As Queensland trials 50c public transport fares, experts say there are more ways to improve our commute

by Admin
May 27, 2024

How did you get to work this morning?

Nationally, most Australians opt to get behind the wheel, according to the previous Census.

But there might soon be fewer cars on the road — at least potentially in Queensland.

Over the weekend the state government announced bus, train, ferry and light rail fares would be dramatically reduced to a flat rate of just 50 cents.

The pre-election trial will run for six months starting in August, and is aimed at easing congestion and cost of living pressures, and getting public transport usage back to pre-pandemic levels.

While experts welcome the reduced fares, they say there’s more to do in improving the way Australians get around.

Australians overwhelmingly drive to work

The most recent census found that 53.1 per cent of us drive to work each day.

However, it is worth noting that the last census captured data from 2021, which saw 21 per cent of Australians working from home, up significantly from the pre-pandemic figure of 4.7 per cent.

Meanwhile, the percentage of commuters who rode public transport to work languished in the low single digits, down from just over 10 per cent in the previous census.

Dr Mark Limb, a senior lecturer in Urban Regional Planning at the Queensland University of Technology, says the state’s reduced fares will “certainly” get more commuters using public transport.

“People’s use of cars at the moment is quite a rational decision that people take and they do it because cars are generally cheaper and often faster as well,” Dr Limb told ABC News.

“But I think this will sort of tip that equation for a whole bunch of people of whom this 50-cent public transport ride policy will make the public transport option that cheaper option and therefore they will take it.”

A ‘long way to go’ in improving Australia’s public transport

In Queensland alone, two major public transport projects are currently underway: the Cross River Rail and the Brisbane Metro.

The Brisbane Metro is due to start operating at the end of this year while the Cross River Rail — a project that runs for 10 kilometres, including under the Brisbane River and CBD — is due to open in 2026.

“I think we still have a long way to go in terms of improving our public transport to be kind of World City standards here in Brisbane,” Dr Limb says.

He says Australia as a whole would benefit from more interconnected services and a higher priority placed on public transport to get traffic flowing faster.

“We could always do with more. More regular, more frequent services would help in almost every route.

“More interconnected services across the city rather than just being a CBD service where you get services linking up all the various centres of the city.

“And also just making sure we have priority for public transport so we can have, a bit like the busways, have bus lanes and things like that so buses aren’t sitting in traffic.

“So that as a comparable choice to a car that suddenly becomes a lot faster when the public transport options are moving literally faster through traffic.”

What can Australia learn from other countries’ public transport?

Dr Limb says when you compare Australia to countries that are known for their public transport services — like Japan — then “we’re a long, long way behind.”

“A lot of the times I think it is just a matter of how much resourcing we prioritise towards this compared to what the amount of resourcing we throw into our road system,” he says.

“We currently have quite a bit of a mismatch around that compared to other places that perhaps do disproportionately fund public transport better.”

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In the 1960s, Japan built the world’s first high-speed rail network — the Shinkansen, colloquially known as the bullet train.

It has since become a favourite mode of travel and a symbol of a country that has been at the forefront of technology.

“I lived in Japan for about four years and I can never once remember the train being closed for track works ever,” he says.

“They simply just manage that around their services rather than bending their services towards their maintenance schedule.”

Dr Limb says Australia’s public transport systems would benefit from better “linking concepts” as well because public transport “obviously doesn’t take you door to door.”

“Making sure we have those active transport connections really well-linked in terms of high-quality pedestrian environments, safe and easy to access cycling environments.”

Amsterdam is a cycling city with hundreds of kilometres of bicycle paths leading all around town.(Reuter: Yves Herman)

“In other countries, you’ll often find, like in the Netherlands for example, their train service has a bike system associated with it.

“You get off at the other end [and] they have bicycles that you can hire quite cheaply to take you to the next spot, and then similarly you can drop them back at the station or take them home at the other end as well.”

“So I think things like that are the sort of things we need to think of.

“The fare is obviously important and I think people will absolutely respond to it.”