate Justice

2009-12-13T16:04:00.000+11:00

2009-12-02T18:19:00.000+11:00

EU - Let us shift from expensive cars to free public bus or train

The advantages of free public transit are enormous and extremely beneficial for all citizens of the European Union:

Drastic decrease in emission of exhaust gases
Less noise
Less traffic jams
Better traffic safety
Enormous savings in energy and raw materials
Creation of new jobs
Ascent of efficient economical development
Considerably lower public and personal expenses
Empowering of social justice
Higher cultural dialogue
Creation of friendlier urban environment

Free mass public transit is possible

2009-11-28T06:11:00.000+11:00

...The initiative is feasible. The only obstacle for making this project come true is ourselves. Are we as individuals and as society mature enough to act responsibly in unity with the thought for common good? Are we capable of a mental turnabout and be ready to sacrifice something for the good of all? Are we ready to do something now when we still have a chance? Only positive answers will bring positive results... Benjamin Dovečar's comments on the Copenhagen COP15 site click to read all.