In New South Wales, universal travel card makes implementing #freetransit easier

Free trips: "More than two million free trips have been taken by customers using the Opal card on buses, trains and ferries with more than 250,000 cards now registered.

Customers can travel free anywhere on the Opal network once they have reached their weekly travel cap of eight paid journeys during the week, or reached their daily cap.
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 "For bus customers, the rollout is underway and they too can enjoy cheaper fares, the convenience of always knowing their Opal card is ready to go and never again arriving at the bus stop to find their TravelTen has no rides left."
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"This is the fantastic thing about Opal – travelling for free will increase patronage once customers realise they can jump on and off public transport without paying a thing," she says.
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The NSW Government also announced Opal is now activated on all of the State Transit buses serving the 326, 327, 355, 361 and L24 bus routes."

Noosa’s Free Easter Buses a Success

View News: "The numbers are in, and there’s no doubt Noosa’s Free Holiday Buses over the Easter break were a runaway success.

Better still, there’s evidence the initiative helped to get cars off the road and reduce congestion during one of Noosa’s busiest holiday periods.

A record number of around 33,000 passenger trips were recorded on the free buses which ran for 8 days over the Easter break.

Patronage more than tripled on the five local TransLink services; from 4,358 passenger trips last year when no free services were offered, to 13,738 passenger trips over the same period this year."

Seniors in Beijing have #freepublictransport, why not Australia?

Cheltenham man’s push for seniors to get a free ride gets a tick from rebel MP Geoff Shaw | Herald Sun: "John Murray said the cost of trains and buses hits pensioners hard and is campaigning for politicians and seniors organisations to support him."

The budget has it backwards on climate

Australian Broadcasting Corporation : "IF THERE WAS ANY DOUBT that the election of the Abbott Government might slam the brakes on Australia's climate and clean energy progress, it's now over. With the Government's first budget, it's reversing at full speed."

Mass community action only way to stop wasteful road building

No East West Tunnel - Take the pledge: "If the process doesn't suit the government's pro-road agenda they just change the rules... The only thing that will stop Royal Park being ruined is mass community action."

East West Link planning process leaves Melbourne's public in the dark

the age : "In Victoria, the East West Link business case is being treated as a state secret. It has been hidden from the public and Assessment Committee alike. Documents obtained under freedom-of-information legislation disclose the strong criticisms made by consultants of the methodology used to produce a positive financial return.

The inclusion of “wider economic benefits” delivering over 40 per cent of the claimed return has been widely criticised. No justification has been offered. Minimal information has been given about the tolls to be charged and the impact on driver behaviour.

The traffic modelling evidence is that congestion levels will be worse than the present within 10 years. One only has to observe the peak-hour crawl on CityLink or the Burnley Tunnel to see that the promise of new freeways delivering free-flowing peak-hour traffic is a mirage."

Axe $13 billion in fossil-fuel subsidies

Greens | Adam Bandt: "The Greens today said a report from the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) makes clear that Tony Abbott can raise more than $13 billion without hurting vulnerable Australians.

The PBO report details how, by ending taxpayer subsidies to ‘big mining’ and the likes of Gina Rinehart, the Abbott Government wouldn’t need to go after pensioners, disabled people and Medicare, said acting Greens Leader, Adam Bandt."



http://adam-bandt.greensmps.org.au/sites/default/files/fuel_tax_credits_pbo.pdf

East West Link faces Supreme Court challenge

the age : "The East West Link is set to be challenged in the Supreme Court, with the Napthine government accused of deliberately overstating the claimed benefits of the project.

In a case reminiscent of the movie The Castle, Brunswick resident Anthony Murphy and a team of senior lawyers will try to halt the tender process for the $6 billion to $8 billion project by arguing the state government has misled the public."

East West Link protesters march in down Sydney Rd

Picture: Andrew Henshaw Source: News Limited

Herald Sun: "ABOUT 1000 residents took to the street on Sunday afternoon to again protest about the Napthine Government’s East West Link.

Protesters marched down Sydney Rd in the city’s north as part of the sustained opposition to the project, with Victoria Police shutting the northbound lane for the march."

Labor could tear up East West Link contract if it wins election

the age: "Should Labor win the November state election, there is no legal impediment stopping it from tearing up the contract for the East West Link if it is sincere in its opposition to the road project, experts in contract law and public policy say."