Premier Steven Miles has labelled the first week of Queensland’s six-month flat-fare trial “encouraging” after some record-breaking figures.
Transport Minister Bart Mellish has hailed record-breaking public transport patronage in the first week of the state government’s trial of flat 50-cent fares across the network – particularly in south-east Queensland.
The number of train, bus, ferry and light-rail trips during the first seven days jumped 11.1 per cent from the week before to 98.5 per cent of pre-COVID levels, with the weekend marking the busiest ever. Ferry trips hit their busiest ever on Saturday during the first week of the 50-cent fare trial – up 47.8 per cent on pre-COVID levels.Train trips passed the 1 million mark for the first time since they fell off the COVID cliff in March 2020.At the time, he described the $150 million trial as a “use it or lose it” attempt to ease household costs and traffic congestion, while trying to drag stubbornly low passenger numbers above pre-pandemic levels.
Mellish said: “We said before the trial that 50-cent fares would provide a great opportunity for residents and tourists to explore some of the great locations across our region, and the data shows people did exactly that over the weekend. “We saw busy days across all modes of public transport, including the busiest weekends ever in the south-east, but still within capacity of existing services, which is exactly what we hoped for.”Public transport use had remained around 13 per cent below pre-COVID levels when the trial was announced. According to government data from last week:is a state political reporter with Brisbane Times, where he has also covered city council and general news.
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